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

§ 6. The Corn-spirit as a Goat. 331the haymaking or of the harvest. 890 In Franche-Comté also theclose of harvest is called “catching or killing the cat.” 891§ 6. The Corn-spirit as a Goat.Further, the corn-spirit often appears in the form of a goat. Insome parts of Prussia, when the corn bends before the wind, theysay, “The Goats are chasing each other,” “the wind is drivingthe Goats through the corn,” “the Goats are browsing there,” andthey expect a very good harvest. Again they say, “The Oatsgoatis sitting in the oats-field,” “the Corn-goat is sitting in therye-field.” 892 Children are warned not to go into the corn-fieldsto pluck the blue corn-flowers, or amongst the beans to pluckpods, because the Rye-goat, the Corn-goat, the Oats-goat, or theBean-goat is sitting or lying there, and will carry them awayor kill them. 893 When a harvester is taken sick or lags behindhis fellows at their work, they call out, “The Harvest-goat haspushed him,” “he has been pushed by the Corn-goat.” 894 In theneighbourhood of Braunsberg (East Prussia) at binding the oatsevery harvester makes haste “lest the Corn-goat push him.” AtOefoten, in Norway, each reaper has his allotted patch to reap.When a reaper in the middle has not finished reaping his pieceafter his neighbours have finished theirs, they say of him, “Heremains on the island.” And if the laggard is a man, they imitatethe cry with which they call a he-goat; if a woman, the cry withwhich they call a she-goat. 895 Near Straubing, in Lower Bavaria,The corn-spirit asa goat runningthrough the cornor sitting in it.The corn-goat atreaping and bindingthe corn.[282]890 L. F. Sauvé, Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges (Paris, 1889), p. 191.891 Ch. Beauquier, Les Mois en Franche-Comté (Paris, 1900), p. 102.892 W. Mannhardt, Antike Wald- und Feldkulte, pp. 155 sq.893 Ibid. pp. 157 sq.894 Ibid. p. 159.895 Ibid. pp. 161 sq.