FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[1]Mr. Kemble gives an important illustration of this proposition in hisSaxons in England, i. 331.[2]I would refer the reader to Prof. York Powell's brilliant lecture on "A Survey of Modern History," printed in his biography by Mr. Oliver Elton, ii. 1-13, for an admirable summary of this view.[3]View of the State of Ireland, 1595, p. 478.[4]Asser'sLife of Alfred, by W. H. Stevenson, 262.[5]It is not worth while unduly emphasising this point, but the peculiar habit of classing fictional literature as folklore and thereupon condemning the value of tradition is very prevalent. Mr. Nutt, in dealing with the Troy stories in British history, adopts this method, and denies the existence of historic tradition on the strength of it,Folklore, xii. 336-9.[6]This expression was recently allowed in our old friendNotes and Queriesin a singularly unsuitable case, 10th ser. vii. 344.[7]I am not sure this is always the fault of those who are not folklorists. I recently came across a dictum of one of the most distinguished folklorists, Mr. Andrew Lang, which is certainly much in the same direction. "As a rule tradition is the noxious ivy that creeps about historical truth, and needs to be stripped off with a ruthless hand. Tradition is a collection of venerable and romantic blunders. But a tradition which clings to a permanent object in the landscape, a tall stone, a grassy, artificial tumulus, or even an old tree, may be unexpectedly correct."—Morning Post, 2 November, 1906.[8]It is worth while referring to Mr. MacRitchie's article inTrans. International Folklore Congresson the historical aspect of Folklore; but Professor York Powell has said the strongest word in its favour in his all too short address as President of the Folklore Society, seeFolklore, xv. 12-23.[9]Chapter xi. of Tylor'sEarly History of Mankind.[10]Spenser,View of the State of Ireland, 1595 (Morley reprint), 77.[11]Perhaps the most remarkable testimony to the foundation of the folk-tale and ballad in the events of history is to be found in a statement made to theTribune, 14 September, 1906, by Mr. Mitra, once proprietor and editor of theDeccan Post, with regard to the agitation against the partition of Bengal into two provinces. Mr. Mitra deliberately states that "the best test of finding out Hindu feeling towards the British Government is to see whether there are any ballads or nursery rhymes in the Bengali language against the British. You can have it from me, and I challenge contradiction, that there is no single ballad or nursery rhyme in the Bengali language which is against the British." This is where the soul of the people speaks out.[12]It is printed, and I have used this print, in Blomefield'sHistory of Norfolk(1769), iii. 506, from which source I quote the facts concerning it. Sir William Dugdale's account goes on to connect it with a monument in the church, but this part of the local version is to be considered presently.[13]See theDiaryprinted by the Surtees Society, p. 220.[14]The legend was also printed in that popular folk-book,New Help to Discourse, so often printed between 1619 and 1656, and Mr. Axon transcribed this version for theAntiquary, xi. 167-168; and see my notes inGent. Mag. Lib. English Traditions, 332-336.[15]I happen to possess the original cutting of this version preserved among my great-grandfather's papers.[16]These words are, "I am not a Bigot in Dreams, yet I cannot help acknowledging the Relation of the above made a strong Impression on me."[17]Leeds Mercury, January 3rd, 1885, communicated by Mr. Wm. Grainge of Harrogate.[18]Mr. Axon says it is current in Lancashire and in Cornwall,Antiquary, xi. 168; Sir John Rhys gives two Welsh versions in hisCeltic Folklore, ii. 458-462, 464-466; a Yorkshire version in ballad form is to be found in Castillo'sPoems in the North Yorkshire Dialect(1878), under the title of "T' Lealholm Chap's lucky dreeam,"Antiquary, xii. 121; an Ayrshire variant relates to the building of Dundonald Castle, and is given in Chambers'sPop. Rhymes of Scotland, 236.