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" In some
parts of Silesia at mowing the last corn they say, "The Cat is
caught"; and at threshing, the man who gives the last stroke is
called the Cat. In the neighbourhood of Lyons the last sheaf and the
harvest-supper are both called the Cat. About Vesoul when they cut
the last corn they say, "We have the Cat by the tail." At Brian?on,
in Dauphin?, at the beginning of reaping, a cat is decked out with
ribbons, flowers, and ears of corn. It is called the Cat of the
ball-skin (_le chat de peau de balle_). If a reaper is wounded at
his work, they make the cat lick the wound. At the close of the
reaping the cat is again decked out with ribbons and ears of corn;
then they dance and make merry. When the dance is over the girls
solemnly strip the cat of its finery. At Gr?neberg, in Silesia, the
reaper who cuts the last corn goes by the name of the Tom-cat. He is
enveloped in rye-stalks and green withes, and is furnished with a
long plaited tail. Sometimes as a companion he has a man similarly
dressed, who is called the (female) Cat.


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