L, luis, the mountain ash in the Ogham. Confers ... - Rodney Mackay

The term corn is used universally to indicate the
dominant grain grown in a region and in most of Scotland
that is now oats. In England "corn" meant wheat, while
North Americans use the word to describe maize, and apply
"grain" to all other cereal crops.
In speaking of the New Year or Hogamanay, we have
mentioned the customs relating to the creation of the Auld
Hag, Cailleach Doll or Wrack, the name given the last sheaf
if it were, unhappily, cut after Samhainn Eve. In parts of
Scotland, the last sheaf was termed the "Maidhdean buain
(the shorn virgin) if it could be taken before midnight,
October 31st. While people made every effort to avoid
having to board the winter hag, they vied for the honour of
taking the Maiden, since the single person who obtained it
was certain to be married before the next harvest. To
secure it, the reapers were often subtle, leaving a sheath
uncut and covering it with earth to fool the others. This
was a dangerous procedure since the last cutting had to be
complete before the opening hours of November 1st. Once
removed from the field, the Maiden of the Kern was made
into a be-ribboned doll and fixed to the farmhouse wall. In
the north, she was preserved until Yule morning and then
divided among the cattle to make them thrive. Elsewhere,
the sheaf was reserved to be cut down by the youngest
female reaper, and then made into a rude female doll clad in
a paper dress. This figure was kept over the winter in the
chimney corner until a new Maiden took her place in the next
year. The harvest supper at the end of the cutting was
itself called the Maiden in Balquidder.
Details of the rite were extremely varied. In
Dumbartonshire, the girl who cut the Maiden was thought to
be lucky and certain to be wed within the year. Here, the
Maiden was hung in the kitchen, where she might be kept for
several years with a date tag affixed. In some households
numerous Maidens from various years were left hanging
from kitchen hooks. In these regions, the supper which
followed the cutting was called the Kern. At Garlock, the
last corn was graphically referred to as the Head or the