The making of a ‘harvest baby’ from the last sheaf of the harvest is a tradition linking back to pre-Christian beliefs. The babban was traditionally held aloft and met with cheers in the field before then taking pride of place at the centre of the Mheillea celebrations which follow, with much dancing and feasting. The babban is then kept on the chimney piece, where it brings good luck or wards of evil in the house, until it is replaced the following year.

The practice of making "corn dollies" stretches across Europe, but the practice on the Isle of Man is unique in both the form which the babban takes and in the way it fits into the wider Mheillea celebrations. The descriptions of the specific Manx tradition which history has left us offer us guidelines for creating our own modern versions of this ancient Manx craft custom.

In this short video, John ‘Dog’ Callister, explains something of the tradition and demonstrates how it can be done.

The video can be viewed on the following sites:

Video on website:  http://www.culturevannin.im/video_story_491529.html
Video on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/3DV_DJlLurw
Video on Vimeo:  https://vimeo.com/232470486