Show 0 HARVEST HOME THEY CALLED IT old english thanksgiving of which ours Is an offspring began thousands of years ago 0 the american thanksgiving day is without doubt the offspring of that feast which in england Is known as harvest home and in scotland Is called mell supper but the giving of thanks to some god at the close of the autumn season for the fruits ot the earth is ageless and can be traced back as far as civilization goes in exodus the Is ra elites are corn banded to keep an autumnal feast more explicit de tails for such a feast being given in the book ot leviticus the feast was to last seven days and on the first day the people were to gather boughs of cedars and willows of the blocks it may be from this custom that the present day decorah on of churches with greens and vegetables arose herodotus mentions this autumn custom of thanksgiving and homer writes that cakes and 1 of dough thrown at the head of the facial victim formed a part of the greek offerings to ai olio the sun god at the feast of the ingathering in ancient times apollo received the honors of the harvest festival but the rustics sacrificed to facuna vacuna the god dess images of facuna vacuna were made ol 01 straw wheat barley and rye and were carried about with singing and cheering even now in england am ages made of straw crowned with flow era are occasionally carried about and called ceres the goddess of agrical ture apollo was formerly worshiped in britain and the maypole is a pretty relic of those days they dec orated it with garlands to w dicome the northward north waid coming of apollo the sun at whose appearance the flowers and fruit began to glow various customs all contain ng the same idea have prevailed in different countries in scotland when the reapers have finished their work a small package of corn called the corn lady is hung up in the house the ancient egyptians offered flees and made offerings of core and wine to leith the mother of the sun wheat according to both sacred and secular history was the most imbor tant grain grown in egypt and the mode of harvesting it is interesting instead of the usual n ethod the ri ap ers cut the straw just below the ear of corn it was carried in bags to the threshing floor where it was trodden out by oxen sometimes the wheat was reaped in the usual way and bound up in sheaves but oxen were always employ ed to sei arate the wheat from the straw what is known as the shouting 0 the churn comes down from the time when apollo was worshiped in eng land the churn br kern means a ring or circle formed by several persons holding hands the word churn also signifies a chaplet worn around the head or carried suspended on a pole in procession so the shouting of the churn means the merriment that always accompanied wearing a chaplet or dancing in a circle another old custom is the kemp ing of england in scotland called a mell mell is sometimes spelled melee which is better as a melee or row often resulted from contend ing for leadership in dispatching the last day s work in the field each reaper left a handful of the harvest uncut and the bonniest lass was al lowed to gather these handfuls and to make out of them a corn baby this was brought home m triumph set up in the feast and preserved for the re bainder of the year the lass was called the harvest queen sometimes instead of being made into a doll the products of the field would be formed into a mare and the reapers would amuse the guests by trying to cut down the mare with their sickles the man who succeeded in the under tak ing would declare what should be done with the mare |