hare

• Format: Manuscript
• Language: English
• Subjects: English language > Dialects > Newfoundland and Labrador; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/elrcdne/id/34486

hare n Both in Avalon and Miramichi the last sheaf of harvest was referred to as the "hare" or "rabbit," but there were no end-of-harvest Irish ceremonies within living memory. In Irish folk-tradition, the last handful of standing corn in a field was twisted into a three-stranded plait and the reapers threw their sickles at it until it was served. The triumphant slayer was then feted and made guest of honour at the harvest supper, where the last sheaf (cailleach or "_hare_") would be waked, like a corpse. It was unsual in Miramichi and Avalon for a reaper to say "we'll get the hare out of it to-day" to hasten the last day's reaping, but in Peterborough there is no mention of even this vestige of Irish folk custom. the last sheaf of harvest DNE-cit PRINTED ITEM G.M. Story JUL 1974 JH JUL 1974 Used I Used I 1 Used I This citation is a clipping pasted to a card.