Then they cry out 'Our (my) side, my side,' as loud as
they can; then the dairymaid gives the neck to the head farming-man.
He takes it, and says, very loudly three times, 'I have him, I have
him, I have him.' Then another farming-man shouts very loudly, 'What
have ye? what have ye? what have ye?' Then the first says, 'A neck,
a neck, a neck.' And when he has said this, all the people make a
very great shouting. This they do three times, and after one famous
shout go away and eat supper, and dance, and sing songs." According
to another account, "all went out to the field when the last corn
was cut, the 'neck' was tied with ribbons and plaited, and they
danced round it, and carried it to the great kitchen, where
by-and-by the supper was. The words were as given in the previous
account, and 'Hip, hip, hack, heck, I have 'ee, I have 'ee, I have
'ee.' It was hung up in the hall." Another account relates that one
of the men rushed from the field with the last sheaf, while the rest
pursued him with vessels of water, which they tried to throw over
the sheaf before it could be brought into the barn.
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