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October 2023 - The Scarecros (aka The Boogieman)
Design notes from the artist: Chris Mackey
While considering potential subjects for a fall/Halloween themed coin, scarecrows would keep coming up, but they seemed a little to simple or common. Out of curiosity, I started doing a little digging and what I found was so much more complex than I anticipated. The Scarecrow we think of today has been around for many thousands of years in different forms and different names all around the world. From carved icons of Priapus in Ancient Greece, to raincoat wearing Kakashi figures in Japan, the Scottish Tattybogle watchers, Egyptian crow-scarers, Brittish Gallybaggers, or Zuni skin-poles, the art and methodology of protecting agriculture is as varied as the cultures of the world. The modern scarecrow we imagine today is largely based on the practices of Germanic people who carved and constructed wooden scarecrows to resemble witches or field workers. With devastating losses during the times of plague in the ancient world and the loss of people to watch over crops, the importance of effective scarecrows meant the difference between being well fed or starving to death.
These Bogeyman or Bootzamon (apparently there are both male and female scarecrows that would face each other across a field), are often constructed to resemble humans protecting their fields. Similarly, to their Asian counterparts, they would often be armed with tools (or weapons), wearing hats, and their loose clothing would move easily in the wind to mimic movement. In addition, they're often elevated higher for visibility much like North American natives would use raised wooden platforms to keep watch over their fields and chase away birds, deer and rodents. For added effectiveness, scarecrows would often be carved or drawn with horrid terrifying expressions to chase away bad spirits. Their bodies might be stuffed with items believed to add magical protection such as rune carved stones, hematite, violet, thistle, honeysuckle or fennel. Some would hold aloft burning torches or lanterns at night to scare away night feeding animals as well.
All of these various methods and styles result in Scarecrows that can be either wonderfully whimsical or terribly frightening. Horror movies notwithstanding, the "simple" realistic and frightening scarecrow can be quite difficult to build as anyone who's done so can attest. I wonder what kind of scarecrow I might build to protect my next cache? A coiled snake? A hanging bat? A mechanical spider that leaps out at your hands? Trick or treat has just taken on a whole new meaning for Halloween caching!
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