The Stones of Venice, Volume 2 (of 3), by John Ruskin

6. JUNE. _Reaping._ The corn and sickle sculptured with singular care

and precision, in bold relief, and the zodiacal sign, the Crab, above, also worked with great spirit. Spenser puts plough irons into his hand. Sometimes he is sheep-shearing; and, in English and northern French manuscripts, carrying a kind of fagot or barrel, of the meaning of which I am not certain.