The tail and blood of the horse, as the chief parts of the
corn-spirit's representative, were taken to the king's house and
kept there; just as in Germany the harvest-cock is nailed on the
gable or over the door of the farmhouse; and as the last sheaf, in
the form of the Maiden, is carried home and kept over the fireplace
in the Highlands of Scotland. Thus the blessing of the corn-spirit
was brought to the king's house and hearth and, through them, to the
community of which he was the head. Similarly in the spring and
autumn customs of Northern Europe the May-pole is sometimes set up
in front of the house of the mayor or burgomaster, and the last
sheaf at harvest is brought to him as the head of the village. But
while the tail and blood fell to the king, the neighbouring village
of the Subura, which no doubt once had a similar ceremony of its
own, was gratified by being allowed to compete for the prize of the
horse's head. The Mamilian tower, to which the Suburans nailed the
horse's head when they succeeded in carrying it off, appears to have
been a peel-tower or keep of the old Mamilian family, the magnates
of the village.
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