Hi All, Well the month of October is almost upon us. So I will start off with a blog entry on a symbol of the harvesting fields..
Sparkling candy corn..
Bee
Scarecrow History
The Scarecrow is one of the most familiar figures of the rural landscape not only in the United Kingdom but throughout Europe and many other countries of the world. His ragged figure has been recorded in rural history for centuries. His image has proved irresistible to writers from William Shakespeare to Walter De La Mare as well as to film makers since the dawn of the silent movie. Yet, despite all his fame, the origins and the development of the scarecrow have remained obscured in mystery.
Earliest known written fact about scarecrow's written in 1592.Definition of a scarecrow - That which frightens or is intended to frighten without doing physical harm.Literally that which - scares away crows, hence the name scarecrow.
Decline is due to the change of farming technology started with the industrial revolution. The hectic life of the farmer means that he doesn't have time to even feel the earth or walk it. He sits in his combination machine i.e J.C.B. He is protected against the elements and maybe listening to music. He is high off the ground and the earth and its magical properties are lost in a kind of factory floor.The hedges have gone to make larger areas. Lots of wild life has gone but somehow "The Crow" survives. The farmer of old would once a year sow his land by hand after the land had been lovingly prepared and tended. Now this is all done by machine. The farmer used to discard his old clothes and create a friendly chap and put him to guard his crops. He worked and still does. Farmers of today barely make a Scarecrow. On talking to them young and old still have a love of them. They try electronic ones and pop up balloon types. They are still trying to find an answer! The birds soon get wise to these. I believe if the Scarecrow is going to do his job he has to have a mystical feel about him.
Decline is due to the change of farming technology started with the industrial revolution. The hectic life of the farmer means that he doesn't have time to even feel the earth or walk it. He sits in his combination machine i.e J.C.B. He is protected against the elements and maybe listening to music. He is high off the ground and the earth and its magical properties are lost in a kind of factory floor.The hedges have gone to make larger areas. Lots of wild life has gone but somehow "The Crow" survives. The farmer of old would once a year sow his land by hand after the land had been lovingly prepared and tended. Now this is all done by machine. The farmer used to discard his old clothes and create a friendly chap and put him to guard his crops. He worked and still does. Farmers of today barely make a Scarecrow. On talking to them young and old still have a love of them. They try electronic ones and pop up balloon types. They are still trying to find an answer! The birds soon get wise to these. I believe if the Scarecrow is going to do his job he has to have a mystical feel about him.
A Poem By Barbara Euphan Todd
Ye Scairey-crows of dry-land,
Your little fields have bounds,
Come sail with me and you shall see,
The sun upon his rounds.
The sea-flowers bloom year out,year in,
The Plough is in the sky.
As you sail, as you sail,
And the time goes passing by,
And you will forget the fields you knew
As the times goes passing by.
* A book about scarecrows;
Scarecrow Fact and Fable, Author Peter Haining, Published in 1986 by Robert Hale.