[19]Blomefield,Hist. of Norfolk, iii. 507, suggests that the animal carving represents a bear. There is nothing to confirm this and readers may judge for themselves by reference to the illustrations, which are from photographs taken in Swaffham Church.[20]I discussed the details in theAntiquary, vol. x. pp. 202-205.[21]This story was communicated by "W.F." to theSt. James's Gazette, March 15th, 1888. Its continuation, in order to point a moral, does not belong to the real story, which is contained in the part I have quoted.[22]Saga Library,Heimskringla, iii. 126.[23]These have been collected and commented upon with his usual learning and research, by Mr. Hartland in theAntiquary, xv. 45-48. Blomefield, in hisHistory of Norfolk, iii. 507, points out that the same story is found in Johannes Fungerus'Etymologicon Latino-Græcum, pp. 1110-1111, though it is here narrated of a man at Dort in Holland, and inHistoires admirables de nostre temps, par Simon Goulart, Geneva, 1614, iii. p. 366. Professor Cowell, in the third volume of theCambridge Antiquarian Society Transactions, p. 320, has printed a remarkable parallel of the story which is to be found in the great Persian metaphysical and religious poem called the Masnavi, written by Jaláluddin, who died about 1260. J. Grimm discussed these treasure-on-the-bridge stories inKleinere Schriften, iii. 414-428, and did not attach much value to them.[24]It is not unimportant in this connection to find that London itself assumes an exceptional place in tradition. Mr. Frazer notes a German legend about London,Golden Bough(2nd ed.), iii. 235; Pausanias, v. 292. Mr. Dale has drawn attention to the Anglo-Saxon attitude towards Roman buildings in hisNational Life in Early English Literature, 35.[25]SeeArchæologia, xxv. 600; xxix. 147; xl. 54;Arch. Journ., i. 112.[26]I have worked this point out in myGovernance of London.[27]Bishop Kennett, quoted inNotes and Queries, fourth series, ix. 258.[28]Mommsen's account of the Pontifex Maximus should be consulted,Hist. Rome, i. 178; andcf.Fowler,Roman Festivals, 114, 147, 214.[29]Mrs. Gomme,Traditional Games, i. 347.[30]Bingley,North Wales, 1814, p. 252.[31]See myFolklore Relics of Early Village Life, 29; Tylor,Primitive Culture, i. 97. This case was reported in the newspapers at the time of its occurrence. It came to England from theLondon and China Telegraph, from which theNewcastle Chronicle, 9 February, 1889, copied the following statement:—"The boatmen on the Ganges, near Rajmenal, somehow came to believe that the Government required a hundred thousand human heads as the foundation for a great bridge, and that the Government officers were going about the river in search of heads. A hunting party, consisting of four Europeans, happening to pass in a boat, were set upon by the one hundred and twenty boatmen, with the cry 'Gulla Katta,' or cut-throats, and only escaped with their lives after the greatest difficulty."[32]I have worked out this fact in myGovernance of London, 46-68, 202-229.[33]See Turner,Hist. of Anglo-Saxons, ii. 207-222;Y Cymmrodor, xi. 61-101.[34]A passage in William of Malmesbury points to the fact of the Bretons in the time of Athelstan looking upon themselves as exiles from the land of their fathers. Radhod, a prefect of the church at Avranches, writes to King Athelstan as "Rex gloriose exultator ecclesiæ ... deprecamur atque humiliter invocamus qui in exulatu et captivitate nostris meritis et peccatis, in Francia commoramur" etc.,De Gestis Regum Anglorum(Rolls Ed.), i. 154.[35]Rhys,Celtic Folklore, ii. 466. Sir John Rhys acknowledges his indebtedness to me for lending him my Swaffham notes, but at that time I had not formed the views stated above and Sir John Rhys confessed his difficulty in classifying and characterising these stories (p. 456).[36]In theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, anno 418, and inEthelward's Chronicle,A.D.418, it is recorded that "those of the Roman race who were left in Britain bury their treasures in pits, thinking that hereafter they might have better fortune, which never was the case."