Guldize, Gooldize (sometimes Dicklydize or Nickly Thize) is the harvest festival of the

Cornish people The Cornish people or Cornish ( kw, Kernowyon, ang, Cornƿīelisċ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall: and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons ...

. 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 grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

harvest and took the form of a vast feast usually around the time of the autumnal equinox. The ceremony of

Crying The Neck Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...

took place before the feast, the neck being formed into a

Corn dolly Corn dollies or corn mothers are a form of straw work made as part of harvest customs of Europe before mechanization. Before Christianisation, in traditional pagan European culture it was believed that the spirit of the corn (in American Englis ...

, 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''

References

External links

Video of the 2010 Guldize Feast at Penzance
{{Culture of Cornwall Cornish culture Festivals in Cornwall September observances Harvest festivals Cornish festivals Autumn events in England Autumn holidays (Northern Hemisphere)

Historical description

See also

References

External links