The tradition of plaiting or braiding straw into simple or complex figures
can be found all over the world.
It is believed that they were originally made as offerings to the Harvest Goddess or Earth Mother, possibly as an alternative to the sacrificial killing of the person to cut the last of the standing corn.
In Britain the plaiting of a figure from the last sheaf to be cut was a harvest custom for centuries, dying out with the advent of the combined harvester.