Notes And References
I HAVE scarcely anything to add to the
general account of the collection of Celtic Fairy Tales which I gave in the
predecessor to this volume. Since the appearance of that volume in 1891, the
publication of such tales has gone on apace. Mr. Curtin has published in the
New York "Sun "no less than fifty more Irish fairy tales, one of which he
has been good enough to place at my disposal for the present volume. Mr.
Larminie has published with Mr. E. Stock a volume of West Irish Fairy
Tales, of which I have also the privilege of presenting a specimen. A
slight volume of Welsh Fairy Tales, published by Mr. Nutt, and a few fairy
anecdotes contained in the Prize Essay on Welsh Folk-lore by the Rev. Mr.
Evans, sum up Cambria's contribution to our subject during the past three
years. The fifth volume of the "Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition, "just
about to appear at the moment of writing, is the sole addition to Celtic Fairy
Tales from the country of J. F. Campbell. Taken altogether, something like a
hundred previously unpublished tales from Celtdom have been rendered
accessible to the world since I last wrote, a by no means insignificant
outcome in three years. It is at any rate clear, that the only considerable
addition to our folk-lore knowledge in these isles must come from the Gaelic
area. The time of harvest can be but short ; may the workers be many, willing,
and capable.
Xxvii. The Fate Of The Children Of Lir.
\"Sources".- Abridged from the text and
translation published by the Society for the Preservation of the Irish
Language in 1883. This merely follows the text and version given by Professor
O'Curry in "Atlantis, "iv. He used three Dublin MSS., none of them,
however, of earlier date than the eighteenth century. Dr. Joyce gives a free
paraphrase in his Old Celtic Romances.
Parallels. -
For "Jealous Stepmother," see the bibliographical references in the
list of incidents at the end of my paper on the Science of Folk.tales" in
the "Transactions of the Folk-lore Congress, sub voce. "Add Miss Roalfe
Cox in "Folk-lore Journal "vii. app. 37 also the same list "sub voce "Swan
Maiden Transformation." In modern Irish literature Griffin has included
the tale in his "Tales of the Jury-room', "and Tom Moore's "Song of
Fiounala" beginning "Silent, O Moyle"is founded upon it.
Remarks.-The " Fate
of the Children of Lir" is always referred to along with "The Story
of Deirdre " (cf "the "Celtic Fairy Tales, "ix.), and the
"Children of Tuireann" as one of the Three Sorrowful Tales of Erin.
But there is no evidence of equal antiquity to the other two stories, of which
one is as old as the eleventh century. From the interspersed verse O'Curry
concluded, however, that the story was at least of considerable antiquity, and
the references to the unknown Saint Mochaomhog confirm his impression. The
Hill of the White Field is near Newton Hannton, in the county of Armagh. The
Lake of the Red Eye is Lough Derg, in the Shannon above Killaloe.
Fingula is Fair Shoulder. The tradition
that swans are inviolable is still extant in Ireland. A man named Connor
Griffin killed eleven swans: he had previously been a prosperous man, and
shortly after. wards his son was drowned in the Shannon, his goods were lost,
and his wife died "(Children of Lir, "Dublin edit., note, p. 87). In
County Mayo it is believed that the souls of pure virgins are after death
enshrined in the forms of swans ; if anybody injures them, it is thought he
will die within a year (Walter's "Natural History of the Birds of Ireland, "pp.94-5).
Mr. Gomme concludes from this that the swan was at one time a British totem (Arch.
Rev., iii. 226-7).
At first sight the tale seems little more
than an argument against the Bill for Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister,
but the plaintive lays of Fingula, the touching detail of the swans flying
over the desolate hill and White Field, give a touch of Celtic glamour to the
whole story. There is probably also a deep religious significance implied in
the fact that the wicked Aunt Stepmother's spell is broken when the
transformed Children of Lir come across the first Christian they meet.
Mr. Nutt has kindly communicated the
following remarks on this tale:-
The Fate of the Children of Lir belongs
formally to the so-called mythological cycle, the personages of which are the
Tuatha de Danann. The Irish annalists of the 10th-11th
centuries described these as members of one of the races which possessed
Ireland in pre-Christian times before the coming of the Milesians. But even in
the most strongly euhemerised accounts the mythic nature of these beings is
apparent, and most modern scholars are agreed that they are in fact the
members of a Pagan Irish Pantheon. They live on to this very day in Irish
folk-belief as chiefs and rulers of the fairies.
The MS. evidence for some of the stories
concerning the Tuatha de Danann is as old as that for the oldest heroic cycle
(the Ultonian of Conchobar and Cuchulainn). But the Tuatha de Danann legends
have retained throughout Irish literature greater plasticity and vitality than
those of the Ultonian cycle, and many stories are not older in their present
state than the 14th and 15th centuries. This is probably the case with the
present story. The oldest known MS. only goes back to 1718, but this and the
MS. of 1721, used by O'Curry for hs edition, are certainly copied from much
older MSS.
The interesting question for storiologists
is whether the themes of the story - the swan-metamorphosis consequent upon
the step-mother's jealousy, and the protecting role assigned to the sister-are
of old native or of recent imported nature. In support of the first
hypothesis, it may be noted that the theme of stepmotherly jealousy was
current in Ireland in the 10th century at the latest, as it is woven into the
saga of the Destruction of Daderga's Fort (see my article "Folk-lore,"
ii.). The final episode of the sudden aging of the miraculously long-lived
swans is also genuinely Irish, but its true significance is obscured in our
story in a way that sufficiently demonstrates the late and secondary character
of the text. The idea is that the dwellers in Faery, whether fairy-folk or
mortals penetrating thither, enjoy perpetual life, forfeited by the latter the
moment they return to this earth. As children of the Tuatha de Danann,
Fionngula and her brothers are deathless, and the episode as it stands in our
text results from a contamination of the original form of the story in which
the swan-metamorphosis was annulled under certain conditions (the removal of
the chains), when the original shape was resumed, and the familiar story of
the mortal returning from Faery after hundreds of years, which he deems to be
but a short space of time, shrinking into dust the moment he touches earth.
There is a well-known Continental folk-taIe
- the "Seven Swans" (or Ravens) of which we possess several
medieval (12th to 13th century) versions, all connected with the romance of
the "Swan Knight." M. Gaston Paris has studied the whole story group
"(Romania, "xix. 314,
the swans owe their shape-shifting capacity to the superhuman nature of their
mother ; this trait has been almost effaced even in the oldest versions. The
distinguishing mark of the swans in all the versions is the possession of
silver or gold chains, which are what may be called metamorphosis tokens ; it
follows from this that the contamination of the two story-types ("Seven
Swans" and "Swan Knight") must be older than the oldest version
of the first story, as these chains can only be derived from the one with
which in the Swan Knight saga the swan draws the knight back.
In "Romania "(xxi. 62, "seq.")
M. Ferd. Lot examines the question in the light of our tale. He points out
that it indicates clearly the super human nature of the mother, and that as
the silver chains figure in the story, they cannot be due in the Continental
versions to contamination with the Swan Knight saga, as M. Gaston Paris
imagines. M. Lot evidently inclines to look upon them as talismans, the
abandonment of which was the original cause of the metamorphosis, and the
handling of which at the end brings about the change back to human shape. He
points out that these chains form an essential part of the gear of beings
appearing in bird guise (especially if they belong to Faery); thus in the
10th-century 'Sickbed of Cuchulaion' the goddesses Fand and Liban appear as
two swans united by a golden chain; in the 8th to 9th century Conception of
Cuchulainn, Dechtire, the mother of the hero by the god Lug, appears with her
companions in the guise of many-hued birds linked together by chains of silver
(or red gold in one version). The MS. evidence for these tales reaches back to
the early 11th century.
