Hello, dolly!

IN Andy Weir’s 2011 novel The

Martian , an astronaut is accidentally abandoned on Mars. Determined to survive, the man attempts to cultivate potatoes in the red planet’s unforgiving landscape. A storm destroys the entire crop and there is no other food supply. It’s a stark reminder of the predicament our ancestors faced; a poor harvest was the difference between life and death.

Myriad rituals developed around growing food stuffs, including offerings of the first fruits to the gods. Rites became increasingly theatrical. In the Hebrides, in one of many variations of the traditions around