Corn dolly

Corn Dollies are a form of straw work associated with harvest customs. Primitive communities believed that the corn spirit lived amongst the crop, and the harvest made it effectively homeless. Therefore, they fashioned hollow shapes from the last sheaf of wheat or other cereal crop. The corn spirit would then spend the winter in their homes until the "corn dolly" was ploughed into the first furrow of the new season. "Dolly" is a corruption of idol.

In Britain, the materials used are mainly wheat, oats, rye and barley. In Ireland, rush was used, and in the south of France, palm leaves. In Burma, the rice plant is used.

With the advent of the Combine harvester, the old-fashioned, long-stemmed and hollow-stemmed wheat varieties were replaced with knee-high, pithy varieties. However, a number of English farmers are still growing the traditional varieties, mainly because they are in demand with thatchers.

Some traditional varieties: Maris Widgeon, Squarehead Master, Elite Le Peuple.

Corn Dollies and other similar straw work can be divided into these groups:

Traditional Corn Dollies

• By County or Town:
  • Anglesey Rattle
  • Barton Turf Dolly (Norfolk)
  • Cambridgeshire Handbell
  • Cambridgeshire Umbrella
  • Durham Chandelier
  • Essex Terret
  • Herefordshire Fan
  • Mordiford
  • Norfolk Lantern
  • Northamptonshire Horns
  • Okehampton Mare
  • Oxford Crown
  • Speyside Clyack (Scotland)
  • Staffordshire Knot
  • Suffolk Bell
  • Suffolk Horseshoe and Whip
  • Welsh Border Fan
  • Welsh Long Fan
  • Yorkshire Spiral

• Countryman's Favours
  • Cat's Paw

Fringes

• Larnaca Fringe
• Montenegrin Fringe
• Lancashire Fringe

Harvest Crosses

• Devonshire Cross (Topsham)
• Dedham Cross
• St. Brigid's Cross

Large Straw Figures (see also Cailleach) These are representations of deities, made from an entire sheaf.

• The Goddess Ceres
• Kern Baba
• Straw Maiden

Tied straw work

• Scandinavian Tied Work
  • Swedish Straw Crown (Oro)
  • Straw Goat
  • Straw Tomte or Nisse

Straw Marquetry

Rick Finials

• These are straw sculptures which are placed on the "rick" of the thatched roof. They are sometimes purely for decoration, but can be the "signature" of a particular thatcher. Animal shapes (birds, foxes etc.) are the most common.

More to follow.........