Curiously enough, M. Lot has not cited the
closest parallel to our tale from old Irish literature, and one which is
certainly connected with it in some measure, the fine story called the
"Dream of Angus." A story of this title is cited in the epic catalogue of
the Book of Leinster (which dates back to the early I ith century) as one of
the introductory stories to the Tam bo Cuailgne. This assumed its present
shape substantially between 650 and 750. The introductory stories had
originally no connection with it, and were invented or re-shaped in the 8th to
10th centuries, after the Tam had taken undisputed place as the leading Irish
epic. The tale may therefore be ascribed provisionally to the 9th century, if
we can only be sure that the existing version, preserved in a single MS. of
the 15th century, is a faithful copy of the original. There need be no doubt
as to this. The text is due to a Christian scribe, and, like nearly alt
portions of the mythological cycle, betrays signs of Christian influence,
though not of Christian remodelling. Such influence is, however, far more
likely to have exerted itself in the first stage of the written existence of
these tales, when the memory of organised paganism was still tenacious, than
later, when the tales had become subject-matter for the play of free poetic
fancy. The story, printed and translated by Dr. E. Muller, "Rev". Celt.
iv. 342, one
year they are in swan shape the next in human shape. They appear as white
birds with silvery chains and golden caps around their heads. Angus changes
himself into a swan to he with her, and it is recorded of the music they made
that "people fell asleep for three days and three nights." The
soporific power of music is that which is chiefly commended in old Irish
literature.
I think it is obvious that the writer of
our story was familiar with this and other legends in which swan-maids
encircled with gold and silver chains appear, and that we may fairly draw the
following conclusions from the preceding facts : There existed an Irish
folk-tale of a king with two wives, one a water or sea fairy, whose children
derive from her the capacity of shape-shifting dependent upon certain
talismans ; jealousy impels the human wife to tamper with these talismans, and
the children are condemned to remain in their animal form. This folk-tale was,
probably at some time in the 14th or 15th century, arbitrarily fitted into the
"cadre "of the Tuatha de Danann cycle, and entirely re-fashioned in a
spirit of pious edification by a man who was in his way a great and admirable
artist. The origin and nature of the story, all the elements of which are
genuinely national, assured for it wide and lasting popularity. The evolution
of the Irish folk-tale is in no way dependent upon that of the Continental
folk-tale of the Seven Swans, but it is possible that the Celtic presentiment
of the chain-girdled swans may have influenced it as well as the Swan Knight
Romance.
Xxviii. Jack The Cunning Thief.
Sources.- Kennedy,
"Stories of Ireland, "pp- 38-46 ; Campbell, "West Highland Tales, i. "320
"seq. ; "The Shifty Lad," Dasent, Popular Tales from the
Norse, pp.232-51, Master Thief." Khler has a number
of variants in his notes on Campbell "Orient und Occident "Band ii. Mr.
Clouston has a monograph on the subject in his "Popular Tales, "ii.
115-65. A separate treatise on the subject has been given by S. Prato, 1882,
La "Leggenda di Rhampsinite. "Both these writers connect the modern
folk-tales with Herodotus' story of King Rampsinites. Mr. Knowles in his Folk-tales
of Kashmir, has a number of adventures of "Sharaf the Thief."
The story of " Master Thief" has been heard among the tramps in
London workhouses (Mayhew, "London Labour and London Poor, "iii. 119).
Remarks.-Thievery
is universally human, and at first sight it might seem that there was no
connection between these various versions of the " Master Thief."
But the identity of the tricks by which the popular hero-thief gains his ends
renders it impossible that they should have been independently invented
wherever they are found,
Xxix. Powel, Prince Of Dyfed.
Source.-Lady
Guest's "Mabinogion, "with the names slightly anglicised, and omitting
the opening incident.
Parallels.-For the
incident of tearing off the hands, "cf "Morraha; the enchanted hill and
maiden occur at the beginning of "Tuairisgeul Mr" in Scottish
Celtic Review, i. 61, and are fully commented upon by Mr. Nutt, "I.c. "137.
Xxx. Paddy O'Kelly And The Weasel.
Sources.- Hyde, Beside the Fire, pp.
73-91
Parallels.-On green
hills as the homes of the fairies: see note on "Childe Roland," English
Fairy Tales, p.241. The transformation of witches into hares is a frequent
"motif "in folk-lore.
Xxxi. The Black Horse.
Sources.- From
J. F. Campbell's manuscript collection now deposited at the Advocates'
Library in Edinburgh (MS. 53, vol. xi.). Collected in Gaelic, February 14,
1862, by Hector MacLean, from Roderick MacNeill, in the island of Menglay :
MacNeill learnt the story about 1840 from a Barra man. I have omitted one
visit of the Black Horse to Greece, but otherwise left the tale untouched. Mr.
Nutt gave a short abstract of the story in his report on the Campbell MSS. in Folk-lore,
i. 370.
Parallels.- Campbell
gives the following parallels in his notes on the tale, which I quote
verbatim. On the throwing into the well he remarks: "So this incident of'
Lady Audley's Secret' was in the mind of a Barra peasant about 1840. Part of a
modern novel may be as old as Aryan mythology, which was one point to be
proved." [The incident of throwing into the well almost invariably forms
a part of the tales of the White Cat type.]
With regard to the Black Horse, Campbell
notes that a Gaelic riddle makes a Black Horse identical with the West Wind,
and adds "It is for consideration whether this Horse throws light on the
sacred Wheel in Indian Sculptures it is to be noted that a Black Horse is the
sacrificial colour."
"The Cup is a well-known myth about
winning a Fairy Cup which pervades Scandinavian England in many forms."
"A silver ring, two quaint serpents heads pointing opposite ways, is a
common Scandinavian wedding-ring many were to be got in Barra and elsewhere in
1869, sold by emigrants bound for America."
"Those who can account for myths must
settle the geography of the Snow Mountain. Avalanches and glaciers are In
Iceland, in the Caucasus, and in Central Asia. There are none within sight of
Menglay. Hindoo cosmogony, which makes the world consist of seven rings,
separated by seas and by a wall of mountains, may account for this in some
sort."
On the spikes driven into the Horse,
Campbell compares the Norse story of " Dapple-grim" and the Horse
sacrifice of the Mahabharata. On the building of the Magic Castle, Campbell
remarks : "Twashtri was the Carpenter of the Vedic gods : can this be his
work?"
On the Horse's head being struck off
Campbell comments: "This was the last act in the Aryan Horse's sacrifice,
and the first step in the Horse apotheosis."
Remarks.-
Campbell has the following note at the end of the tale, from which it would
seem that in 1870 at least he was very nearly being an Indiamaniac.
"So ends this horse-riding story.
Taking it as it is, with the test of language added, nothing short of an Asian
origin will account for it. A Gaelic riddle makes 'a black horse' mean the
invisible wind, and a theorist might suppose this horse to be the air
personified. As Greece is mentioned, he might be Pegasus, who had to do with
wells. But he had wings, and he was white, and there is nothing in classical
fable like this Atlantic myth. 'The enchanted horse' of Arabian Nights was a
flying machine, and his adventures are quite different. This is not the horse
of Chaucer's Squire's Tale. He is more like 'Hrimfaxi,' the horse of the Edda,
who drew the car of Ntt in heaven, and was ridden round the earth in twelve
hours, followed by Dagr and his glittering horse Skinfaxi. The black horse who
always arrives at sunrise is like the horse of night, but there is no
equivalent story in the Edda. 'Dapple-grim' in Norse tales is clad in a spiked
bull's hide, and is mixed up with a blazing tar-barrel, but his adventures
won't fit, and he was grey.
"The story is but an imperfect
skeleton. The cup was to give strength; he had to open seven gates after he
got the cup, but it does nothing. The hood is to hide with; he went in and out
of the palace unseen after he had got the hood, but it plays no part. The
light shoes were the shoes of swiftness of course, but they never showed their
paces. Baldr's horse was led to the funeral pile with all his gear; and Odin
laid the gold ring Draupnir on the pile. Such rites might account for the ring
in the blazing lake. Hermothr's ride northwards and downwards to the abode of
Hel to seek Baldr, his leap over the grate, and his return with the ring (Edda
25), might account for one adventure.
"The many-coloured horses of the sun
in the Indian mythology and solar myths may account for all these horses,
astronomically or meteorologically. The old Aryan Aswa Medha or sacrifice of a
black horse, and the twelve adventures of Arjuna as told in the Mahabbarata,
are something like this story in some general vague way. But the simplest
explanation of this Menglay myth, fished out of the Atlantic, is to admit that
'the black horse' and all this mythical breed came west with men who rode from
the land where horses were tamed, which is unknown."
