Mell Supper
Preserved but no longer current.
Harvest supper; in Scotland and the northern counties the last sheaf of corn cut is called the mell, and when the harvest is borne a woman carries a mell-doll* i.e. a straw image dressed up like a young girl, on top of a pole among the reapers.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Mell Supper” mean?
Harvest supper; in Scotland and the northern counties the last sheaf of corn cut is called the mell, and when the harvest is borne a woman carries a mell-doll* i.e. a straw image dressed up like a young girl, on top of a pole among the reapers.
Is “Mell Supper” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.