England sings when
the sun shines. It graces us with it’s pretty presence just before we forget
entirely why the Great British Summer is Great.
It’s so hot and Sandringham Flower Show is everything that it should be.
Carnations and sweetpeas, mammoth gooseberries and trugs of precious
vegetable-type cargo. The good old WI tent never ever fails. A graceful two fingers up at the ridiculous
burger vans, and the like, selling ridiculously priced rubbish. I refreshed
myself with a just-made cucumber sandwich, (crusts cut off and in neat little
triangles, of course) two cups of tea and banana cake with yoghurt icing. All
for £4.50.
And look! I’ve learnt to make a corn dolly (a modest but all-the-same life time ambition of mine). Very happy.
In times past the
celebration of the harvest was steeped in legend. Early farmers believed that
the harvest spirit responsible for seed germination lived in the grain and that
as the crop was cut the spirit retreated into the last bit of corn left
standing. This last bundle of straw was cut and plaited into a unique corn
dolly that was carefully preserved throughout the winter months as the resting
place of the spirit.
In the spring the
seeds from the corn dolly were sown along with the new seeds thus transferring
this vital spirit force to ensure another plentiful and fertile harvest. The
worldwide practice of making corn dollies is an ancient pagan craft and
although designs may vary an understanding of the fertility of the earth
underlies them all.
Believe it or not
there’s a Guild of Straw Craftsmen AND they have a website:
www.strawcraftsmen.co.uk