Xxxii. The Vision Of Macconglinney.
Source.-
Kindly condensed by Mr. Alfred Nutt from Prof. Meyer's edition of The
Vision published in book form in 1892. This contains two versions, a
longer one from a fourteenth century M S~, "Leabhar Breac or Speckled Book, "and
a shorter one from a sixteenth century MS. in the Library of Trinity College,
Dublin. A translation of the former version was given by the late W. M.
Hennessy in "Fraser's Magazine, "September, 1873. Prof. Wollner, who
contributed to Prof. Meyer's edition an introduction dealing with the story
from the standpoint of comparative literature, considers that the later
version reproduces the original common source more nearly.
Parallels.- At
first sight "The Vision "seems to picture the Land of Cockayne (on
which see Poeschel, "Das Mhrchen vom Schlaraffenlade,, "HaIle, 1878),
but as Prof. Wollner remarks, the Irish form is much more simple and
primitive, and represents rather an agricultural conception of a past aurea
aetas. The conception of enormous appetite being due to the presence of a
voracious animal or demon within the body is widespread among the folk. Prof.
Wollner gives numerous parallels, "l.c. "Xlvii.-liii. The common
expression 'to wolf ones food" is said to be derived from this
conception. On the personification of disease, see Tylor, Primitive
Culture, ii. 148.
I can myself remember a tale somewhat
similar to "The Vision "which I heard from my nurse in Australia, I fancy
as a warning against gluttony. She told me of a man, who in swallowing large
pieces of food had swallowed a little hairy monster, which grew and grew and
grew and caused the man to be eating ah day to satisfy his visitors He was
cured by being made to fast, and then a bowl of brandy was brought in front of
his mouth into which the hairy thing, attracted by the fumes, jumped and 'vas
drowned.
Remarks.- We
have here an interesting example of the personification of disease in the
form of a demon, of which some examples occur in the Gospels. The rollicking
Rabelaisian tone in which the story is told prevents us, however, from
attributing any serious belief in the conception by the Irish Monk the author
of the tale, who was parodying, according to Prof. Wollner, the Visions of the
Saints. Still he would be scarcely likely to use the conception, even for
purposes of parody, unless it were current among the folk, and it occurs among
them even at the present day. (See Hyde, "Beside the Fire, "p. 183.)
Xxxiii. Dream Of Owen O'Mulready.
Sources. -
Kindly translated by Mr. Leland L. Duncan from "Gaelic Journal, "vol. iv.
p.57 "seq".
Parallel.-
Croker's "Daniel O'Rourke "may be compared in part.
Remarks. - At
first sight a mere droll, the story has its roots In the most primitive
philosophy. Owen's problem is to get in the Land of Dreams. Now Dreamland, so
all our students of Mythology are agreed, is the source and origin of our
belief in souls and spirits. Owen's problem therefore resolves itself into
this: where was he to go in order to come into closest contact with the world
of spirits. Mark what he does - he clears the hearth and has his bed made in
it. Now it is round the hearth that the fullest associations with the spirit
life are clustered. The late M. Fustel de Coulanges in his "Cit Antique "traces
back most of the Greek and Roman religions and a large number of their
institutions to the worship of the ancestors localised on the hearth. The late
Professor Hearn extended his line of research to the whole of the Aryans in
his "Aryan Household. "It will thus be seen from this course of
reasoning, that Owen was acting on the most approved primitive principles in
adopting this curious method of obtaining dreams. The story is not known
elsewhere than in Ireland, and we are therefore at liberty to apply the method
of Survivals to this case.
Xxxiv. Morraha.
Sources.- The
second story in Mr. W. Larminie's "West Irish Folk-tales, pp. "10 -
30. The framework was collected from P. McGrale of Achill Island, Co. Mayo.
The story itself was from Terence Davis of Rendyle, Co. Galway. There is
evidently confusion in the introductory portion between Niall's mother and
wife.
Parallels.- Carnpbell's
No. I has a very close parallel to the opening. Mr. Larminie refers to a
similar tale collected by Kennedy. Another version from West Munster has been
recently published in the "Gaelic Iournal "iv. 7, 26, 35. The evasion of
the promise to give up the sword at the end seems a favourite incident in
Achill folk-tales ; it occurs in two others of Mr. Larminie's stories. On the
framework, see note on "Conal Yellow claw (Celtic Folktales, "v.).
I have there suggested that the plan comes from the East, ultimately from
Buddha.
Xxxv. The Story Of The Mcandrew Family.
Sources.-
Supplied by Mrs. Gale, now in the United States, from the recitation of her
mother who left Ireland over fifty years ago.
Parallels.- "
Noodle Tales" like this are found everywhere in Europe, and have been
discussed by Mr. Clouston in a special monograph in "The Book of Noodles, "1889.
The "sell" at the end is similar to that in the "Wise Men of
Gotham." Kennedy "(Fireside Stories of Ireland) "gives a similar set
of adventures, p. 119 seq.
Rernarks.- Mrs.
Gale remarks that it was a common superstition in Ireland, that if a raven
hovered over the head of cattle, a withering blight had been set upon the
animals. As birds of carrion they were supposed to be waiting for the
carcases.
Xxxvi. The Farmer Of Liddesdale
Sources. -
MacDougal, "Waifs and Strays, "III. ix. pp. 216 - 21
Parallels.-
Campbell, "West Highland Tales, " The Master and the Man,"
iii. 288-92.
Remarks.- I
need scarcely suggest the identification of the Ploughman with the.
As usual in folk-tales, that personage does not get the best of the bargain.
The rustic Faust evades his contract by a direct appeal to the higher powers.
This is probably characteristic of Scotch piety.
Xxxvii. The Greek Princess And The Young
Gardener.
Sources.-Kennedy, "Fireside Stories, "pp.47-56.
Parallels- Campbell,
West Highland Tales, lvi.; "Mac Iain Direach, "ii. 344-76. He gives
other variants at the end. The story is clearly that of the Grimms'
"GoIden Bird, No. 57. They give various parallels in their notes. Mrs.
Hunt refers to an Eskimo version in Raes "White Sea Peninsula, "called
" Kuobba the Giant and the Devil.' But the most curious and instructive
parallel is that afforded by the Arthurian Romance of Walewein "(i.e., "Gawain)
now only extant in Dutch, which, as Professer W. P. Ker has pointed out in Folk-lore,
v. 121, exactly corresponds to the popular tale, and thus carries it back
in Celtdom to the early twelfth century at the latest.
Xxxviii. The Russet Dog.
Source.- I
have made up this Celtic Reynard out of several fables given by Campbell, West
Highland Tales, under the title "Fables," vol. i. pp.275 seq.;
and "The Keg of Butter" and the "The Fox and the little
Bonnach," vol. iii. Nos. lxv. lxvi.
Parallels.- The
Fox's ruse about a truce among the animals is a well-known Aesop's Fable
see my edition of "Carton's Aesop, "vol. ii. p.307, and "Parallels, "vol.
i. p.267. The trick by which the cock gets out of the fox's mouth is a part of
the Reynard Cycle, and is given by Chaucer as his "Nonne Preste's
Tale." How the wolf lost his tail is also part of the same cycle, the
parallels of which are given by K. Krohn, "Br (Wolf) und Fuchs "(Helsingfors,
1889), pp.26-8. The same writer has studied the geographical distribution of
the story in Finland, accompanied by a map, in "Fennia, "iv. No.4. I have
given a mediaeval Hebrew version in my "Jews of Angevin England, "pp.
170-2. See also Gerber, "Great Russian Animal Tales, "pp. 48-50. The wolf
was originally the bear, as we see from the conclusion of the incident, which
professes to explain why the wolf is stumpy-tailed. "The Keg of Butter
" combines two of the Grimm stories, 2, 189. \"The Little
Bonnach" occurs also in English and has been given in two variants in English
Fairy Tales, No. xxviii. and "More English Fairy Tales, "No. lvii.
