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Show Called. "HarvesT I "Home". ran ut) Hi n n I HE American Thanksgiving ITI nj day Is without doubt the oll-A oll-A spring of that feust which Pi t In England is known as jL2 "Harvest Home," and In J P Scotland is called "Mell Sup-J Sup-J per." But the giving of thanks to some god at the close of the autumn season for the fruits of the earth is ageless, and can be traced back as far as civilization civili-zation goes. Iu Exodus the Israelites are commanded to keep an autumnal feast, more explicit details for such a feast being given in the book of 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 brooks. It may be from this custom that the decoration of churches with greens and vegetables arose. Herodotus mentions this autumn custom of thanksgiving, and Homer writes that "cakes and lumps of dough thrown at the head of the sacrificial victim formed a part of the Greek offerings of-ferings of Apollo, 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 Vacuna, the goddess. god-dess. Images of Vacuna were made of straw, wheat, barley and rye, and were carried about with singing and cheering. Even In England images made of straw crowned with flowers are occasionally carried about and called Ceres the goddess of agriculture. agricul-ture. Apoilo was formerly worshiped in Britain, and the Maypole Is a pretty relic of those days. They decorated it with garlands to welcome the northward north-ward coming of Apollo the sun at whose appearance the flowers and fruit began to grow. Various customs, all containing the same idea, have prevailed in different countries. In Scotland, when the reapers reap-ers have finished their work, a small package of corn, called the "Corn Lady," is hung up in the house. The ancient Egyptians offered sacrifices and made offerings of corn and wine to Leith, the mother of the sun. Wheat, according to both sacred and 1 ftxi Carried About With Ringing and Cheering. secular history, was the most important impor-tant grain grown in Egypt, and the mode of harvesting it is interesting. Instead of the usual method the reapers reap-ers cut the straw just below the heads. 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 employed to separate the wheat from the straw. The chief festivals fes-tivals of the Egyptians, however, were in connection with the overflow of the Nile. The Teutons and Scandinavians offered of-fered sacrifices to Frey, the god of the rain and the sunshine. What Is known as "the shouting of the churn" comes down from the time when Apollo was worshiped in England. Eng-land. The churn or kern means a ring or circle formed by several persons holding hands. The word churn also signifies a chaplet worn around the lw ad or carried suspended on a pole In procession. So "the shouting of the churn" means the merriment that always accompanied wearing a chap-let chap-let or dancing in a circle. Another old custom is the "kemp-Ing" "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 contending 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 allowed to gather these handfuls and to make out of them a "corn baby." This was brought home in triumph, set up in the feast and preserved for the remainder re-mainder 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 undertaking undertak-ing would declare what should be done with the mare. |