Corn Dollies

The image of the corn dolly on the cover of my book Conditions Are Different After Dark attracts admiration and questions on the origins of the corn dolly.

In the book, a village shopkeeper explains:

“The term corn dolly is a relatively modern one. They were originally called harvest trophies. Making them was a bit of a lost art until it was rediscovered in the mid-nineteenth century. A few of these in the window are modern ideas. It’s the older designs that are more interesting. Some are countryman’s favours; simple gifts a young man would give to a woman he had his eyes on. The woman would wear it if she wanted to show that she welcomed the man’s attention. Those designs in the centre of the window date back to pagan times. They are found all over Europe and these are all made locally. Our ancestors believed — some still do — that the spirit of the corn lives among the crop until the harvest, at which time it becomes homeless. Farmers would cut and save the last sheaf of wheat to make hollow shapes where the corn spirit would spend the winter. Traditionally, this last sheaf was cut by the farm workers throwing their sickles at it. It would often be given a nickname to define it as an animate being. It’s said that the reapers often displayed fear of it. Even after cutting, it was treated as retaining a pagan potency. Sometimes, the sheaf was delivered to a rival as a token of bad luck, rather than being made into a human figure and given a place of honour in their houses. The woven figure would be kept indoors until the spring to protect the corn spirit. When spring arrived, it would be ploughed back into the fields, in the first furrow, symbolically returning the corn spirit to its home.”

I commissioned the corn dolly from Carol Partridge @TheWheatWeaver. It has earned its keep at book marketing events and on social media.