Remarks.- It
would lead me too far afield to discuss here the sources of Reynard the Fox,
with which I hope shortly to deal at length elsewhere. But I would remark that
in this case, as in several others we have observed, the stories, which are
certainly reproductions, have received the characteristic Celtic dress. It
follows that we cannot conclude anything as to the origin of a tale from the
fact that it is told idiomatically. On the other hand, the stories of"
The Fox and Wrens "and " The Fox and the Todhunter,' and ' How the
Fox gets rid of his Fleas," have no parallels elsewhere, and show the
possibility of a native beast tale or cycle of tales.
Xxxix. Smallhead And The King'S SON.
Source.- Mr.
Curtin's "Hero Tales of Ireland," contributed to the New
York Sun.
Parallels-
Campbell's No. xvii., ' Maol a Chliobain," is the same story, which is
also found among the Lowlanders, and is given in my "English Fairy Tales, "No.
xxii., "Molly Whuppie," where see notes for other parallels of the
Hop o' My Thumb type of story. King Under the Waves occurs in Campbell, No.
lxxxvi.
Xl. The Legend Of Knockgrafton.
Source.- Croker,
Fairy Legend's of South of Ireland.
Parallels. -
Parnell's poem, "Edwin and Sir Topaz, "contains the same story. As he was
born in Dublin, 1679, this traces the tale back at least 200 years in Ireland.
Practically the same story, however, has been found in Japan, and translated
into English under the title, "Kobutori ; or, The Old Man and the
Devils." In the story published by Kobunsha, Tokio, the Old Man has a
lump on the side of his face. He sees the demons dancing, and getting
exhilarated, joins in. Thereupon the devils are so delighted that they wish to
see him again, and as a pledge of his return take away from him his lump.
Another old man, who has a similar lump on the other side of his face, hearing
of this, tries the same plan, but dances so badly that the devils, not wishing
to see him again, and mistaking him for the other old man, give him back the
lump, so that he has one on each side of his face.
I may add here that Mr. York Powell informs
me that No. xvii. of the same series, entitled, " Shippietaro,"
contains a parallel to the "Hobyahs" of More
English Tales.
Remarks.- Here
we have a problem of diffusion presented in its widest form. There can be
little doubt that "The Legend of Knockgrafton " and "
Kobutori," one collected in Ireland and to be traced there for the last
200 years, and the other collected at the present day in Japan, are one and
the same story, and it is impossible to imagine they were independently
produced. Considering that Parnell could not have come across the Japanese
version, we must conclude that "Kobutori "is a recent importation
into Japan. On the other hand, as "the Hobyahs" cannot be traced in
England, and was collected from a Scottish family settled in the United
States, where Japanese influence has been considerable, it is possible that
this tale was derived from Japan within the memory of men still living. It
would be highly desirable to test these two cases, in which we seem to be able
to observe the process of the diffusion of Folk Tales going on before our
eyes.
Xli. Elidore.
Source. -
Giraldus Cambrensis, "Itinerariurn Cambriae, "I. viii. I have followed
the Latin text tolerably closely.
Parallels.- Mr.
Hartland has a paper on " Robberies in Fairyland," in Arch.
Rev., iii. 39 "seq. "Davies, "Mythology of the British Druids, "p.155,
tells a story of a door in a rock near a cave in the mountains of Brecknock,
which was left open for Mayday, and men used to enter, and so reach that fairy
island in the middle of the lake. The visitors were treated very hospitably by
their fairy hosts, but on the condition that they might eat all, but pocket
none; for once, a visitor took away with him a fairy flower, and as soon as he
got outside the door the flower vanished, and the door was never more opened.
"The Luck of Edenhall," still in existence, is supposed to be a
trophy brought back from a similar visit.
Remarks.- Mr.
Hartland suggests that these legends, and the relics connected with them,
are in some way connected with the heathen rites prevalent in these islands
before the introduction of Christianity, which may have lingered on into
historic times. The absence of sunlight in this account of the House of the
Fairies, as in "Childe Rowland " (on which see note in English
Fairy Tales), may be regarded as a point in favour of Mr. MacRitchie's
theories as to the identification of the fairies with the mound-dwellers. The
object of the expectoration was to prevent Elidore's seeing his way back. Thus
the fairies prevent the indiscretions of the human midwives they employ.
Xlii. The Leeching Of Kayn'S LEG.
Source- Maclnnes,
Folk-Tales from Argyleshire, vii., combined with Campbell of "Tiree's"
version.
Parallels.- The
earliest version, from an Egerton MS. of the fifteenth century, has been
printed by Mr. S. H. O'Grady in his "Silva Gadelica, "No.20, with an
English version, pp.332-42. Mr. Campbell of Tiree has given a short Gaelic
version in the "Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, "78-100.
Campbell of Islay collected the fullest version of this celebrated story,
which is to be found among his manuscript remains now in Edinburgh. Mr. Nutt
has given his English abstract in "Folk-lore, "i. 373-7, in its original
form. The story must have contained twenty-four tales or episodes of stories,
nineteen of which are preserved in J. F. Campbell's version. For parallels to
the various incidents, see Mr. Nutt's notes on Maclnnes, pp. 47~3. The tale is
referred to in MacNicol, "Remarks on Dr. Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides, "1779.
Remarks.-
Nothing could give a more vivid idea of what might be called the organisation
of the art of story-telling among the Celts than this elaborate tale. Mr. Nutt
is inclined to trace it, even in its present form, back to the twelfth or,
thirteenth century. It occurs in an MS. of the fifteenth century in an
obviously unoriginal form which shows that the story-teller did not appreciate
the significance of many features in the folk-tale he was retelling, and yet
it was orally collected by the great Campbell in 1871, in a version which runs
to 142 folio pages.
Formally, its interest consists in large
measure in the curious frame-work in which the subsidiary stories are
imbedded. This is not of the elaborate kind introduced into Europe from the
East by the Crusades, but more "naive, "resembling rather, as Mr. Nutt
points out to me, the loosely-knit narratives of Charles Lever in his earlier
manner.
XLIlI. How Fin Went To The Kingdom Of The
Big Men.
Source.-J. G.
Campbell, "The Fians (Waifs and Strays, "No. iv.), pp. I75 - 92.
Parallels.- The Voyage to Brobdingnag will
occur to many readers, and it is by no means impossible that, as Swift was
once an Irish lad, "The Voyage "may have been suggested by some such tale
told him in his infancy. It is not, however, a part of the earlier recorded
Ossianic cycle, though over-sea giants occur as opponents of the heroes in
that as well as in the earlier Ultonian cycle.
Xliv. How Cormac Mac Art Went To Faery.
Source.-
Kindly condensed by Mr. Alfred Nutt from an English version by Mr. S. H.
O'Grady in "Ossianic Society's Publicahons, "vol. iii. The oldest known
version has been printed from fourteenth century MSS., by Mr. Whitley Stokes, Irische
Texte, iii. i. The story existed in some form in the early eleventh cent u
y, as it is cited in the epic catalogue contained in the Book of Leinster.
Parallels.- Mr.
Nutt in his "Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail, "p. 193,
connects this visit of Cormac to the Otherworld with the bespelled Castle
incident in the Grail Legend. and gives other instances of visits to the Brug
of Manannan. Manannan Mac Lir is the Celtic sea-god.
Xlv. Ridere Of Riddles.
Source-
Campbell, "West Highland Tales, "No. xxii. vol. ii. p. 36, "seq. "I
have modified the end, which has a polygamous complexion.
Parallels.- Campbell
points out that the story is in the main identical with the Grimms'
"Rthsel," No. xxii. There the riddle is : " One slew none,
and yet slew twelve. " MacDougall has the same story in Waifs and
Strays, iii. pp. 76 seq.
Remarks.- There
can be no doubt that the Celtic and German Riddle Stories are related
genealogically. Which is of the earlier generation is, however, more difficult
to determine. In favour of the Celtic is the polygamous framework; while on
the other hand, it is difficult to guess how the story could have got from the
Highlands to Germany. The simpler form of the riddle in the German version
might seem to argue greater antiquity.
Xlvi. The Tail.
Source.-
Campbell, No. lvii.