[37]Buried treasure legends are worth examining carefully, especially with reference to their geographical distribution, with a view of ascertaining how far they follow the direction of the Roman, English, Danish and Norman Conquests. See Henderson,Folklore of Northern Counties, 320, for Yorkshire examples, andFolklore Record, i. 16, for an interesting Sussex example.The Danish part of Lincoln, near Sleaford, has numerous treasure legends, see Rev. G. Oliver,Existing Remains of Ancient Britons between Lincoln and Sleaford, pp. 29et seq.Mr. W. J. Andrew has proved in theBritish Numismatic Journal(1st ser. i. 9-59) that traditions of buried treasure may be verified a thousand years after the laying down of the hoard. This has reference to the famous Cuerdale find of coins. The people of Walton-le-Dale, on the Ribble, had a legend that if you stood on a certain headland and looked up the valley to Ribchester "you would gaze over the greatest treasure that England had ever seen." The farmers tried excavations, and the divining rod is said to have been used.The tradition was true. In May, 1840, the hoard was accidentally found, near Cuerdale Hall, within forty yards of the stream, by men who were repairing the southern bank. A willow tree, still in its prime, was planted to mark the spot. We do not know how much bullion was scattered by the finders, but there was recovered a mass of ingots, armlets, chains, rings, and so on, amounting to 1000 oz., with over 7000 silver coins. They lay in a crumbling leaden case, within a decomposed chest of wood. There were about 1060 English silver coins, whereof 919 were of the reign of King Alfred. There were 2020 from Northumbrian ecclesiastical mints, and 2534 of King Canute, with 1047 foreign coins, mainly French. The treasure had belonged to the Scandinavian invaders in the host of the Danish Kings of Northumbria, and very many bore the mark of York, the Danish capital. The chest was the treasure-chest of the Danes. The money had been seized in England, 890-897; on French coasts, 897-910; and collected among the Danes of Northumbria about 911. In that year, we know, the Danes raided Mercia, and were followed by the English King and thoroughly defeated. Their treasurer, Osberth, was killed, and it is argued that the Danes fell back by the Roman road, and were trying to cross into Northumbria by the ford at Cuerdale, but that, the ford being dangerous, they were obliged to bury their treasure-chest forty yards on the southern bank of the river. They were unable to cross, were cooped up in a bend of the stream, and were all put to the sword. Mr. Lang discussed this from the folklore point of view in theMorning Post, 2nd November, 1906, and concludes that "granting that none who knew the site of the deposit escaped, the theory marches well, and quite accounts for the presence of the hoard where it was found. The Danish rearguard defending the line of the Darwen would know that their treasure was hurried forward and probably concealed, but would not know the exact spot."Another good example is recorded in theAntiquary, xiv. 228. Further Henderson notes that the Borderers of England and Scotland entrusted their buried treasure to the brownie (Folklore of Northern Counties, 248). This is exactly the same idea which exists throughout India. "Hidden treasures are under the special guardianship of supernatural beings. The Singhalese, however, divide the charge between demons and cobra capellas. Various charms are resorted to by those who wish to gain the treasures. A pujâ is sufficient with the cobras, but the demons require a sacrifice. Blood of a human being is the most important, but the Kappowas have hitherto confined themselves to a sacrifice of a white cock, combining its blood with their own, drawn by a slight puncture in the hand or foot. A Tamil, however, has resorted to human sacrifice as instanced by a case reported in theCeylon Times."—Indian Antiquary, 1873. ii. p. 125.[38]Morris,Heimskringla, ii. 13.[39]Laing'sHeimskringla, ii. 260.[40]Rhys,The Arthurian Legend, 7. Squire, in his recentMythology of the British Islands, states the case for "the mythological coming of Arthur" in cap. xxi. of his book.