A Horn of Plenty

Ceres, the Roman Goddess of Mother Earth and the protectoress of agriculture, is often portrayed with a horn taken from a ram that is filled with flowers and fruits. It has been described as a horn from the head of a goat from which Jupiter was suckled when nursed by Amalthaea, the wife of King Ammon. This description was reworded from The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, which was put together by the Reverend E. Cobham Brewer.

Therefore this post, to those that read this, will be a collection of agricultural nuggets taken from a variety of sources. I hope that they help to remind you of agricultural traditions from your country and I would love to hear from you of these.

There is a nursery rhyme that talks of the Jolly Miller who lived on the River Dee. This was about a real life mill at Chester from the 11th century, who was the envy of Henry the Eighth due to his vast independence and wealth. The mill was burnt down in the late 1800s after the death of the Jolly Miller's last relation. (Mulherin, 1981)

The nursery rhyme of Baa, Baa, Black Sheep has been known for 200 years and even Rudyard Kipling, the Sussex author, used it in his book of the same title (Mulherin, 1981). Maybe it has something to do with a bag of wool going to the master and the master could be the church or the landlord. Anyone know? The phrase "Black Sheep" are often used to describe workmen who will not join in with a strike, they are looked on with disgust by shepherds and are not as valuable as white ones (Brewer 1978).

The nursery rhyme of Oranges and Lemons may have something to do with the citrus fruits, but it also helps to describe the ringing peal of church bells. The first church is thought either to be the church of St. Clement's in Eastcheap, which was near to the wharves in East London where the citrus fruit was unloaded from the ships. It could also be a church that was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the church of St. Clement Danes (Mulherin, 1981).

There are many nursery rhymes and allegorical tales that include farmyard animals. For example, the aforementioned "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", as well as these ones including "Mary had a little lamb", "This little pig went to market" and hopefully they help to explain animal differentiation for young children. The last rhyme describes one pig who eats roasts beef. There are also a lot of rhymes that describe people with food, Little Tommy Tucker sings for his supper, Jack Sprat with his inability to eat fat and old Simple Simon who never got to eat a pie. Naturally, there are rhymes that combine both food and animals, one example being a of a fox who took a grey goose back to his family in the den. (Mulherin 1981)

We are all in the process of making food or drink for the masses and it is not that amazing that our livelihood permeates both through culture and history. So, are there any of you reading this who know of similar nursery rhymes or allegorical tales that detail our agricultural inheritance? I would love to hear from you. Meanwhile next week, I shall endeavour to translate one of the previous blog posts into a few European languages.

The two books used in this blog post are Brewer, E. C. (1978) The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" Avenel Publishing and originally written in 1870.

Mulherin, J. (1981) Popular Nursery Rhymes - Mother Goose Rhymes with Explanations and Illustrations Granada Publishing

It was interesting to note that in The Telegraph (22nd of August 2011) that "Farmers are using social media to promote business and boost profits." An online survey by JCB Workwear found that 53% of an interviewed 1,000 people used sites like Twitter and Facebook to find up to date information and sharing information. Have you recently converted to social media on the Internet to help your business?