Parallels.-
Most story-tellers have some formula of this kind to conclude their
narrations. Prof. Crane gives some examples in his Italian Popular Tales,
pp. 155-7. The English have "I'll tell you a story of Jack a
Nory," and "The Three Wise Men of Gotham" who went to Sea in a
Bowl:
"If the bowl had been stronger,
My song would have been longer."
general account of the collection of Celtic Fairy Tales which I gave in the
predecessor to this volume. Since the appearance of that volume in 1891, the
publication of such tales has gone on apace. Mr. Curtin has published in the
New York "Sun "no less than fifty more Irish fairy tales, one of which he
has been good enough to place at my disposal for the present volume. Mr.
Larminie has published with Mr. E. Stock a volume of West Irish Fairy
Tales, of which I have also the privilege of presenting a specimen. A
slight volume of Welsh Fairy Tales, published by Mr. Nutt, and a few fairy
anecdotes contained in the Prize Essay on Welsh Folk-lore by the Rev. Mr.
Evans, sum up Cambria's contribution to our subject during the past three
years. The fifth volume of the "Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition, "just
about to appear at the moment of writing, is the sole addition to Celtic Fairy
Tales from the country of J. F. Campbell. Taken altogether, something like a
hundred previously unpublished tales from Celtdom have been rendered
accessible to the world since I last wrote, a by no means insignificant
outcome in three years. It is at any rate clear, that the only considerable
addition to our folk-lore knowledge in these isles must come from the Gaelic
area. The time of harvest can be but short ; may the workers be many, willing,
and capable.
Xxvii. The Fate Of The Children Of Lir.
\"Sources".- Abridged from the text and
translation published by the Society for the Preservation of the Irish
Language in 1883. This merely follows the text and version given by Professor
O'Curry in "Atlantis, "iv. He used three Dublin MSS., none of them,
however, of earlier date than the eighteenth century. Dr. Joyce gives a free
paraphrase in his Old Celtic Romances.
Parallels. -
For "Jealous Stepmother," see the bibliographical references in the
list of incidents at the end of my paper on the Science of Folk.tales" in
the "Transactions of the Folk-lore Congress, sub voce. "Add Miss Roalfe
Cox in "Folk-lore Journal "vii. app. 37 also the same list "sub voce "Swan
Maiden Transformation." In modern Irish literature Griffin has included
the tale in his "Tales of the Jury-room', "and Tom Moore's "Song of
Fiounala" beginning "Silent, O Moyle"is founded upon it.
Remarks.-The " Fate
of the Children of Lir" is always referred to along with "The Story
of Deirdre " (cf "the "Celtic Fairy Tales, "ix.), and the
"Children of Tuireann" as one of the Three Sorrowful Tales of Erin.
But there is no evidence of equal antiquity to the other two stories, of which
one is as old as the eleventh century. From the interspersed verse O'Curry
concluded, however, that the story was at least of considerable antiquity, and
the references to the unknown Saint Mochaomhog confirm his impression. The
Hill of the White Field is near Newton Hannton, in the county of Armagh. The
Lake of the Red Eye is Lough Derg, in the Shannon above Killaloe.
Fingula is Fair Shoulder. The tradition
that swans are inviolable is still extant in Ireland. A man named Connor
Griffin killed eleven swans: he had previously been a prosperous man, and
shortly after. wards his son was drowned in the Shannon, his goods were lost,
and his wife died "(Children of Lir, "Dublin edit., note, p. 87). In
County Mayo it is believed that the souls of pure virgins are after death
enshrined in the forms of swans ; if anybody injures them, it is thought he
will die within a year (Walter's "Natural History of the Birds of Ireland, "pp.94-5).
Mr. Gomme concludes from this that the swan was at one time a British totem (Arch.
Rev., iii. 226-7).
At first sight the tale seems little more
than an argument against the Bill for Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister,
but the plaintive lays of Fingula, the touching detail of the swans flying
over the desolate hill and White Field, give a touch of Celtic glamour to the
whole story. There is probably also a deep religious significance implied in
the fact that the wicked Aunt Stepmother's spell is broken when the
transformed Children of Lir come across the first Christian they meet.
Mr. Nutt has kindly communicated the
following remarks on this tale:-
The Fate of the Children of Lir belongs
formally to the so-called mythological cycle, the personages of which are the
Tuatha de Danann. The Irish annalists of the 10th-11th
centuries described these as members of one of the races which possessed
Ireland in pre-Christian times before the coming of the Milesians. But even in
the most strongly euhemerised accounts the mythic nature of these beings is
apparent, and most modern scholars are agreed that they are in fact the
members of a Pagan Irish Pantheon. They live on to this very day in Irish
folk-belief as chiefs and rulers of the fairies.
The MS. evidence for some of the stories
concerning the Tuatha de Danann is as old as that for the oldest heroic cycle
(the Ultonian of Conchobar and Cuchulainn). But the Tuatha de Danann legends
have retained throughout Irish literature greater plasticity and vitality than
those of the Ultonian cycle, and many stories are not older in their present
state than the 14th and 15th centuries. This is probably the case with the
present story. The oldest known MS. only goes back to 1718, but this and the
MS. of 1721, used by O'Curry for hs edition, are certainly copied from much
older MSS.
The interesting question for storiologists
is whether the themes of the story - the swan-metamorphosis consequent upon
the step-mother's jealousy, and the protecting role assigned to the sister-are
of old native or of recent imported nature. In support of the first
hypothesis, it may be noted that the theme of stepmotherly jealousy was
current in Ireland in the 10th century at the latest, as it is woven into the
saga of the Destruction of Daderga's Fort (see my article "Folk-lore,"
ii.). The final episode of the sudden aging of the miraculously long-lived
swans is also genuinely Irish, but its true significance is obscured in our
story in a way that sufficiently demonstrates the late and secondary character
of the text. The idea is that the dwellers in Faery, whether fairy-folk or
mortals penetrating thither, enjoy perpetual life, forfeited by the latter the
moment they return to this earth. As children of the Tuatha de Danann,
Fionngula and her brothers are deathless, and the episode as it stands in our
text results from a contamination of the original form of the story in which
the swan-metamorphosis was annulled under certain conditions (the removal of
the chains), when the original shape was resumed, and the familiar story of
the mortal returning from Faery after hundreds of years, which he deems to be
but a short space of time, shrinking into dust the moment he touches earth.
There is a well-known Continental folk-taIe
- the "Seven Swans" (or Ravens) of which we possess several
medieval (12th to 13th century) versions, all connected with the romance of
the "Swan Knight." M. Gaston Paris has studied the whole story group
"(Romania, "xix. 314,
the swans owe their shape-shifting capacity to the superhuman nature of their
mother ; this trait has been almost effaced even in the oldest versions. The
distinguishing mark of the swans in all the versions is the possession of
silver or gold chains, which are what may be called metamorphosis tokens ; it
follows from this that the contamination of the two story-types ("Seven
Swans" and "Swan Knight") must be older than the oldest version
of the first story, as these chains can only be derived from the one with
which in the Swan Knight saga the swan draws the knight back.
In "Romania "(xxi. 62, "seq.")
M. Ferd. Lot examines the question in the light of our tale. He points out
that it indicates clearly the super human nature of the mother, and that as
the silver chains figure in the story, they cannot be due in the Continental
versions to contamination with the Swan Knight saga, as M. Gaston Paris
imagines. M. Lot evidently inclines to look upon them as talismans, the
abandonment of which was the original cause of the metamorphosis, and the
handling of which at the end brings about the change back to human shape. He
points out that these chains form an essential part of the gear of beings
appearing in bird guise (especially if they belong to Faery); thus in the
10th-century 'Sickbed of Cuchulaion' the goddesses Fand and Liban appear as
two swans united by a golden chain; in the 8th to 9th century Conception of
Cuchulainn, Dechtire, the mother of the hero by the god Lug, appears with her
companions in the guise of many-hued birds linked together by chains of silver
(or red gold in one version). The MS. evidence for these tales reaches back to
the early 11th century.
