Silas Lamson invented the curved scythe snath.

One hand rests against his hip, and the other hand grasps the snath of a scythe that rests across his shoulders.

The handle, called a snath, would ordinarily be of a hardwood indigenous to the area of manufacture with small handholds, strategically placed, termed nibs.

Checking the Tools And the Champagne "Cold Mountain" is filled with flavorful details: language (tools like maul and froe, spurtle, fleam and snath), crops, food and, books.

It is a scythe with an arrangement of fingers attached to the snath, snathe or snaith (handle), such that the cut grain falls upon the fingers and can be cleanly laid down in a row for collection.

It is a studious sweeping crescent in which the trick is to keep the heel (where blade joins snath) close to the ground, an angle that tilts the scythe point-up, preventing it from catching in the ground."

His four-concert mini-festival, "Warmer by the Stove," is to open at the Lotus Fine Arts Center in Chelsea on Jan. 24 and feature three fanciful new musical instruments designated the triolin, aerolin and snath.