Mowing devil

The Mowing Devil of Hartfordshire is the title of an English woodcut pamphlette published in 1678.

The pamphlette tells of a farmer who, refusing to pay the price demanded by a labourer to mow his field, swore that he would rather that the Devil mowed it instead.

According to the pamphlette, that night his field appeared to be in flame. The next morning, the field was found to be perfectly mowed – supernaturally perfect, in fact.

This pamphlette, and the accompanying illustration, is often cited as among the first recorded cases of crop circles by cereologists.

See also: Early Crop Circles