[41]As, for instance, in the case of Taliesin and Ossian, see Squire,Mythology of the British Islands, 318; Rhys,Celtic Mythology, 551; Nutt's Notes toMabinogion.I suppose the most ancient example of the duplication process is that of Dion Cassius (iii. 5), who suggests an earlier Romulus and Remus in order to account for the early occupation of the Palatine Hill at Rome. Middleton'sAnc. Rome, 45.[42]It is interesting to find that, with independent investigation, Mr. Bury explains on the lines I adopt the traditional part of the life of St. Patrick. See hisLife of St. Patrick, p. 111.[43]Freeman,Hist. Norm. Conq., iv. 467.[44]Wright,Essays, i. 244, notes this point; see also Freeman,Hist. Norm. Conq., iv. 828, and the preface to my edition of Macfarlane'sCamp of Refuge(Historical Novels Series), where I have discussed this subject at length.[45]Journ. Anthrop. Inst., iii. 52.[46]Russell,Kett's Rebellion, p. 6.[47]Kemble'sHoræ Ferales, 108.[48]Perhaps the most interesting example in a minor way comes from Shrewsbury. In the Abbey Church, forming part of a font, is the upper stone of a cross (supposed to have been the Weeping Cross) which was discovered at St. Giles's churchyard. It had been immemorially fixed in the ditch bank, and all traces of its origin were quite lost, except that an old lady, who was born in 1724, remembered having seen in her youth, persons kneeling before this stone and praying. The transmission of the tradition through very nearly three centuries proved correct, for on its being loosened by the frosts of a severe winter, it fell, and its religious distinction became immediately apparent from the sculpture with which it was adorned.—Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal, 5th October, 1889.[49]Gent. Mag. Lib. Popular Superstitions, 121. The importance of this tradition may be tested by reference to my book on theGovernance of London, 96-98.[50]Archæologia, xxvi. 369-370. One could give many additional examples from all parts of the country, and undoubtedly they are worth collecting. I cannot refrain from quoting the following, as it is from an out-of-the-way source. At Seagry, in Wilts, is an ancient farm, one field of which was known as "Peter's Orchard." The author of a local history records the following: "It has been handed down from generation to generation that in a field on this farm a church was built on the site of an ancient heathen burial ground. In order to test the accuracy of this tradition, in the autumn of 1882 I had excavations made on the spot, which I will now describe. The field contains about ten acres, and presents a very singular appearance. In removing the sods, about two feet from the surface we discovered extensive stone foundations, extending for a considerable distance over the field. From the charred appearance of the stones they had evidently suffered from fire, thus supporting the tradition of some of the oldest inhabitants that the ancient church had been destroyed by fire. On continuing the search we found, about two feet below these foundations, a quantity of early British pottery, the remains of broken urns, some charred bones, and heads of small spears. The following is an extract from a letter which I have received from a gentleman, whose family have been connected with this parish for over two hundred years, and who has given me great assistance. He says: My father was born at Startley in 1784, and remained there until about 1840. Both he and my grandfather were deeply imbued with old folklore. I well remember them constantly speaking of the firm belief handed down to them of the heathen burial places at Seagry, and of the supposed ruins of a church and some religious house at Seagry. I think the discoveries made (on the very spot mentioned by tradition) in August, 1882, are abundant proof that after the lapse of more than nine centuries actual verification of the carefully transmitted tradition has at last been found."—Bath Herald, 1st September, 1883. If references to other examples were needed I should like to note Sir William Wilde's illustration as to "how far the legend, the fairy tale, the local tradition, or the popular superstition may have been derived from absolute historic fact."—Lough Corrib, 121, 123.[51]Echoes from the Counties(1880), p. 30.[52]Grierson,The Silent Trade(1903).