A scarecrow is a device, traditionally a human figure dressed in old clothes, or mannequin, that is used to discourage birds such as crows from disturbing crops.[1] Not only do crows feed on recently cast seed, they also gather nightly, starting with groups of a half dozen which then unite to form a group of 20 to 30 and so on until the flock is quite large and noisy. It is their habit to return to the same place each night.
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History
In the Japanese mythology compiled in Kojiki in 712, a scarecrow appears as a deity, Kuebiko, who cannot walk, but knows everything of the world. The 1881 Household Cyclopedia of General Information gives the following advice:
Machinery of various kinds, such as wind-mills in miniature, horse rattles, etc., to be put in motion by the wind, are often employed to frighten crows; but with all of these they soon become familiar, when they cease to be of any use whatever. The most effectual method of banishing them from a corn cob pipe field, as far as experience goes, is to combine with one or other of the scarecrows in vogue the frequent use of the musket. Nothing strikes such terror into these sagacious animals as the sight of a fowling-piece and the explosion of gun powder, which they have known so often to be fatal to their race. Such is their dread of a fowling-piece, that if one is placed upon a dyke or other eminence, it will for a long time prevent them from alighting on the adjacent grounds. Many persons now, however, believe that crows like most other birds, do more good by destroying insects and worms, etc., than harm by eating grain.
—Henry Hartshorne, The Household Cyclopedia of General Information [2]
Crows can be a problem in Spring gardens. They can work down a row pulling up recently sprouted corn to eat the remaining seed/seedlings. In the southern Appalachians another common method of scaring off crows was use of a dead crow hung upside down from a pole. Modern scarecrows seldom take a human shape. On California farmland, highly reflective aluminized PET film ribbons are tied to the plants to create shimmers from the sun. Another approach are automatic noise guns powered with propane gas.
Other names for scarecrows
In the United Kingdom, where the use of scarecrows as a protector of crops dates from time immemorial, and where dialects were rife, there are a wide range of alternative names such as:
Scarecrows in fiction
- In the short story,"Jeremy in the Wind", a homicidal lunatic carries around a life-size scarecrow as a companion.
- The scarecrow was commonly used in 19th century English Literature.
- In American literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Feathertop is about a scarecrow created and brought to life in seventeenth century Salem, Massachusetts by a witch in league with the devil. He is intended to be used for sinister purposes and at first believes himself to be human, but develops human feelings and deliberately cuts his own life short when he realizes what he really is. The basic framework of the story was used by American dramatist Percy MacKaye in his 1908 play The Scarecrow.
- Also in American literature, the L. Frank Baum tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, has a scarecrow as one of the main protagonists. The Scarecrow of Oz was searching for brains from the Great Wizard. In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz was portrayed by Ray Bolger. In the 1914 film His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz the Scarecrow of Oz was portrayed by Frank Moore.
- A Southern Horrorcore Rapper named "Boondox" portrays himself as a scarecrow and even goes by the alias "The SkarCrow"
- There is a DC comic book character known as The Scarecrow. This character is a classic Batman villain. In the film Batman Begins, The Scarecrow is portrayed by actor Cillian Murphy.
- There is a Marvel Comics character called Scarecrow. The Marvel character Straw Man also used the name Scarecrow.
- The scarecrow "Hodmandod" was a frequent character in the Rupert the Bear cartoon series.
- Another animated scarecrow from children's fiction was Worzel Gummidge, who first appeared in series of novels by Barbara Euphan Todd in the 1930s, and later in a popular television adaptation.
- "The Scarecrow" was occasionally the pseudonym of a vicar, Doctor Syn, who moonlighted as a smuggler in a series of novels by Russell Thorndike.
- Scarecrow is a fictional character created by the Australian author, Matthew Reilly. "Scarecrow" is the callsign of Captain Shane M. Schofield who appears in Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow and Hell Island.
- Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, has dressed up as a scarecrow. He is voiced by Chris Sarandon (speech) and Danny Elfman (singing).
- The name of the character Kakashi Hatake, from the Naruto anime and manga series. Although he is not a scarecrow, his name means "farmland scarecrow" or "scarecrow farmland" (Kakashi means "scarecrow" and Hatake means "farmland" in Japanese). He looks tall and sleepy, like fictional scarecrows. He is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese) and Dave Wittenberg (English).
- Scarecrow is also the alias for Kuroda Shinpei, a character from the popular Japanese anime series Boogiepop Phantom. Upon being assassinated by Mo Murder, it is Scarecrow's cape and hat that go on to define Boogiepop's other-wordly image.
- In the novels Wicked and Son of a Witch, the scarecrow is portrayed as an object in a pagan rite that includes human sacrifice. The scarecrows used in this rite then become sometimes sapient and animate, although this is apparently rare.
- In certain role-playing games, such as Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game, there are monster-like versions of scarecrows, brought to life by means of magic.
- In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the player can practice swordsplay on scarecrows. The skull kid in this game also resembles a scarecrow.
- In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a scarecrow makes an appearance and teaches the player a new song on the ocarina.
- In the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, the main character attempts to keep birds from eating his newly sowed corn stalks. As a discouragement, he shoots several of the birds and then hangs them in rows, such as English prisoners. The remaining birds are so frightened that they refuse to even remain in the area. While not the modern idea of a scarecrow, Crusoe does remark, "...I could never see a bird near the place as long as my scarecrows hung there." (Crusoe is generally thought of as the first English novel and it is possible that the word "scarecrow" is derived from this moment of scary crows scaring crows.)
- In a children's story, Kelson the Scarecrow saves Robbie Noel's cornfield by scaring away 1000 crows in one night.
- in the television series The Boondocks, a deleted scene featured Uncle Ruckus showing Robert Freeman, a "ScareNigga", a scarecrow wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe & hood, showing more of Uncle Ruckus's self-hating racism.
- In the television program Family Guy, Peter's Jewish friend Mort Goldman keeps borrowing his possessions, causing Peter to decide to fend off Mort with a "ScareJew", a scarecrow that looks like Adolf Hitler.
- In the children's series Goosebumps Scarecrows live due to a magical spell in the story The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight
- In an episode of Supernatural, an apple farm is the home to a man-eating scarecrow brought to life by an ancient pagan god of crops by the ancestors of the townspeople. They continue to trick people into entering the garden to appease the evil spirit to give them prosperity.
- In the Doctor Who episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood", scarecrows are created by the Family, moving like living creatures by way of "molecular fringe animation". They are used as foot soldiers and for kidnapping people, whom the Family can then possess.
- British band Pink Floyd recorded a song called "The Scarecrow" for their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
- In the opening scenes of Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow", an elderly man riding in a horse-drawn carriage on a stormy night passes an evil-looking scarecrow with a large pumpkin for a head.
References
- ^ Lesley Brown (ed.). (2007). "Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles". 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-9233243.
- ^ Hartshorne, Henry. (1881). "The Household Cyclopedia of General Information". New York: Thomas Kelly.
- ^ Warrack, Alexander (1982). "Chambers Scots Dictionary". Chambers. ISBN 0-550-11801-2.
See also
External links
- British history of the scarecrow
- Photo of a crow trap in Australia
- A typical English scarecrow made of discarded clothing
Bibliography
Scarecrow Fact and Fable, Peter Haining, 1986