Curiously enough, M. Lot has not cited the
closest parallel to our tale from old Irish literature, and one which is
certainly connected with it in some measure, the fine story called the
"Dream of Angus." A story of this title is cited in the epic catalogue of
the Book of Leinster (which dates back to the early I ith century) as one of
the introductory stories to the Tam bo Cuailgne. This assumed its present
shape substantially between 650 and 750. The introductory stories had
originally no connection with it, and were invented or re-shaped in the 8th to
10th centuries, after the Tam had taken undisputed place as the leading Irish
epic. The tale may therefore be ascribed provisionally to the 9th century, if
we can only be sure that the existing version, preserved in a single MS. of
the 15th century, is a faithful copy of the original. There need be no doubt
as to this. The text is due to a Christian scribe, and, like nearly alt
portions of the mythological cycle, betrays signs of Christian influence,
though not of Christian remodelling. Such influence is, however, far more
likely to have exerted itself in the first stage of the written existence of
these tales, when the memory of organised paganism was still tenacious, than
later, when the tales had become subject-matter for the play of free poetic
fancy. The story, printed and translated by Dr. E. Muller, "Rev". Celt.
iv. 342, one
year they are in swan shape the next in human shape. They appear as white
birds with silvery chains and golden caps around their heads. Angus changes
himself into a swan to he with her, and it is recorded of the music they made
that "people fell asleep for three days and three nights." The
soporific power of music is that which is chiefly commended in old Irish
literature.
I think it is obvious that the writer of
our story was familiar with this and other legends in which swan-maids
encircled with gold and silver chains appear, and that we may fairly draw the
following conclusions from the preceding facts : There existed an Irish
folk-tale of a king with two wives, one a water or sea fairy, whose children
derive from her the capacity of shape-shifting dependent upon certain
talismans ; jealousy impels the human wife to tamper with these talismans, and
the children are condemned to remain in their animal form. This folk-tale was,
probably at some time in the 14th or 15th century, arbitrarily fitted into the
"cadre "of the Tuatha de Danann cycle, and entirely re-fashioned in a
spirit of pious edification by a man who was in his way a great and admirable
artist. The origin and nature of the story, all the elements of which are
genuinely national, assured for it wide and lasting popularity. The evolution
of the Irish folk-tale is in no way dependent upon that of the Continental
folk-tale of the Seven Swans, but it is possible that the Celtic presentiment
of the chain-girdled swans may have influenced it as well as the Swan Knight
Romance.
Xxviii. Jack The Cunning Thief.
Sources.- Kennedy,
"Stories of Ireland, "pp- 38-46 ; Campbell, "West Highland Tales, i. "320
"seq. ; "The Shifty Lad," Dasent, Popular Tales from the
Norse, pp.232-51, Master Thief." Khler has a number
of variants in his notes on Campbell "Orient und Occident "Band ii. Mr.
Clouston has a monograph on the subject in his "Popular Tales, "ii.
115-65. A separate treatise on the subject has been given by S. Prato, 1882,
La "Leggenda di Rhampsinite. "Both these writers connect the modern
folk-tales with Herodotus' story of King Rampsinites. Mr. Knowles in his Folk-tales
of Kashmir, has a number of adventures of "Sharaf the Thief."
The story of " Master Thief" has been heard among the tramps in
London workhouses (Mayhew, "London Labour and London Poor, "iii. 119).
Remarks.-Thievery
is universally human, and at first sight it might seem that there was no
connection between these various versions of the " Master Thief."
But the identity of the tricks by which the popular hero-thief gains his ends
renders it impossible that they should have been independently invented
wherever they are found,
Xxix. Powel, Prince Of Dyfed.
Source.-Lady
Guest's "Mabinogion, "with the names slightly anglicised, and omitting
the opening incident.
Parallels.-For the
incident of tearing off the hands, "cf "Morraha; the enchanted hill and
maiden occur at the beginning of "Tuairisgeul Mr" in Scottish
Celtic Review, i. 61, and are fully commented upon by Mr. Nutt, "I.c. "137.
Xxx. Paddy O'Kelly And The Weasel.
Sources.- Hyde, Beside the Fire, pp.
73-91
Parallels.-On green
hills as the homes of the fairies: see note on "Childe Roland," English
Fairy Tales, p.241. The transformation of witches into hares is a frequent
"motif "in folk-lore.
Xxxi. The Black Horse.
Sources.- From
J. F. Campbell's manuscript collection now deposited at the Advocates'
Library in Edinburgh (MS. 53, vol. xi.). Collected in Gaelic, February 14,
1862, by Hector MacLean, from Roderick MacNeill, in the island of Menglay :
MacNeill learnt the story about 1840 from a Barra man. I have omitted one
visit of the Black Horse to Greece, but otherwise left the tale untouched. Mr.
Nutt gave a short abstract of the story in his report on the Campbell MSS. in Folk-lore,
i. 370.
Parallels.- Campbell
gives the following parallels in his notes on the tale, which I quote
verbatim. On the throwing into the well he remarks: "So this incident of'
Lady Audley's Secret' was in the mind of a Barra peasant about 1840. Part of a
modern novel may be as old as Aryan mythology, which was one point to be
proved." [The incident of throwing into the well almost invariably forms
a part of the tales of the White Cat type.]
With regard to the Black Horse, Campbell
notes that a Gaelic riddle makes a Black Horse identical with the West Wind,
and adds "It is for consideration whether this Horse throws light on the
sacred Wheel in Indian Sculptures it is to be noted that a Black Horse is the
sacrificial colour."
"The Cup is a well-known myth about
winning a Fairy Cup which pervades Scandinavian England in many forms."
"A silver ring, two quaint serpents heads pointing opposite ways, is a
common Scandinavian wedding-ring many were to be got in Barra and elsewhere in
1869, sold by emigrants bound for America."
"Those who can account for myths must
settle the geography of the Snow Mountain. Avalanches and glaciers are In
Iceland, in the Caucasus, and in Central Asia. There are none within sight of
Menglay. Hindoo cosmogony, which makes the world consist of seven rings,
separated by seas and by a wall of mountains, may account for this in some
sort."
On the spikes driven into the Horse,
Campbell compares the Norse story of " Dapple-grim" and the Horse
sacrifice of the Mahabharata. On the building of the Magic Castle, Campbell
remarks : "Twashtri was the Carpenter of the Vedic gods : can this be his
work?"
On the Horse's head being struck off
Campbell comments: "This was the last act in the Aryan Horse's sacrifice,
and the first step in the Horse apotheosis."
Remarks.-
Campbell has the following note at the end of the tale, from which it would
seem that in 1870 at least he was very nearly being an Indiamaniac.
"So ends this horse-riding story.
Taking it as it is, with the test of language added, nothing short of an Asian
origin will account for it. A Gaelic riddle makes 'a black horse' mean the
invisible wind, and a theorist might suppose this horse to be the air
personified. As Greece is mentioned, he might be Pegasus, who had to do with
wells. But he had wings, and he was white, and there is nothing in classical
fable like this Atlantic myth. 'The enchanted horse' of Arabian Nights was a
flying machine, and his adventures are quite different. This is not the horse
of Chaucer's Squire's Tale. He is more like 'Hrimfaxi,' the horse of the Edda,
who drew the car of Ntt in heaven, and was ridden round the earth in twelve
hours, followed by Dagr and his glittering horse Skinfaxi. The black horse who
always arrives at sunrise is like the horse of night, but there is no
equivalent story in the Edda. 'Dapple-grim' in Norse tales is clad in a spiked
bull's hide, and is mixed up with a blazing tar-barrel, but his adventures
won't fit, and he was grey.
"The story is but an imperfect
skeleton. The cup was to give strength; he had to open seven gates after he
got the cup, but it does nothing. The hood is to hide with; he went in and out
of the palace unseen after he had got the hood, but it plays no part. The
light shoes were the shoes of swiftness of course, but they never showed their
paces. Baldr's horse was led to the funeral pile with all his gear; and Odin
laid the gold ring Draupnir on the pile. Such rites might account for the ring
in the blazing lake. Hermothr's ride northwards and downwards to the abode of
Hel to seek Baldr, his leap over the grate, and his return with the ring (Edda
25), might account for one adventure.
"The many-coloured horses of the sun
in the Indian mythology and solar myths may account for all these horses,
astronomically or meteorologically. The old Aryan Aswa Medha or sacrifice of a
black horse, and the twelve adventures of Arjuna as told in the Mahabbarata,
are something like this story in some general vague way. But the simplest
explanation of this Menglay myth, fished out of the Atlantic, is to admit that
'the black horse' and all this mythical breed came west with men who rode from
the land where horses were tamed, which is unknown."
