John Barleycorn must die

On meeting with a friend after work at New Brewery Arts centre in Cirencester, she urged me to visit the exhibition after we'd had a drink.

I'm glad I did! The exhibition, entitled John Barleycorn must die, centres on the song and story of John Barleycorn, the spirit of the Barley crop, who resides in the grain. As the reapers come, John Barleycorn retreats into the last few stands of Barley. When the final straws are cut, a harvest trophy or corn dolly is fashioned from these straws, to provide a safe home for John Barleycorn over the winter months. Some say this corn dolly 'home' also protects the agricultural workers, whose livelihood depends on the success and recurrence of the harvest.

Central to the exhibition was this life size figure of John Barleycorn, with his face made of straw and corn dollies, and his body clad in a raggedy suit of strips of hessian sacking. There was also a film, a set of pots and skulls, an an elaborate display of corn dollies, a wall-sized photograph of JB, as well as a hurdy-gurdy soundtrack of the John Barleycorn song tune. All in all, it was decidedly eerie, but explained much that I had not understood before, including who is John Barleycorn and why he must, apparently, die every year.

More about John Barleycorn here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barleycorn

Following this visit, we drove back to Brimscombe, near Stroud, to find a second hand furniture place that my friend was looking for. She didn't get a wardrobe, as planned, but found a bedside cabinet instead. I was tempted by a sofa bed, but it's really a sofa that I want, to replace Steve's little daybed.

When we got back to Stroud, not one, not two, but six hot air balloons flew over the house!