General Chat

Hi all,

Just looked out the window and a giant haystack just walked past my house.

Large man banging a drum and lots of people dressed in weird and wonderful clothes.

What does that signify?

I recognised some of the people so I know they are not on the whacky backy.

Some Autumn ritual perhaps..... over to you.

Aileen xxx

Some sort of local tradition to do with the finished harvest?

What part of the country are you in?

There isn't some poor sap in a whicker cage being lugged about as well is there ?......................lol

might be "The Worzels" having a re union.:o)>**M**.

Is it the straw Man ritual?

On the island of Rousay there was a tradition recorded in which a straw man took the place of the bikko and was left at the house of the last person to "cut off" or finish harvesting.

In all these cases where the "last man" is given - unwillingly in most cases - a straw effigy, I have speculated that the trophy may have once been thought to either represent or contain the "spirit of the crop".

As such, its receipt marked the receiver for some special purpose.

The last man traditions are dealt with further in the next section.

The manufacture of straw figures at harvest time is by no means restricted to Orkney but is widespread across Britain and Europe.


Some Orcadian hairst-knots
However, there is one major difference. Elsewhere to receive the straw likeness generally brought good luck and health whereas in Orkney it was intended as an insult and greatly resented.

In a similar vein, in Orkney, at harvest time, little emblems, known as "harvest knots" and made from straw were once exchanged. It was thought that if one of these "hairst roses" were placed on the toe of the master's boot, he would be compelled to give the harvesters a bottle of whisky.

According to Orcadian antiquarian Ernest Marwick, the harvest knot was regarded in some places as a fertility symbol but unfortunately he was unaware of the significance of these.

*******

Lots of ancient rituals have been revived in recent years, maybe this is one of them.

PMSL @ Amanda xx

Hi,

I'm in one of the outer London Boroughs but we come under Surrey.

Aileen xxx

Thanks for that TW,

I'm Scottish and living in Surrey and you mention Orkney, northern Scotland.

We live and learn.

Aileen xxx