Early Reminiscences of the Hemp Giantesses
“In driving through a part of Bohemia from Vienna to Dresden we had occasionally long stages, and in the twilight often saw, what at the time amazed and not a little startled me, long rows of hemp stacks like a procession of giantesses stalking over the plain…
When the hemp has been harvested, it is dried, and then soaked for a fortnight or three weeks in stagnant and evil-smelling water; the next process is exposure to the sun, in order that its outer bark may rot and fall off. When in this condition the women go into the filthy ponds, where they may be seen by the dozen, standing, almost up to, in some cases entirely up to their middles, anyhow much above their knees, in the black and fetid mud, handing out the decayed hemp to others on the bank. After this stinking mass has been dried in the sun, the hemp is next dressed and disencumbered of its now brittle encasement. This is effected by passing it repeatedly under a wooden chopper, hinged at one end, and fixed in a frame. This bruises and breaks the fibre. I have watched the process and have thought that a good many of us mortals go through this final process in the course of life, to render us flexible and to break our stubborn wills.”
– from ‘Early Reminiscences, 1834-1864’ by Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould
‘Hemp Giantesses’ Sketch by Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould from ‘Early Reminiscences, 1834-1864’ accompanying the story above.
An avid author of novel’s, Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould would become known not for his books but for his song “Onward, Christian Soldiers” still sung by church choir’s around the world today.