When I was a little girl, my mother taught me how to weave and plait straw to make a corn dolly. The transformation of humble plain straws into beautiful three-dimensional forms, twists and patterns in my hands was magical and compelling.
This childhood memory came back to me whilst exploring ideas for the fast approaching themed exhibition entitled 'Songs of Somerset' - work inspired by the songs collected in Somerset by Cecil Sharp in the early 1900s. The song I have chosen to base my work on is 'John Barleycorn'
There came three men from out of the West
Their victory to try,
And they have taken a solemn oath
John Barleycorn should die.They took a plough and ploughed him in
Laid clods upon his head:
And they have taken a solemn oath
John Barleycorn is dead.
So then he lay for a full fortnight
Till the dew from heaven did fall:
John Barleycorn sprung up again
And that surprised them all.
But when he faced the summer sun
He looked both pale and wan,
For all he had a spiky beard
To show he was a man.
But soon came men with sickles sharp
And chopped him to the knee.
They rolled and tied him by the waist
And served him barb'rously.
With forks they stuck him to the heart
And banged him over stones,
And sent the man with holly clubs
To batter at his bones.
But Barleycorn has nobel blood,
It lives when it is shed.
It turns a tinker to a lord
It fills the empty head.
It makes the widow's heart to sing,
And turns the coward bold:
It fills the cupboard and the purse
With bread and meat and gold.
It is quite an unusual folk song in its personification of the subject - what a story! I love the description of its brutal processing to eventually provide alcohol, food and wealth. It is interesting to note the almost magical qualities associated with the corn, it appears to rise up from death and has a sense of eternity. The song dates back hundreds of years and it is clear that there was quite a different connection between people and the source of their food. The corn was precious (the reference to gold) and every process involved intensive manual labour, time and an element of luck to reap reward.
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| There is something fundamentally pleasing about pattern - starting with the symmetry of the ears of the corn or barley themselves. |
Reflecting on man's relationship to crops and harvest led me back to corn dollies. Before the advent of the combine harvester and modern varieties of cereals (that do not have hollow stems), corn dollies were traditionally made at harvest time. They were highly symbolic, crafted from the last sheaf of corn as a 'thank you' for the harvest and became a lucky talisman for a successful crop the following year. In many areas each village had its own unique design and after much searching I have found one from here in Wedmore, the village where I have my workshop and gallery.
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| Gold wire sheaves on a spool of golden thread. To give a sense of scale, pinched in the tweezers is a strand of my hair! |
So my goal is to make a golden corn dolly - and specifically the Wedmore one! Pictured are some experiments and samples of my progress so far. Of course wire does not behave in the same way as straw, so although the weaving is possible, achieving the 'look' is going to take some trial and error. The carat of the gold affects its working qualities. The scale of the work in relation to the thickness of the wire also makes a huge difference to the outcome.
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| Sample triangular spiral with sheaves and a pin for scale. |
At times I have struggled with old instructions with poor illustrations, often because they are written by right-handed straw workers and my left-handed instincts are to turn and fold in the opposite direction!
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| My children have missed their Wikki Stiks - they are perfect for practicing weave and plait patterns! |
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| The finished piece in gold and platinum |
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| Silver and gold |
Although I will have my first piece ready for the exhibition I can see that this is going to be an on-going project!
