The man who gives the last stroke with the
flail must carry the Goat to the barn of a neighbour who is still
threshing and throw it down on the floor; if he is caught in the
act, they tie the Goat on his back. A similar custom is observed at
Indersdorf, in Upper Bavaria; the man who throws the straw Goat into
the neighbour's barn imitates the bleating of a goat; if they catch
him, they blacken his face and tie the Goat on his back. At Saverne,
in Alsace, when a farmer is a week or more behind his neighbours
with his threshing, they set a real stuffed goat or fox before his
door.
Sometimes the spirit of the corn in goat form is believed to be
killed at threshing. In the district of Traunstein, Upper Bavaria,
they think that the Oats-goat is in the last sheaf of oats. He is
represented by an old rake set up on end, with an old pot for a
head. The children are then told to kill the Oats-goat.
7. The Corn-spirit as a Bull, Cow, or Ox
ANOTHER form which the corn-spirit often assumes is that of a bull,
cow, or ox. When the wind sweeps over the corn they say at Conitz,
in West Prussia, "The Steer is running in the corn"; when the corn
is thick and strong in one spot, they say in some parts of East
Prussia, "The Bull is lying in the corn.
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