[53]Pearson'sChances of Death, ii. 90. The reader should consult Dr. Pearson's entire study on this subject, chapters ix. and x., which may be compared with Mr. MacCulloch'sChildhood of Fiction, 5-15, and more particularly with Mr. Hartland'sScience of Fairy Tales.[54]In 1881 I read a paper before the Folklore Society on "Some Incidents in the story of the Three Noodles by means of reference to facts,"Folklore Record, iv. 211, and in 1883 I published in theAntiquary, two papers on "Notes on Incidents in Folk-tales," based upon the same idea.[55]Introduction, p. lxix.[56]Introduction, p. lxxvii.[57]Page 12.[58]Ibid., p. 26.[59]Ibid., p. 5.[60]Tales of the Highlands, i. p. 251.[61]Kennedy,loc. cit., p. 77.[62]Ibid., p. 90.[63]See Beda,Hist. Ecclesia, lib. i. cap. 25.[64]See vol. i. p. 253.[65]Miss Frere'sOld Deccan Days, p. 279.[66]Ælian,Var. Hist., lib. xiii. cap. xxxiii.[67]Folklore Record, vol. iv. p. 57.[68]Asiatic Researches, xvii. p. 502.[69]Folklore Record, vol. iii. p. 284.[70]Campbell'sPopular Tales of the West Highlands, i. 308.[71]Joyce,Old Celtic Romances, 38, 75, 153, 177, 270. In theSilva Gadelica, by Mr. Standish O'Grady, the assembly is described sitting in a circle, vol. ii. p. 159, and Tara is also described, vol. ii. 264, 358, 360, 384.[72]Miss Cox's admirable study and analysis of the Cinderella group of stories includes the Catskin variants, which number seventy-seven.—Cinderella, pp. 53-79.[73]Studies in Ancient History, p. 62.[74]Sproat'sScenes and Studies of Savage Life, p. 96.[75]See hisEarly Hebrew Life, p. 85.[76]Frazer,Adonis, Attis, and Osiris, 27-28.[77]Todd and Herbert,Irish Version of Nennius, p. 89.[78]Indian Antiq., iii. 32.[79]Laws of Manu(Bühler), ix. 127;Apastamba Gautama(Bühler), xxviii. 18.[80]Sir Henry Maine in hisEarly Law and Custom, p. 91.[81]A most remarkable instance of an actual case of running away from a marriage, resulting in adventures which might easily become folk-tale adventures if the story were once started on its traditional life, is to be found in Shooter'sKafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country, pp. 60-71.[82]West Highland Tales, vol. i. p. lxix.[83]Kennedy'sFireside Stories of Ireland, p. 64.[84]Old Deccan Days, p. 52.[85]Ibid., p. 233.[86]"Standing-place."[87]Journ. Ethnol. Soc.,loc. cit.[88]New Statistical Account of Scotland, xiv. 273.[89]Ure'sAgriculture of Kinross, 57.[90]Archæologia, l. 195-214.[91]Du Chaillu'sLand of the Midnight Sun, i. 393.[92]Tupper,Punjab Customary Law, ii. 188.[93]Cobden Club Essays—Primogeniture.[94]Morris,Saga Library, ii. 194.[95]Journ. Ethnol. Soc., ii. 336.[96]Elton,Origins of English History, 91;cf.Du Chaillu,Land of the Midnight Sun, i. 393; Morris'sSagas, ii. 194.[97]Breeks,Hill Tribes of India, 108.[98]Mavor'sCollection of Voyages, iv. 41.[99]Anecdotes and Traditions(Camden Soc.), 85.[100]Mythologie der Volkssagen und Volksmärchen.[101]Geiger,Hist. Sweden, 31, 32.[102]Elton,Origins of English History, 92.[103]Aubrey,Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, 14.[104]Nutt,Legend of the Holy Grail, 44.[105]Gentleman's Magazine, 1850, i. 250-252.[106]Journ. Ethnol. Soc., ii. 337.[107]Elton'sOrigins, 92.[108]Mr. Jacobs (Folklore, i. 405) objected to my interpretation of this story because—first, the Latin rhyme appearing in the Gaelic tale, the twelfth-century Latin story and the German inscription "tell for the origination of the story in one single place in historic times;" and, secondly, because a Kashmir story (Knowles'Folk-tales of Kashmir, 241), based on the same main incident, omits the minor incident of the mallet altogether. The answer to the first objection is that the Latin rhyme has been attached, in historic times, to the ancient folk-tale; and to the second objection, that the Kashmir story preserves the main incident of surrender of property upon reaching old age, and omits the more savage incident of killing, because the Kashmir people are in a stage of culture which still allowed of the surrender of property, but, like the Scandinavians, did not allow of the killing of the aged. Similarly, an English parallel to this form of the variant is preserved by De la Pryme in hisDiary(Surtees Society), 162. It must be remembered that the Kashmiris occupy a land which is referred to by Herodotos (iii. 99-105) as in the possession of people who killed their aged (cf.Latham,Ethnology of India, 199); and if my reading of the evidence is correct, this is also the case of the Highland peasant.