The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

163the Harvest-mother or the Great Mother. In the province ofOsnabrück, Hanover, it is called the Harvest-mother; it is madeup in female form, and then the reapers dance about with it. Insome parts of Westphalia the last sheaf at the rye-harvest is madeespecially heavy by fastening stones in it. They bring it home on [136]the last waggon and call it the Great Mother, though they do notfashion it into any special shape. In the district of Erfurt a veryheavy sheaf, not necessarily the last, is called the Great Mother,and is carried on the last waggon to the barn, where all hands liftit down amid a fire of jokes. 439of the floor, and the reaper who reaped fastest dances round itwith the prettiest girl for his partner. After the dance a pyre ismade. All the girls, each wearing a wreath, strip the puppet, pullit to pieces, and place it on the pyre, along with the flowers withwhich it was adorned. Then the girl who was the first to finishreaping sets fire to the pile, and all pray that Ceres may give afruitful year. Here, as Mannhardt observes, the old custom hasremained intact, though the name Ceres is a bit of schoolmaster'slearning. 437 In Upper Brittany the last sheaf is always made intohuman shape; but if the farmer is a married man, it is madedouble and consists of a little corn-puppet placed inside of alarge one. This is called the Mother-sheaf. It is delivered to thefarmer's wife, who unties it and gives drink-money in return. 438Sometimes the last sheaf is called, not the Corn-mother, but The Harvestmotheror the GreatMother in the lastsheaf.Sometimes again the last sheaf is called the Grandmother, The Grandmotherin the last sheaf.and is adorned with flowers, ribbons, and a woman's apron. InEast Prussia, at the rye or wheat harvest, the reapers call outto the woman who binds the last sheaf, “You are getting theOld Grandmother.” In the neighbourhood of Magdeburg the menand women servants strive who shall get the last sheaf, called437 W. Mannhardt, op. cit. pp. 318 sq.438 P. Sébillot, Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne (Paris, 1886), p.306.439 W. Mannhardt, Mythologische Forschungen, p. 319.