Xxxii. The Vision Of Macconglinney.
Source.-
Kindly condensed by Mr. Alfred Nutt from Prof. Meyer's edition of The
Vision published in book form in 1892. This contains two versions, a
longer one from a fourteenth century M S~, "Leabhar Breac or Speckled Book, "and
a shorter one from a sixteenth century MS. in the Library of Trinity College,
Dublin. A translation of the former version was given by the late W. M.
Hennessy in "Fraser's Magazine, "September, 1873. Prof. Wollner, who
contributed to Prof. Meyer's edition an introduction dealing with the story
from the standpoint of comparative literature, considers that the later
version reproduces the original common source more nearly.
Parallels.- At
first sight "The Vision "seems to picture the Land of Cockayne (on
which see Poeschel, "Das Mhrchen vom Schlaraffenlade,, "HaIle, 1878),
but as Prof. Wollner remarks, the Irish form is much more simple and
primitive, and represents rather an agricultural conception of a past aurea
aetas. The conception of enormous appetite being due to the presence of a
voracious animal or demon within the body is widespread among the folk. Prof.
Wollner gives numerous parallels, "l.c. "Xlvii.-liii. The common
expression 'to wolf ones food" is said to be derived from this
conception. On the personification of disease, see Tylor, Primitive
Culture, ii. 148.
I can myself remember a tale somewhat
similar to "The Vision "which I heard from my nurse in Australia, I fancy
as a warning against gluttony. She told me of a man, who in swallowing large
pieces of food had swallowed a little hairy monster, which grew and grew and
grew and caused the man to be eating ah day to satisfy his visitors He was
cured by being made to fast, and then a bowl of brandy was brought in front of
his mouth into which the hairy thing, attracted by the fumes, jumped and 'vas
drowned.
Remarks.- We
have here an interesting example of the personification of disease in the
form of a demon, of which some examples occur in the Gospels. The rollicking
Rabelaisian tone in which the story is told prevents us, however, from
attributing any serious belief in the conception by the Irish Monk the author
of the tale, who was parodying, according to Prof. Wollner, the Visions of the
Saints. Still he would be scarcely likely to use the conception, even for
purposes of parody, unless it were current among the folk, and it occurs among
them even at the present day. (See Hyde, "Beside the Fire, "p. 183.)
Xxxiii. Dream Of Owen O'Mulready.
Sources. -
Kindly translated by Mr. Leland L. Duncan from "Gaelic Journal, "vol. iv.
p.57 "seq".
Parallel.-
Croker's "Daniel O'Rourke "may be compared in part.
Remarks. - At
first sight a mere droll, the story has its roots In the most primitive
philosophy. Owen's problem is to get in the Land of Dreams. Now Dreamland, so
all our students of Mythology are agreed, is the source and origin of our
belief in souls and spirits. Owen's problem therefore resolves itself into
this: where was he to go in order to come into closest contact with the world
of spirits. Mark what he does - he clears the hearth and has his bed made in
it. Now it is round the hearth that the fullest associations with the spirit
life are clustered. The late M. Fustel de Coulanges in his "Cit Antique "traces
back most of the Greek and Roman religions and a large number of their
institutions to the worship of the ancestors localised on the hearth. The late
Professor Hearn extended his line of research to the whole of the Aryans in
his "Aryan Household. "It will thus be seen from this course of
reasoning, that Owen was acting on the most approved primitive principles in
adopting this curious method of obtaining dreams. The story is not known
elsewhere than in Ireland, and we are therefore at liberty to apply the method
of Survivals to this case.
Xxxiv. Morraha.
Sources.- The
second story in Mr. W. Larminie's "West Irish Folk-tales, pp. "10 -
30. The framework was collected from P. McGrale of Achill Island, Co. Mayo.
The story itself was from Terence Davis of Rendyle, Co. Galway. There is
evidently confusion in the introductory portion between Niall's mother and
wife.
Parallels.- Carnpbell's
No. I has a very close parallel to the opening. Mr. Larminie refers to a
similar tale collected by Kennedy. Another version from West Munster has been
recently published in the "Gaelic Iournal "iv. 7, 26, 35. The evasion of
the promise to give up the sword at the end seems a favourite incident in
Achill folk-tales ; it occurs in two others of Mr. Larminie's stories. On the
framework, see note on "Conal Yellow claw (Celtic Folktales, "v.).
I have there suggested that the plan comes from the East, ultimately from
Buddha.
Xxxv. The Story Of The Mcandrew Family.
Sources.-
Supplied by Mrs. Gale, now in the United States, from the recitation of her
mother who left Ireland over fifty years ago.
Parallels.- "
Noodle Tales" like this are found everywhere in Europe, and have been
discussed by Mr. Clouston in a special monograph in "The Book of Noodles, "1889.
The "sell" at the end is similar to that in the "Wise Men of
Gotham." Kennedy "(Fireside Stories of Ireland) "gives a similar set
of adventures, p. 119 seq.
Rernarks.- Mrs.
Gale remarks that it was a common superstition in Ireland, that if a raven
hovered over the head of cattle, a withering blight had been set upon the
animals. As birds of carrion they were supposed to be waiting for the
carcases.
Xxxvi. The Farmer Of Liddesdale
Sources. -
MacDougal, "Waifs and Strays, "III. ix. pp. 216 - 21
Parallels.-
Campbell, "West Highland Tales, " The Master and the Man,"
iii. 288-92.
Remarks.- I
need scarcely suggest the identification of the Ploughman with the.
As usual in folk-tales, that personage does not get the best of the bargain.
The rustic Faust evades his contract by a direct appeal to the higher powers.
This is probably characteristic of Scotch piety.
Xxxvii. The Greek Princess And The Young
Gardener.
Sources.-Kennedy, "Fireside Stories, "pp.47-56.
Parallels- Campbell,
West Highland Tales, lvi.; "Mac Iain Direach, "ii. 344-76. He gives
other variants at the end. The story is clearly that of the Grimms'
"GoIden Bird, No. 57. They give various parallels in their notes. Mrs.
Hunt refers to an Eskimo version in Raes "White Sea Peninsula, "called
" Kuobba the Giant and the Devil.' But the most curious and instructive
parallel is that afforded by the Arthurian Romance of Walewein "(i.e., "Gawain)
now only extant in Dutch, which, as Professer W. P. Ker has pointed out in Folk-lore,
v. 121, exactly corresponds to the popular tale, and thus carries it back
in Celtdom to the early twelfth century at the latest.
Xxxviii. The Russet Dog.
Source.- I
have made up this Celtic Reynard out of several fables given by Campbell, West
Highland Tales, under the title "Fables," vol. i. pp.275 seq.;
and "The Keg of Butter" and the "The Fox and the little
Bonnach," vol. iii. Nos. lxv. lxvi.
Parallels.- The
Fox's ruse about a truce among the animals is a well-known Aesop's Fable
see my edition of "Carton's Aesop, "vol. ii. p.307, and "Parallels, "vol.
i. p.267. The trick by which the cock gets out of the fox's mouth is a part of
the Reynard Cycle, and is given by Chaucer as his "Nonne Preste's
Tale." How the wolf lost his tail is also part of the same cycle, the
parallels of which are given by K. Krohn, "Br (Wolf) und Fuchs "(Helsingfors,
1889), pp.26-8. The same writer has studied the geographical distribution of
the story in Finland, accompanied by a map, in "Fennia, "iv. No.4. I have
given a mediaeval Hebrew version in my "Jews of Angevin England, "pp.
170-2. See also Gerber, "Great Russian Animal Tales, "pp. 48-50. The wolf
was originally the bear, as we see from the conclusion of the incident, which
professes to explain why the wolf is stumpy-tailed. "The Keg of Butter
" combines two of the Grimm stories, 2, 189. \"The Little
Bonnach" occurs also in English and has been given in two variants in English
Fairy Tales, No. xxviii. and "More English Fairy Tales, "No. lvii.
Remarks.- It
would lead me too far afield to discuss here the sources of Reynard the Fox,
with which I hope shortly to deal at length elsewhere. But I would remark that
in this case, as in several others we have observed, the stories, which are
certainly reproductions, have received the characteristic Celtic dress. It
follows that we cannot conclude anything as to the origin of a tale from the
fact that it is told idiomatically. On the other hand, the stories of"
The Fox and Wrens "and " The Fox and the Todhunter,' and ' How the
Fox gets rid of his Fleas," have no parallels elsewhere, and show the
possibility of a native beast tale or cycle of tales.