[109]Dr. Pearson advocates statistical methods in hisChances of Death, ii. 58, 75-77, and shows by examples the value of them.[110]MacCulloch,Childhood of Fiction: "Some of the things which in these old-world stories form their fascination, have had their origin in sordid fact and reality" (p. vii).[111]Bühler,Laws of Manu, i.: "In Vedic mythology Manu is the heros eponymos of the human race and by his nature belongs both to gods and to men" (p. 57).Cf.Burnell and Hopkins,Ordinances of Manu, p. 25.[112]Early Law and Custom, 5.[113]Pausanias, iii. 2(4).[114]Maine,Ancient Law, 4; Grote,Hist. of Greece, iii. 101.[115]Ortolan,Hist. Roman Law, 50; Maine,Early Law and Custom, 6.[116]Morris,Saga Library, i. p. xxx; Dasent,Burnt Njal, i. xlvi.[117]Early Law and Custom, 162.[118]Manx Society Publications, xviii. 21-22.[119]Strabo, lib. xv. cap. 1, pp. 709, 717; J. D. Mayne,Hindu Law and Usage, 4, 13.[120]Mackenzie,Roman Law, 11;cf.Pais,Anc. Legends of Roman Hist., 139.[121]Dasent,Burnt Njal, i. p. lvii, and Vigfusson and Powell,Origines Islandicæ, i. 348.[122]Anc. Laws of Ireland, iv. p. vii.[123]This appears very strongly in the famous twelfth-century law case which Longchamp pleaded so successfully.Rotuli curia Regis, i. p. lxii.[124]Early Law and Custom, 9;cf.Burnell and Hopkins,Ordinances of Manu, pp. xx, xxxi. It is worth while quoting here the following interesting note from a letter from the Marquis di Spineto printed in Clarke'sTravels, viii. 417:—"From the most remote antiquity men joined together, and wishing either to amuse themselves or to celebrate the praises of their gods sang short poems to a fixed tune. Indeed, generally speaking,the laws by which they were governed, the events which had made the greatest impression on their minds, the praises which they bestowed upon their gods or on their heroes were all sung long before they were written, and I need not mention that according to Aristotle this is the reason why the Greeks gave the same appellation to laws and to songs."[125]The references are all given in Smith'sDict. of Greek and Roman Antiquitiessubνόμος. Aristotle in theProblems, 19, 28, definitely says, "Before the use of letters men sang their laws that they might not forget them, as the custom continues yet among the Agathyrsoi."[126]Lib. xii. cap. ii. 9.[127]Hist. English Commonwealth, 43.[128]Anc. Laws of Ireland, iv. pp. viii, x.[129]Hampson'sOrigines Patriciæ, 106-107; Kemble, line 5763et seq.[130]Proctor'sHistory of the Book of Common Prayer, p. 410.[131]Hist. Eng. Commonwealth, ii. p. cxxxvi. Littleton points out the legal antiquity and importance of these words: "no conveyance can be made without them." See Wheatley'sBook of Common Prayer(quoting Littleton), p. 406.[132]The York manual had the additional clause, "for fairer for fouler." See Wheatley,loc. cit., p. 406.[133]Palgrave,loc. cit.[134]Ibid.[135]Manuale et processionale ad usum insiquis ecclesiæ Evoracensis, Surtees Society, 1875. See alsoGentleman's Magazine, 1752, p. 171; Proctor'sHistory of the Book of Common Prayer, p. 409, for other examples.[136]Palgrave,English Commonwealth, i. 43.[137]Chambers,Popular Rhymes of Scotland, 115.[138]Sinclair'sStat. Acc. of Scotland, x. 534.[139]Chambers,Book of Days, January 19; Nichols,Fuller's Worthies, 494.[140]Diary of De la Pryme(Surtees Society), 126. It may be noted here that Kelly,Curiosities of Indo-European Traditions, 179, notes the preservation of an ancient law for the preservation of the oak and the hazel in a traditional proverbial rhyme.