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One of
them, for example, will often leave a handful of corn uncut and
cover it up with earth to hide it from the other reapers, till all
the rest of the corn on the field is cut down. Several may try to
play the same trick, and the one who is coolest and holds out
longest obtains the coveted distinction. When it has been cut, the
Maiden is dressed with ribbons into a sort of doll and affixed to a
wall of the farmhouse. In the north of Scotland the Maiden is
carefully preserved till Yule morning, when it is divided among the
cattle "to make them thrive all the year round." In the
neighbourhood of Balquhidder, Perthshire, the last handful of corn
is cut by the youngest girl on the field, and is made into the rude
form of a female doll, clad in a paper dress, and decked with
ribbons. It is called the Maiden, and is kept in the farmhouse,
generally above the chimney, for a good while, sometimes till the
Maiden of the next year is brought in. The writer of this book
witnessed the ceremony of cutting the Maiden at Balquhidder in
September 1888.


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