Xxxix. Smallhead And The King'S SON.
Source.- Mr.
Curtin's "Hero Tales of Ireland," contributed to the New
York Sun.
Parallels-
Campbell's No. xvii., ' Maol a Chliobain," is the same story, which is
also found among the Lowlanders, and is given in my "English Fairy Tales, "No.
xxii., "Molly Whuppie," where see notes for other parallels of the
Hop o' My Thumb type of story. King Under the Waves occurs in Campbell, No.
lxxxvi.
Xl. The Legend Of Knockgrafton.
Source.- Croker,
Fairy Legend's of South of Ireland.
Parallels. -
Parnell's poem, "Edwin and Sir Topaz, "contains the same story. As he was
born in Dublin, 1679, this traces the tale back at least 200 years in Ireland.
Practically the same story, however, has been found in Japan, and translated
into English under the title, "Kobutori ; or, The Old Man and the
Devils." In the story published by Kobunsha, Tokio, the Old Man has a
lump on the side of his face. He sees the demons dancing, and getting
exhilarated, joins in. Thereupon the devils are so delighted that they wish to
see him again, and as a pledge of his return take away from him his lump.
Another old man, who has a similar lump on the other side of his face, hearing
of this, tries the same plan, but dances so badly that the devils, not wishing
to see him again, and mistaking him for the other old man, give him back the
lump, so that he has one on each side of his face.
I may add here that Mr. York Powell informs
me that No. xvii. of the same series, entitled, " Shippietaro,"
contains a parallel to the "Hobyahs" of More
English Tales.
Remarks.- Here
we have a problem of diffusion presented in its widest form. There can be
little doubt that "The Legend of Knockgrafton " and "
Kobutori," one collected in Ireland and to be traced there for the last
200 years, and the other collected at the present day in Japan, are one and
the same story, and it is impossible to imagine they were independently
produced. Considering that Parnell could not have come across the Japanese
version, we must conclude that "Kobutori "is a recent importation
into Japan. On the other hand, as "the Hobyahs" cannot be traced in
England, and was collected from a Scottish family settled in the United
States, where Japanese influence has been considerable, it is possible that
this tale was derived from Japan within the memory of men still living. It
would be highly desirable to test these two cases, in which we seem to be able
to observe the process of the diffusion of Folk Tales going on before our
eyes.
Xli. Elidore.
Source. -
Giraldus Cambrensis, "Itinerariurn Cambriae, "I. viii. I have followed
the Latin text tolerably closely.
Parallels.- Mr.
Hartland has a paper on " Robberies in Fairyland," in Arch.
Rev., iii. 39 "seq. "Davies, "Mythology of the British Druids, "p.155,
tells a story of a door in a rock near a cave in the mountains of Brecknock,
which was left open for Mayday, and men used to enter, and so reach that fairy
island in the middle of the lake. The visitors were treated very hospitably by
their fairy hosts, but on the condition that they might eat all, but pocket
none; for once, a visitor took away with him a fairy flower, and as soon as he
got outside the door the flower vanished, and the door was never more opened.
"The Luck of Edenhall," still in existence, is supposed to be a
trophy brought back from a similar visit.
Remarks.- Mr.
Hartland suggests that these legends, and the relics connected with them,
are in some way connected with the heathen rites prevalent in these islands
before the introduction of Christianity, which may have lingered on into
historic times. The absence of sunlight in this account of the House of the
Fairies, as in "Childe Rowland " (on which see note in English
Fairy Tales), may be regarded as a point in favour of Mr. MacRitchie's
theories as to the identification of the fairies with the mound-dwellers. The
object of the expectoration was to prevent Elidore's seeing his way back. Thus
the fairies prevent the indiscretions of the human midwives they employ.
Xlii. The Leeching Of Kayn'S LEG.
Source- Maclnnes,
Folk-Tales from Argyleshire, vii., combined with Campbell of "Tiree's"
version.
Parallels.- The
earliest version, from an Egerton MS. of the fifteenth century, has been
printed by Mr. S. H. O'Grady in his "Silva Gadelica, "No.20, with an
English version, pp.332-42. Mr. Campbell of Tiree has given a short Gaelic
version in the "Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, "78-100.
Campbell of Islay collected the fullest version of this celebrated story,
which is to be found among his manuscript remains now in Edinburgh. Mr. Nutt
has given his English abstract in "Folk-lore, "i. 373-7, in its original
form. The story must have contained twenty-four tales or episodes of stories,
nineteen of which are preserved in J. F. Campbell's version. For parallels to
the various incidents, see Mr. Nutt's notes on Maclnnes, pp. 47~3. The tale is
referred to in MacNicol, "Remarks on Dr. Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides, "1779.
Remarks.-
Nothing could give a more vivid idea of what might be called the organisation
of the art of story-telling among the Celts than this elaborate tale. Mr. Nutt
is inclined to trace it, even in its present form, back to the twelfth or,
thirteenth century. It occurs in an MS. of the fifteenth century in an
obviously unoriginal form which shows that the story-teller did not appreciate
the significance of many features in the folk-tale he was retelling, and yet
it was orally collected by the great Campbell in 1871, in a version which runs
to 142 folio pages.
Formally, its interest consists in large
measure in the curious frame-work in which the subsidiary stories are
imbedded. This is not of the elaborate kind introduced into Europe from the
East by the Crusades, but more "naive, "resembling rather, as Mr. Nutt
points out to me, the loosely-knit narratives of Charles Lever in his earlier
manner.
XLIlI. How Fin Went To The Kingdom Of The
Big Men.
Source.-J. G.
Campbell, "The Fians (Waifs and Strays, "No. iv.), pp. I75 - 92.
Parallels.- The Voyage to Brobdingnag will
occur to many readers, and it is by no means impossible that, as Swift was
once an Irish lad, "The Voyage "may have been suggested by some such tale
told him in his infancy. It is not, however, a part of the earlier recorded
Ossianic cycle, though over-sea giants occur as opponents of the heroes in
that as well as in the earlier Ultonian cycle.
Xliv. How Cormac Mac Art Went To Faery.
Source.-
Kindly condensed by Mr. Alfred Nutt from an English version by Mr. S. H.
O'Grady in "Ossianic Society's Publicahons, "vol. iii. The oldest known
version has been printed from fourteenth century MSS., by Mr. Whitley Stokes, Irische
Texte, iii. i. The story existed in some form in the early eleventh cent u
y, as it is cited in the epic catalogue contained in the Book of Leinster.
Parallels.- Mr.
Nutt in his "Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail, "p. 193,
connects this visit of Cormac to the Otherworld with the bespelled Castle
incident in the Grail Legend. and gives other instances of visits to the Brug
of Manannan. Manannan Mac Lir is the Celtic sea-god.
Xlv. Ridere Of Riddles.
Source-
Campbell, "West Highland Tales, "No. xxii. vol. ii. p. 36, "seq. "I
have modified the end, which has a polygamous complexion.
Parallels.- Campbell
points out that the story is in the main identical with the Grimms'
"Rthsel," No. xxii. There the riddle is : " One slew none,
and yet slew twelve. " MacDougall has the same story in Waifs and
Strays, iii. pp. 76 seq.
Remarks.- There
can be no doubt that the Celtic and German Riddle Stories are related
genealogically. Which is of the earlier generation is, however, more difficult
to determine. In favour of the Celtic is the polygamous framework; while on
the other hand, it is difficult to guess how the story could have got from the
Highlands to Germany. The simpler form of the riddle in the German version
might seem to argue greater antiquity.
Xlvi. The Tail.
Source.-
Campbell, No. lvii.
Parallels.-
Most story-tellers have some formula of this kind to conclude their
narrations. Prof. Crane gives some examples in his Italian Popular Tales,
pp. 155-7. The English have "I'll tell you a story of Jack a
Nory," and "The Three Wise Men of Gotham" who went to Sea in a
Bowl:
"If the bowl had been stronger,
My song would have been longer."