[141]Hazlitt,Tenures of Land, 80; other examples refer to the Hundred of Cholmer and Dancing, in Essex, 75; to Kilmersdon, in Somersetshire, 182; to Hopton, in Salop, 165. John of Gaunt is responsible for many of these curious and interesting remains of tribal antiquity. Bisley'sHandbook of North Devon, 28, refers to one relating to the manor of Umberleigh, near Barnstaple, and I have a note from Mr. Edmund Wrigglesworth, of Hull, of a parallel to this being preserved by tradition only. There is a tradition respecting the estate of Sutton Park, near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, which states that it formerly belonged to John of Gaunt, who gave it to an ancestor of the present proprietor, one Roger Burgoyne, by the following grant:—"I, John of Gaunt,Do give and do grant,To Roger BurgoyneAnd the heirs of his loinBoth Sutton and PottonUntil the world's rotten."Potton was a neighbouring village to Sutton. There is a moated site in the park called "John o' Gaunt's Castle," seeNotes and Queries, tenth series, vi. 466.Cf.Aubrey,Collections for Wilts, 185, for an example at Midgehall; Cowell'sLaw Interpreter, 1607, and theDictionarum Rusticum, 1704, for the custom of East and West Enborn, in Berks, which was made famous by Addison'sSpectatorin 1714.[142]Sometimes these are called "burlesque conveyances." See an example quoted inHist. MSS. Commission, v. 459.[143]It is well to bear in mind the great force of ancient tribal law, which was personal, upon localities. Nottingham is divided into two parts, one having primogeniture and the other junior right as the rule of descent. Southampton and Exeter have also local divisions. But perhaps the most striking example is at Breslau, where there co-existed, until 1st January, 1840, five different particular laws and observances in regard to succession, the property of spouses, etc., the application of which was limited to certain territorial jurisdictions; not unfrequently the law varied from house to house, and it even happened that one house was situated on the borders of different laws, to each of which, therefore, it belonged in part; Savigny,Private Int. Law, cap. i. sect. iv.[144]Academy, February, 1884;Percy Reliques, edit. Wheatley, i. 384.[145]Trans. British. Association, 1847, p. 321.[146]Series No. V., published in 1895.[147]Philological Society Papers, 1870-2, pp. 18, 248; Dr. Murray gives the air in an appendix. See also a note by Mr. Danby Fry in theAntiquary, viii. 164-6, 269-70; andThe Hawick Tradition, by R. S. Craig and Adam Laing, published at Hawick in 1898.[148]Squire,Mythology of the British Islands, 69.[149]Wilde,Lough Corrib, 210-248. Sir William Wilde has studied the details of this great fight with great care, and it is impossible to ignore his evidence as to the monuments of it being extant to this day among the recorded antiquities of Ireland. The battle lasted four days. The first day the Fir-Bolg had the best of the fighting, and pillar-stones erected to the heroes who fell are still in situ. Clogh-Fadha-Cunga, or long stone of Cong, which stood on the old road to the east of that village and a portion of which, six feet long, is still in an adjoining wall, being erected to Adleo of the Dananians, and Clogh-Fadha-Neal, or long stone of the Neale, at the junction of the roads passing northwards from Cross and Cong, commemorating the place where the king stood during the battle. After the battle each Fir-Bolg carried with him a stone and the head of a Danann to their king who erected a great cairn to commemorate the event, and this must be the cairn of Ballymagibbon which stands on the road passing from Cong to Cross. The well of Mean Uisge is identified as that mentioned in the MS. accounts of the battle, connected with a striking incident. After a careful examination of the locality, says Sir William Wilde, with a transcript of the ancient MS. in his hand, he was convinced of the identity of a stone heap standing within a circle as the place where the body of the loyal Fir-Bolg youth was burned. The second day's battle surged northwards, and at the western shores of Lough Mask, Slainge Finn, the king's son, pursuing the two sons of Cailchu and their followers, slew them there, and "seventeen flag stones were stuck in the ground in commemoration of their death," and by the margin of the lake in the island of Inish-Eogan there stands this remarkable monument to this hour. The line of the Fir-Bolg camp can still be traced with wonderful accuracy. Caher-Speenan, the thorny fort, was a part