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A brief guide to all things straw
From the time when wheat was first harvested, people began to find ways to use the straw by-product. Some practical, some more artistic but all beautiful.
Corn Dollies
A corn dolly is an emblem or figure created from plaited or braided straw. Corn Dollies are made by either plaiting around a core, usually made from a tightly bunched groups of straw stems or plaited freehand so they are hollow. Different amounts of straw stems make different designs and patterns.
They are connected to harvest time and the preservation of the corn spirit to ensure a successful harvest the following year.
Below are some examples of corn dollies and you have any corn dolly pictures you would like to share, please contact us.
In 'A New Golden Dolly' by Minnie Lambeth,1963, the origin of the name 'corn dolly' given to these corn emblems is discussed. The earliest examples do not appear to be shapes connected to the figure of a doll at all so in looking deeper she suggests that the dictionary description of 'doll' is 'puppet' or 'image of a baby' and that 'image' is often a word we use to describe something we are fond of and wish to remember. 'Image' being a descriptive word for 'Idol' she then suggests noting that the dictionary states 'Idol to be an image or representation of anything.... made as an object of worship...a Pagan Deity.' 'Idol, doll, dolly , it is easy to see how this word was derived for the corn dolly was first made as a copy of the cornucopia and also the Corn Goddess Ceres'.
In 'Folklore and Customs of Rural England' Margret Baker states that ' the corn harvest crown of the harvest year engendered varied emotions; anxiety lest the weather fail, tension during the work itself and the half- fearful joy at the ritual capture of the corn spirit, upon whose favour a full rickyard depended.'