The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 07 of 12)

512

R. Chambers, The Book of Days (Edinburgh, 1886), ii. 377 sq. The expression “Corn Baby” used by the writer is probably his interpretation of the correct expression kirn or kern baby. See above, p. 151 (#x_15_i18), note 3. It is not clear whether the account refers to England or Scotland. Compare F. Grose, Provincial Glossary (London 1811), s. v. “Kern-baby,” “an image dressed up with corn, carried before the reapers to their mell-supper, or harvest-home”; J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, ii. 20; W. Henderson, Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England, p. 87.

513

Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, iii. (London, 1902) s. v. “Kirn,” p. 453.

514

Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, i. (London, 1898) p. 605.

515

J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, ii. 21 sq.

516

J. Jamieson, Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, New Edition (Paisley, 1879-1882), iii. 42 sq., s. v. “Kirn.”

517

Mrs. A. B. Gomme, “A Berwickshire Kirn-dolly,” Folk-lore, xii. (1901) p. 215.

518

Mrs. A. B. Gomme, “Harvest Customs,” Folk-lore, xiii. (1902) p. 178.

519

J. G. Frazer, “Notes on Harvest Customs,” Folk-lore, vii. (1889) p. 48.

520

(Rev.) H. W. Lett, “Winning the Churn (Ulster),” Folk-lore, xvi. (1905) p. 185. My friend Miss Welsh, formerly Principal of Girton College, Cambridge, told me (30th May 1901) that she remembers the custom of the churn being observed in the north of Ireland; the reapers cut the last handful of standing corn (called the churn) by throwing their sickles at it, and the corn so cut was taken home and kept for some time.

521

J. Jamieson, Dictionary of the Scottish Language, New Edition (Paisley, 1879-1882), iii. 206, s. v. “Maiden.” An old Scottish name for the Maiden (autumnalis nymphula) was Rapegyrne. See Fordun, Scotichren. ii. 418, quoted by J. Jamieson, op. cit. iii. 624, s. v. “Rapegyrne.”

522

R. C. Maclagan, in Folk-lore, vi. (1895) pp. 149, 151.

523

Rev. M. MacPhail (Free Church Manse, Kilmartin, Lochgilphead), “Folk-lore from the Hebrides,” Folk-lore, xi. (1900) p. 441. That the Maiden, hung up in the house, is thought to keep out witches till the next harvest is mentioned also by the Rev. J. G. Campbell, Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Glasgow, 1900), p. 20. So with the churn (above, p. 153 (#x_15_i20)).

524

Sir John Sinclair, Statistical Account of Scotland, xix. (Edinburgh, 1797), pp. 550 sq. Compare Miss E. J. Guthrie, Old Scottish Customs (London and Glasgow, 1885), pp. 130 sq.

525

Folk-lore Journal, vi. (1888) pp. 268 sq.

526

The late Mrs. Macalister, wife of Professor Alexander Macalister, Cambridge. Her recollections referred especially to the neighbourhood of Glen Farg, some ten or twelve miles to the south of Perth.

527

Rev. James Macdonald, Religion and Myth (London, 1893), pp. 141 sq.

528

From information supplied by Archie Leitch, late gardener to my father at Rowmore, Garelochhead. The Kirn was the name of the harvest festivity in the south of Scotland also. See Lockhart's Life of Scott, ii. 184 (first edition); Early Letters of Thomas Carlyle, ed. Norton, ii. 325 sq.

529

Communicated by the late Mr. Macfarlane of Faslane, Gareloch.

530

A slightly different mode of making up the clyack sheaf is described by the Rev. Walter Gregor elsewhere (Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-east of Scotland, London, 1881, pp. 181 sq.): “The clyack sheaf was cut by the maidens on the harvest field. On no account was it allowed to touch the ground. One of the maidens seated herself on the ground, and over her knees was the band of the sheaf laid. Each of the maidens cut a handful, or more if necessary, and laid it on the band. The sheaf was then bound, still lying over the maiden's knees, and dressed up in woman's clothing.”

531

W. Gregor, “Quelques coutumes du Nord-est du Comté d'Aberdeen,” Revue des Traditions populaires, iii. (October, 1888) pp. 484-487 (wrong pagination; should be 532-535). This account, translated into French by M. Loys Brueyre from the author's English and translated by me back from French into English, is fuller than the account given by the same writer in his Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-east of Scotland (London, 1881), pp. 181-183. I have translated “une jument ayant son poulain” by “a mare in foal,” and “la plus ancienne vache ayant son veau” by “the oldest cow in calf,” because in the author's Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-east of Scotland (p. 182) we read that the last sheaf was “carefully preserved till Christmas or New Year morning. On that morning it was given to a mare in foal,” etc. Otherwise the French words might naturally be understood of a mare with its foal and a cow with its calf.

532

See above, pp. 115 (#x_13_i5)sq.

533

See below, vol. ii. p. 110.

534

The drinking of the draught (called the κυκεών) as a solemn rite in the Eleusinian mysteries is mentioned by Clement of Alexandria (Protrept. 21, p. 18, ed. Potter) and Arnobius (Adversus Nationes, v. 26). The composition of the draught is revealed by the author of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (verses 206-211), where he represents Demeter herself partaking of the sacred cup. That the compound was a kind of thick gruel, half-solid, half-liquid, is mentioned by Eustathius (on Homer, Iliad, xi. 638, p. 870). Compare Miss J. E. Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, Second Edition (Cambridge, 1908), pp. 155 sqq.

535

Rev. J. Macdonald, Religion and Myth (London, 1893), pp. 140 sq., from MS. notes of Miss J. Ligertwood.

536

Folk-lore Journal, vii. (1889) p. 51; The Quarterly Review, clxxii. (1891) p. 195.