Guldize, Gooldize (sometimes Dicklydize or Nickly Thize) is the harvest festival of the
Cornish people
Cornish people or the Cornish (, ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall: and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which (like the Welsh people, Welsh and Breton people, Bretons) can trace its roots to ...
. Guldize is an anglicization of Cornish ''Gool dheys'' "the feast of ricks" (i.e., grain stacks). The festival was held at the end of the
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
harvest and took the form of a vast feast usually around the time of the
autumnal equinox. The ceremony of
Crying The Neck took place before the feast, the neck being formed into a
Corn dolly, which presided over the celebrations.
[AK Hamilton Jenking ''Cornish Homes and Customs'' 1932] Since 2008 a revived Guldize celebration has been held in Penzance and since 2010 in several other locations across Cornwall.
Historical description
A. K. Hamilton Jenkin wrote in his book ''Cornish Homes and Customs'',
The playing of music and communal singing followed sometimes throughout the night.
A number of songs in particular have been recorded as being sung on these occasions, including "Green Brooms", "Here's a health to the barley mow", and "Harvest Home".
A number of customs were also associated with the feast; a man would have been chosen to rush to the site of the feast with the corn neck and enter the building by stealth avoiding an appointed lady who would have soaked the carrier of the neck if discovered. If this game was successful then the carrier of the neck would have been entitled to take a kiss from the female "guard" of the property.
The earliest reference to Guldize was in 1602 by
Richard Carew in his ''Survey of Cornwall''.
[Richard Carew, 1602 ''Survey of Cornwall'']
See also
*
Golowan festival
*
Allantide
Allantide (, meaning ''first day of winter'', or ''Nos Kalan Gwav'', meaning ''eve of the first day of winter'' and ''Dy' Halan Gwav'', meaning ''day of the first day of winter''), also known as Saint Allan's Day or the Feast of Saint Allan, is ...
*
Furry dance
*
Harvest festival
A harvest festival is an annual Festival, celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different ...
References
External links
Video of the 2010 Guldize Feast at Penzance
{{Culture of Cornwall
Culture of Cornwall
Festivals in Cornwall
September observances
Harvest festivals
Cornish festivals
Autumn in England
Autumn holidays (Northern Hemisphere)
Autumn equinox