Augusts husbandrie.
The principal reaper was in some districts named the harvest-lord (Lin. e.An.). It was his duty to go first in the row, and to regulate the motions of the rest of the band. Tusser, who was an Essex man, says:
Grant haruest lord more by a penie or twoo,
to call on his fellowes the better to doo:
Giue gloues to thy reapers, a larges to crie,
and dailie to loiterers haue a good eie.
Augusts husbandrie.
Next to him came the harvest-lady, the second reaper, who took the harvest-lord’s place if the latter were absent. In Shropshire the last man of the whole band was termed the lag-man. Often three or four reapers would each take a ridge and compete with one another as to who should finish first. This was called kemping (Sc. Irel. n.Cy.). The largess was a gift of money demanded by the reapers, either during the harvest or at its conclusion. After receiving it, the custom was to cry out three times: Halloo largess! This was the ceremony of crying a largess to which Tusser alludes in the verse quoted above. It continued to be practised in parts of East Anglia till the latter half of last century.
The Last Sheaf of Wheat
When the reaping of the last cornfield was all but finished, a small patch of grain was left standing. It was then tied at the top with a piece of ribbon, or the stalks were roughly plaited together, to form a sheaf, and then the reapers placed themselves a few yards off, and threw their sickles at it, competing for the honour of winning the last cut. This last handful to be reaped was the trophy of the harvest-home feast. It was frequently dressed up to appear like a rude human figure, gaily decorated, and carried home in triumph. Afterwards it was usually placed above the door of the farm-kitchen, or over the chimney-piece, to remain there throughout the winter to bring good luck, and ward off witchcraft. The ceremonies connected with this last sheaf, and the names by which it was known varied in different places. It was called: the ben (e.An.); cailleach (Irel.); churn or kirn (Sc. Irel. n.Cy.); claaick-sheaf (Sc.); cripple-goat (I. of Skye); frog (Wor.); gilach (Irel.); granny (Irel.); hare (Irel. Dev.); maiden (Sc.); mell (n.Cy.); or when made up into a figure it was: the corn-baby; kirn-baby; kirn-doll; mell-doll; harvest-queen. But perhaps the best-known name of all is the south-west-Country neck, a term originally borrowed from Scandinavia, cp. Norw. and Swed. dial. nek, a sheaf. Much has been written about the ceremony of Crying the neck. A full account of it is given in Hunt’s Popular Romances of the West of England, and a long correspondence on the subject was kept up in the Western Morning News in August 1898. Mrs. Hewitt, writing in 1900, says the custom ‘still obtains in some parishes in the west of England’. She describes it thus: ‘When the last sheaf of wheat is cut at the end of August, the reapers take the very last handful of straw and plait the ends together, tying them with lengths of bright-coloured ribbons; then, lifting it high above their heads, wave their sickles frantically, and shout: