Scarecrow
Encyclopedia
Decoy
A decoy is usually a person, device or event meant as a distraction, to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.-Duck decoy:The term duck decoy may...
, though traditionally, a human figure (or mannequin
Mannequin
A mannequin is an often articulated doll used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, and others especially to display or fit clothing...
) dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s such as crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
s or sparrow
Sparrow
The sparrows are a family of small passerine birds, Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, or Old World sparrows, names also used for a genus of the family, Passer...
s from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.
History
Kojiki
is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four home islands of Japan, and the Kami...
, the oldest surviving book in Japan (compiled in the year 712
712
Year 712 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 712 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Ansprand succeeds Aripert as king of the...
), a scarecrow known as Kuebiko
Kuebiko
is the Shinto kami of knowledge and agriculture, represented in Japanese mythology as a scarecrow who cannot walk but has comprehensive awareness.-Names:...
appears as a deity who cannot walk, yet knows everything about the world.
The 1881 Household Cyclopedia of General Information
Household Cyclopedia
The Household Cyclopedia was an American guide to housekeeping published in 1881.- External links :**...
gives the following advice:
Crows can be a substantial problem for gardens in the springtime: 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, though still essentially decoys, seldom take a human shape. On California farmland, highly reflective aluminized PET film
PET film (biaxially oriented)
BoPET is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation.A variety of companies manufacture boPET and other...
ribbons are tied to the plants to create shimmers from the sun. Another approach is automatic noise guns powered by propane gas.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where the use of scarecrows as a protector of crops date from time immemorial, and where dialects were rife, there are a wide range of alternative names such as:
- Tattie Bogal (Isle of Skye)
- Mommet (SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
) - Murmet (DevonDevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
) - Hodmedod (BerkshireBerkshireBerkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
) - Tattie bogle(ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
), Bodach-rocais (lit. "old man of the rooks") - Bwbach (WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
)
Alternative names for scarecrows also include these localized versions:
- Tao-tao (Philippines)
- Bogle
- Flay-crow
- Mawpin
- Mawkin
- Bird-scarer
- Moggy
- Shay
- Guy
- Bogeyman
- Shuft
- Rook-scarer
- Kelson
- Espantapájaros (Spanish)
- Nuffara (Maltese)
- Espantalho (Portuguese)
- Epouvantail (French)
- Vogelscheuche (German)
- Vogelverschrikker (Dutch)
- Kakashi (Japanese)
- Spaventapasseri (Italian)
- Bijuka (Hindi)
- Sola Kolla Bommai (Tamil)
(Trudgill, Peter. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society. London: Penguin Books, 2000)
In literature and film
In the 1719 novel Robinson CrusoeRobinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
, by Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
, 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 to use the term and it is possible that the term owes its popularity to this appearance.)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
's short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"Feathertop
Feathertop
"Feathertop" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1852.-Plot summary:In seventeenth century New England, the witch Mother Rigby builds a scarecrow to protect her garden...
" is about a scarecrow created and brought to life in seventeenth century Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
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
Percy MacKaye
Percy MacKaye was an American dramatist and poet.-Biography:MacKaye was born in New York City, New York. After graduating from Harvard in 1897, he traveled in Europe for three years, residing in Rome, Switzerland and London, studying at the University of Leipzig in 1899–1900...
in his 1908 play The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow (play)
The Scarecrow is a play written by Percy MacKaye in 1908, and first presented on Broadway in 1911. It is based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Feathertop", but greatly expands upon the tale...
.
L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
has a scarecrow as one of the main protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s. The Scarecrow of Oz
Scarecrow (Oz)
The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
was searching for brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
s from the Great Wizard. In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
The Scarecrow of Oz was portrayed by Ray Bolger
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
. In the 1914 film His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz the Scarecrow of Oz was portrayed by Frank Moore.
Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge is a British children's fictional character who originally appeared in a series of books by the novelist Barbara Euphan Todd. A walking, talking scarecrow, Gummidge has a set of interchangeable turnip, mangel worzel and swede heads, each of which suit a particular occasion or endow...
, a scarecrow who came to life in a friendly form, first appeared in series of novels by Barbara Euphan Todd
Barbara Euphan Todd
Barbara Euphan Todd was a British writer, most notable for her children's books about the scarecrow Worzel Gummidge....
in the 1930s, and later in a popular television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
adaptation.
The Scarecrow is the alter ego of the Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn
Doctor Syn
The Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn is the smuggler hero of a series of novels by Russell Thorndike. The first book, Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh was published in 1915. The story idea came from smuggling in the 18th century Romney Marsh, where brandy and tobacco were brought in at night...
, the smuggler-Robin-Hood hero in a series of novels written by Russell Thorndike. The first book, Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh, was published in 1915. The story was made into a movie (1937) and later taken up by Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
in 1963 and dramatized for its Sunday night audience as Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh starring Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
.
A film directed by Jerry Schatzberg
Jerry Schatzberg
Jerry Schatzberg is a photographer and film director.-Career:Schatzberg was born to a Jewish family of furriers and grew up in the Bronx. He photographed for magazines such as Vogue, Esquire and McCalls. He made his debut as a feature film director with 1970's Puzzle of a Downfall Child starring...
in 1973 starring Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
and Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
is titled Scarecrow
Scarecrow (1973 film)
Scarecrow is a 1973 road movie starring Gene Hackman and Al Pacino.-Synopsis:The story revolves around the odd relationship between two vagabonds: Max Milian , a short-tempered ex-convict, and Francis Lionel "Lion" Delbuchi , a childlike ex-sailor...
and deals with two characters on a journey reminiscent of the one in L. Frank Baum's book. The film also features a dialogue regarding scarecrows which presents the idea that the crows find scarecrows funny, and crows, as a sign of gratitude for the laughter, decide to keep off of crops where scarecrows are posted.
"Scarecrow" is the callsign of Captain Shane M. Schofield
Shane Schofield
Captain Shane Michael Schofield, USMC is a fictional character, whose exploits form the basis of a series created by the Australian author, Matthew Reilly. He appears in Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves and the spin off Hell Island...
who appears in Ice Station, Area 7
Area 7 (novel)
Area 7 is a novel written by Australian thriller writer Matthew Reilly. It is his fourth book, published in 2001, and is the sequel to Ice Station.-Plot summary:...
, Scarecrow
Scarecrow (novel)
Scarecrow is the fifth Matthew Reilly novel, and the third to feature the main character Captain Shane Schofield, USMC. It was released in 2003.-Plot summary:As well as Schofield, Mother, Gant, and Book II all return from previous Schofield adventures....
and Hell Island
Hell Island (novella)
Hell Island is a horror/adventure novella written in conjunction with the Australian Books Alive promotion, by thriller writer Matthew Reilly. While it is the fourth book released in the Shane Schofield series, it is stand alone novella in the Shane Schofield universe, supplementing the storylines...
by Australian author Matthew Reilly
Matthew Reilly
Matthew John Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.- Biography :...
.
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy is an Irish film and theatre actor. He is often noted by critics for his chameleonic performances in diverse roles and distinctive blue eyes and general sex appeal....
portrays the Scarecrow in the 2005 feature film Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
and the 2008 sequel The Dark Knight. In the film, Jonathan Crane is the lead psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum and also working with mobster Carmine Falcone, declaring his arrested henchmen insane so they can be released quicker. However, he also conducts experiments on his patients, using a fear toxin developed with Ra's al Ghul to break their minds. This version just wears a poorly stitched burlap sack with a built-in rebreather, doubling as a gas mask. Murphy explained that the relatively simple mask was done because "[He] wanted to avoid the Worzel Gummidge look, because he's not a very physically imposing man - he's more interested in the manipulation of the mind and what that can do."[14]
In Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
Season 1, Episode 11, entitled Scarecrow, two hunters (brothers Sam and Dean) of evil spirits travel to a small town in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
where couples have gone missing the same day each year, only to discover the local farmers are sacrificing the innocent victims in order to end a geographic blight
Blight
Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. It is simply a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs. Accordingly, many diseases that primarily exhibit this...
long cursing the region, to a Pagan God who takes the form of a scarecrow.
In the British TV series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
two episodes, Human Nature and Family of Blood, contain numerous scarecrows used as henchmen for the episodes' antagonists. They are animated through an unknown scientific method. In the end one of the antagonists is left conscious, but paralyzed, in a field disguised as a scarecrow.
Comics
The ScarecrowScarecrow (comics)
The Scarecrow is a fictional character, a supervillain, that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in World's Finest Comics #3 and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane...
is a character in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe, a classic supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
and one of Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
's greatest enemies. Similar characters, known as Scarecrow
Scarecrow (Marvel Comics)
The Scarecrow is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe, in which he is an enemy of Captain America, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, and Iron Man. His first appearance was in Tales of Suspense #51....
and Straw Man
Straw Man (comics)
The Scarecrow, later named Straw Man, is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He is an extra-dimensional magical entity which takes vengeance on its enemies, and was invited by Dweller-in-Darkness to join the Fear Lords, but he betrayed them to Doctor...
, have appeared in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
.
A scarecrow called Mervyn Pumpkinhead is one of the dreams who serve Dream of the Endless in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (Vertigo) series. Mervyn is a builder of dreamscapes as well as a caretaker or maintenance worker of sorts.
Kakashi Hatake
Kakashi Hatake
is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. Kishimoto originally planned to introduce Kakashi in the manga to the series' titular character, Naruto Uzumaki, early on, but pushed back this meeting so that Naruto's teammates could be better developed.In...
is a main character in the manga series Naruto
Naruto
is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
. His name means "field scarecrow" in Japanese and in the anime adaptation he is seen to trick his team on a few occasions by using scarecrow's as decoys.
Music
DisneyThe Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
created a themesong for its 1963 Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, which included the lyrics, "Scarecrow! Scarecrow! The soldiers of the King feared his name. Scarecrow! Scarecrow! The country folk all loved him just the same. SCARECROW!". It was written by Terry Gilkyson
Terry Gilkyson
Hamilton H. Gilkyson III , better known as Terry Gilkyson, was an American folk singer, composer, and lyricist.-Biography:...
. It is available on DVD as "Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh" in Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Eight
Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Eight
-The Chronological Donald, Volume Four:This set is the final volume on Donald and contains the remaining Donald shorts and featurettes from 1951-1961. However, this sets leaves out the three Chip 'n' Dale solo shorts...
.
British band Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
recorded a song called "The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow (Pink Floyd song)
"The Scarecrow" is a song on Pink Floyd's debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn , though it first appeared as the B-side of their second single "See Emily Play" two months before...
" for their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the debut album by the English rock group Pink Floyd, and the only one made under founding member Syd Barrett's leadership. The album contains whimsical lyrics about space, scarecrows, gnomes, bicycles and fairy tales, along with psychedelic instrumental songs...
, while Southern horrorcore
Horrorcore
Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based in horror-themed lyrical content and imagery. While the style is rarely popular, some performers have sold well in the mainstream scene.-Origins:...
rapper Boondox
Boondox
David Hutto is an American rapper from Covington, Georgia. Hutto is most commonly known as Boondox, whose stage persona is that of a killer scarecrow. He is currently signed to Psychopathic Records.-Biography:...
's stage act incorporates scarecrow imagery. In January 2008 Avantasia
Avantasia
Avantasia is a heavy metal project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist and frontman of the band Edguy. The project's title is a portmanteau of the words "avalon" and "fantasia" and describes "a world beyond human imagination"...
, a heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
project by Edguy
Edguy
-Demos, AFM years :Edguy was founded in 1992 by 14-year-old students Tobias Sammet, Jens Ludwig, Dominik Storch and Dirk Sauer. The name "Edguy" was an affectionate epithet for Mr. Edgar Siedschlag, their math teacher at the time. In 1994, the band released two demos, Evil Minded and Children of...
's vocalist Tobias Sammet
Tobias Sammet
Tobias Sammet is the vocalist and primary songwriter of the German Power metal band Edguy, as well as the creator of the metal opera Avantasia and a member of the metal project Final Chapter. He also made guest appearances on the Rob Rock album Holy Hell and the metal opera Aina...
released an album called The Scarecrow.
John Cougar Mellencamp's Scarecrow album, which peaked at No. 2 in the Fall of 1985, spawned five Top 40 singles including "Rain on the Scarecrow" (#21).
A song on Psalm 69
Psalm 69
Psalm 69 is the 69th psalm of the Book of Psalms.-Judaism:*Verse 7 is found in the repetition of the Mussaf Amidah on Rosh Hashanah.*Verses 14 and 32 is recited in the blessings before the Shema on the second day of Rosh Hashanah....
by American band Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
is named "Scarecrow".
The album Peepshow
Peepshow (album)
Peepshow is the ninth studio album by the English band Siouxsie and the Banshees and their first as a quintet. With the arrival of multi-instrumentalist Martin McCarrick, Peepshow was one of their most musically complex albums, including the singles "Peek-a-Boo" and "The Last Beat of My...
by British band Siouxsie and the Banshees contains a track called "Scarecrow".
Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
's album Guero
Guero
Guero is the ninth studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck, first released in March 2005 on Interscope Records. It debuted on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart at #2 , and in the UK at #15 . To date, this is Beck's highest charting CD...
contains a song named "Scarecrow".
Lord Infamous, an American rapper and co-founder of the Memphis rap group Three 6 Mafia, is also known as "Scarecrow"
The Japanese band, The Pillows, put out a single titled "Scarecrow" on April 4, 2007.
David Hutto aka Boondox, uses a scarecrow persona for his southern/horrorcore rap style, he is signed to Psychopathic Records
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
released a song entitled S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W, referring to the secret police of the dystopian world created for their 2010 album Danger Days.
Other
In August 2004 a scarecrow dressed as a police woman was stolen from Middleton-in-Teesdale by staff at Loaded magazine who appointed it as guest editor for one issue.Scarecrows are also a type of creature in the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. They act as ordinary scarecrows animated by magical means.
Scarecrow festivals
Isle of Skye, Minginish. Tattie bogal event, Workshops, Scarecrow trail, Family fun Day, and Ceildh & Barn Dance, each year. Scarecrow FestivalIn the UK, the festival at Wray, Lancashire
Wray, Lancashire
Wray is a small village in Lancashire, part of the civil parish of Wray-with-Botton, in the City of Lancaster district. Wray is the point at which the River Roeburn joins the River Hindburn....
was established in the early 1990s and continues to the present day. In the village of Orton, Eden
Orton, Eden
Orton is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, south of Penrith, Cumbria, from Appleby-in-Westmorland, the M6 motorway near to the Lake District. It is set at the foot of Orton Scar in the upper Lune Valley...
, scarecrows are displayed each year, often using topical themes such as a Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
exterminating a Wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
to represent local opposition to a wind farm. Norland, West Yorkshire
Norland, West Yorkshire
Norland is a scattered village to the south of Sowerby Bridge in the metropolitan borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England.-History:...
has a festival. Tetford
Tetford
Tetford is both a village and a parish in the Lincolnshire Wolds, northeast of Horncastle, south of Louth and northwest of Spilsby. It is in a shallow valley, situated at the bottom of a 98 m high ridge on which runs the Bluestone Heath Road...
and Salmonby
Salmonby
Salmonby is a village in the Lincolnshire Wolds, northeast of Horncastle, south of Louth and northwest of Spilsby. Tetford parish lies to the northeast and Somersby parish to the south. The parish covers only about ....
jointly host one. In Teesdale, the villages of Cotherstone, Staindrop and Middleton-in-Teesdale have annual scarecrow festivals. The village of Meerbrook in Staffordshire holds an annual Scarecrow Festival during the month of May. Kettlewell
Kettlewell
Kettlewell is a village in Upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. It lies between the villages of Grassington, Kilnsey and Conistone to the south, Starbotton to the north west, the hamlet of Horsehouse to the north east, and later on Coverdale...
in North Yorkshire has held an annual festival since 1994. Scotland's first scarecrow festival was held in West Kilbride
West Kilbride
West Kilbride is a village in North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the water to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran...
, North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...
in 2004, and there is also one held in Montrose
Montrose, Angus
Montrose is a coastal resort town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. It is situated 38 miles north of Dundee between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers...
.
In Dymchurch on Romney Marsh a man dressed as a scarecrow rode down the street annually since 1964 in celebration of local author Russel Thorndike's Dr Syn books, however in 2008 he was required to walk due to health and safety regulations. Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
also host an annual , organised by the local Rotary Club to raise money for local charities. In the USA, St. Charles, Illinois
St. Charles, Illinois
St. Charles is a Chicago suburb in Kane and DuPage counties of Illinois, United States, and is roughly west of Chicago on Illinois Route 64. According to a 2004 census estimate, the city has a total population of 32,134. The official city slogan is Pride of the Fox, after the Fox River that runs...
hosts an annual
The 'pumpkin people' come in the fall months in the valley region of Nova Scotia, Canada. They are scarecrows with pumpkin heads doing various things such as playing the fiddle or riding a wooden horse. Cats and pigs made from pumpkins are also present. Hickling, in the south of Nottinghamshire, is another village that celebrates an annual scarecrow event. It is very popular and has successfully raised a great deal of money for charity. http://www.meltontimes.co.uk/news/Village-hands-over-13500.6061185.jp Photographs of some of the hundreds of scarecrows built at Hickling can be found here... http://good-times.webshots.com/album/553956839TVZoQG
See also
- Bird scarerBird scarerA bird scarer is any one of a number devices designed to scare birds, usually employed by farmers to dissuade birds from eating recently planted arable crops....
- KuebikoKuebikois the Shinto kami of knowledge and agriculture, represented in Japanese mythology as a scarecrow who cannot walk but has comprehensive awareness.-Names:...
- KlopotecKlopotecA klopotec is a wooden mechanical device on a high wooden pole, similar to a windmill. It is used as a bird scarer in the vineyards of traditional wine-growing landscapes of Slovenia, Austria and Croatia...
- Kostroma (tradition)
- HenohenomohejiHenohenomohejiHenohenomoheji or hehenonomoheji is a face drawn by Japanese schoolchildren using hiragana characters.The word breaks down into the seven hiragana characters: he , no , he , no , mo , he , and ji...
- Sōzu