Lammas is coming: First Fruits of the Harvest

Druidcraft Tarot, Connections 2005

from Rigs o' Barley by Robert Burns 

IT was upon a Lammas night,

  When corn rigs are bonie,

Beneath the moon’s unclouded light,

  I held awa to Annie;

The time flew by, wi’ tentless heed,
        
  Till, ’tween the late and early,

Wi’ sma’ persuasion she agreed

  To see me thro’ the barley.


Corn rigs, an’ barley rigs,

  An’ corn rigs are bonie:
      
I’ll ne’er forget that happy night,

  Amang the rigs wi’ Annie.


The sky was blue, the wind was still,

  The moon was shining clearly;

I set her down, wi’ right good will,
        
  Amang the rigs o’ barley:

I ken’t her heart was a’ my ain;

  I lov’d her most sincerely;

I kiss’d her owre and owre again,

  Amang the rigs o’ barley.
        
    

The Wheel of the Year continues to turn, with Lammas already upon us in only 3 days! High summer may seem awfully early in the year to be celebrating the harvest, which we tend to associate with the cooler autumn months. But in fact, the grain harvest has always begun in August in both the US and the UK,  and this is still the case today.  In fact,in the UK, autumn is when most wheat is sown; the long mild winters produce a higher yield than spring-sown crops. So, this week it really will be the beginning of the harvest, even though with the heat and the sun, we might feel more inclined to feast on salads and iced drinks floating with berries rather than tucking into hot loaves of heavy wholegrain bread, the traditional way of celebrating Lammas.

Hubby and I will observe Lammas next week, as we've booked the whole week off (we always try to get at least a day or two off for each of the sabbats) and I'll be making a homemade John Barleycorn Loaf. Here's a traditional song about John Barleycorn, the personification of the spirit of the wheat: 

There were three men

Came from the west

Their fortunes for to tell,

And the life of John Barleycorn

As well

They laid him three furrows deep,

Laid clods upon his head,

The these three men made a solemn vow

John Barleycorn was dead.

They let him die for a very long time

Till the rain from heaven did fall,

Then little Sir John sprang up his head

And he did amaze them all.

They let him stand till the midsummer day,

Till he looked both pale and wan.

Then little Sir John he grew a long beard

And so became a man.

Find more similar lyrics on 

They have hired men with the scythes so sharp

To cut him off at the knee,

They rolled and they tied him around the waist,

The served him barbarously.

They have hired men with the crab-tree sticks,

To cut him skin from bone,

And the miller he has served him worse than that,

For he's ground him between two stones.

They've wheeled him here,

they've wheeled him there,

They've wheeled him to a barn,

And they have served him worse than that,

They've bunged him in a vat.

They have worked their will on John Barleycorn

But he lived to tell the tale,

For they pour him out of an old brown jug

And they call him home brewed ale.

And here's another version of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvWt2N0TUC8&feature=related



The Lammas loaf can be made in a regular loaf shape, but is often fashioned into a wheat sheaf, with a little mouse at the bottom:













http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15942/harvest-festival-sheaf



I may try my hand at making one of these this year. It won't be as lovely as this one, I'm sure, but I'll take photos of whatever Lammas loaf I end up making. :)




What are you planning for your Lammas observance, if any?