Piece of straw.

Collection type: Object
Description: Piece of straw.
Geographical reference: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; England Oxfordshire Oxford
Cultural groups: English
Person: Maker Unknown Maker; Field collector Henry Balfour; PRM source Henry Balfour
Date / Period: Date made: 1800-1899
Date collected: By 1934
Acquisition information: Donated: 1934
Materials and processes: Material Straw Fibre Plant
Dimensions: Length: max 33 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1934.4.17
Associated publications: Mentioned in Ellen Ettlinger, Folklore vol 54, no. 1, (March 1943) pp 227-249, 'We come now to the last group which comprises charms, and it seems to me that they are nowhere better represented than in the Pitt Rivers Museum. I found it helpful to arrange the specimens according to the classification: Imitative and Contagious Magic. [Sir James Frazer, The Golden Bough 3rd ed. Part i (London 1911) vol i p 52] Imitative Magic means that any desired effect can be produced by merely imitating it. A good example is provided by four short pieces of straw, cut at each side of a nodd, "which were used by an old woman in St Ebbes, Oxford, about 1895 for curing warts. The straw was rubbed over the wart nine times with incantations and was then buried in the backyard. As the straw would decay very quickly the warts were supposed to vanish correspondingly.' [p 244]

Search terms: Plant, Specimen, Medicine, Religion

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