The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 07 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 07 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
happened to cut it through took it home with him and put it over his door.
This bunch of corn was called the Carley(477)—probably the same word as
Carlin.
(M111) Similar customs are observed by Slavonic peoples. Thus in Poland
the last sheaf is commonly called the Baba, that is, the Old Woman. “In
the last sheaf,” it is said, “sits the Baba.” The sheaf itself is also
called the Baba, and is sometimes composed of twelve smaller sheaves
lashed together.(478) In some parts of Bohemia the Baba, made out of the
last sheaf, has the figure of a woman with a great straw hat. It is
carried home on the last harvest-waggon and delivered, along with a
garland, to the farmer by two girls. In binding the sheaves the women
strive not to be last, for she who binds the last sheaf will have a child
next year.(479) The last sheaf is tied up with others into a large bundle,
and a green branch is stuck on the top of it.(480) Sometimes the
harvesters call out to the woman who binds the last sheaf, “She has the
Baba,” or “She is the Baba.” She has then to make a puppet, sometimes in
female, sometimes in male form, out of the corn; the puppet is
occasionally dressed with clothes, often with flowers and ribbons only.
The cutter of the last stalks, as well as the binder of the last sheaf,
was also called Baba; and a doll, called the Harvest-woman, was made out
of the last sheaf and adorned with ribbons. The oldest reaper had to
dance, first with this doll, and then with the farmer’s wife.(481) In the
district of Cracow, when a man binds the last sheaf, they say, “The
Grandfather is sitting in it”; when a woman binds it, they say, “The Baba
is sitting in it,” and the woman herself is wrapt up in the sheaf, so that
only her head projects out of it. Thus encased in the sheaf, she is
carried on the last harvest-waggon to the house, where she is drenched
with water by the whole family. She remains in the sheaf till the dance is
over, and for a year she retains the name of Baba.(482)
(M112) In Lithuania the name for the last sheaf is Boba (Old Woman),
answering to the Polish name Baba. The Boba is said to sit in the corn
which is left standing last.(483) The person who binds the last sheaf or
digs the last potato is the subject of much banter, and receives and long
retains the name of the Old Rye-woman or the Old Potato-woman.(484) The
last sheaf—the Boba—is made into the form of a woman, carried solemnly
through the village on the last harvest-waggon, and drenched with water at
the farmer’s house; then every one dances with it.(485)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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