" In Bresse (Bourgogne) the last sheaf
represented the fox. Beside it a score of ears were left standing to
form the tail, and each reaper, going back some paces, threw his
sickle at it. He who succeeded in severing it "cut off the fox's
tail," and a cry of "_You cou cou!_" was raised in his honour. These
examples leave no room to doubt the meaning of the Devonshire and
Cornish expression "the neck," as applied to the last sheaf. The
corn-spirit is conceived in human or animal form, and the last
standing corn is part of its body--its neck, its head, or its tail.
Sometimes, as we have seen, the last corn is regarded as the
navel-string. Lastly, the Devonshire custom of drenching with water
the person who brings in "the neck" is a raincharm, such as we have
had many examples of. Its parallel in the mysteries of Osiris was
the custom of pouring water on the image of Osiris or on the person
who represented him.
XLVIII. The Corn-Spirit as an Animal
1. Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit
IN SOME of the examples which I have cited to establish the meaning
of the term "neck" as applied to the last sheaf, the corn-spirit
appears in animal form as a gander, a goat, a hare, a cat, and a
fox.
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