of this camp, and still exists. More to the south-east, on the hill of Tongegee, are the remains of Caher-na-gree, the pleasant fort, and still further to the east are Lisheen, or little earthen fort, and Caher-Phætre, pewter fort. Other forts also exist to give evidence both of the Fir-Bolg and the Danann lines. The Danann monuments are situate in the fields opposite the glebes of Nymphsfield. Five remarkable stone circles still remain within the compass of a square mile, and there are traces of others. The Fir-Bolgs were defeated on the fourth day and their king Eochy fell fighting to the last. "A lofty cairn was raised over his body, and called Carn Eathach, from his name." On the grassy hill of Killower, or Carn, overlooking Lough Mask, stands to this hour the most remarkable cairn in the west of Ireland, and there is little doubt this is the one referred to in the ancient tradition as commemorating the death of the last Fir-Bolg king in Erin.[150]Squire,op. cit., 76, 138.[151]Squire,op. cit., 230.[152]Squire,Mythology, 399.[153]SeeLife and Writingsby Oliver Elton, ii. 224.[154]Governance of London, 110-113.[155]Celtic Heathendom, 125-133.[156]See Bathurst,Roman Antiquities of Lydney Park, plates viii., xiii., for the famous example dealt with by Sir John Rhys; and Stuart,Caledonia Romana, 309, plate ix. fig. 2, for a dedication to the "Deities of Britain."[157]See hisStonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments, chap. xxii.[158]SeeFolklore, xv. 306-311, for the Greek evidence; and xvii. 30, 164, for the Irish evidence.[159]Frazer,Golden Bough(2nd ed.), iii. 236-316. Mr. Frazer, however, is inclined to review his explanation of bonfires as sun-charms; see hisAdonis, Attis and Osiris, 151, note 4.[160]The specialisation of the fire cult is illustrated by the Hindu myth of the Angiras, see Wilson,Rig Veda Sanhita, i. p. xxix.[161]Gummere,Germanic Origins, 400-2.[162]It will be convenient to give the references for the various details of savage life in Britain. The original extracts are all given inMonumenta Historica Britannicaand in Giles'History of Ancient Britons, vol. ii. Ireland—cannibalism: Strabo, iv. cap. 5, 4, p. 201, Diodoros, v. 32; promiscuous intercourse: Strabo; birth ceremony: Solinus, xxii. Scotland—human sacrifice: Solinus, xxii.; promiscuous intercourse, Solinus, cap. xxii., Xiphilinus from Dio inMon. Brit. Hist., p. lx., and St. Jerome adv. Jovin., v. ii. 201; nakedness, Herodian inMon. Brit. Hist., p. lxiv, and Xiphilinus,ibid., p. lx. Britain—head-hunting, Strabo, iv. 1-4, pp. 199-201, Diodoros, v. 29; tattooing, Cæsar,De bello Gallico, v. 12, Pliny,Nat. Hist., xxii. i. (2); promiscuous intercourse, Cæsar,ibid., v. 14, Xiphilinus inMon. Brit. Hist., p. lvii.[163]History of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings, i. 14.[164]Innes'Critical Essay, 45, 51, 56, 240.[165]O'Curry'sManners and Customs of Ancient Irish, i. p. vi. Dr. Whitley Stokes has criticised O'Curry's translations as bad, "not from ignorance, but to a desire to conceal a fact militating against theories of early Irish civilisation."—Revue Celtique, iii. 90-101.[166]Turner,Hist. of Anglo-Saxons, i. 64-74; Palgrave,Eng. Com., i. 467-8.[167]Giles'History of Anc. Britons, i. 231, referring to parallel customs among the Chinese.[168]Elton,Origins of English History, 82.[169]Rhys,Celtic Britain, 55.[170]Celtic Heathendom, 320, note.[171]I have dealt with this in myEthnology in Folklore, 36-40.[172]Skene,Celtic Scotland, i. 59, 84.[173]Pearson,Hist. of England during the Early and Middle Ages, i. 15, 21, 35.[174]Ramsay,Foundations of England, i. 9, 11, 30.[175]Lang,Hist. of Scotland, i. 3-5.[176]Joyce,Social Hist. of Ireland, i. 19.[177]In addition to Mr. Lang and Dr. Joyce, who are folklorists as well as historians, and who as we have seen do deal with these records scientifically, the folklorist goes out of his way to reject these records. Thus Mr. Squire says that "the imputation" which Cæsar makes as to polyandrous customs "cannot be said to have been proved,"Mythology of the British Islands, 30.[178]Village Communities, 17.[179]Principles of Sociology, i. 714.[180]Arch. Cambrensis, 6th ser. v. 3.[181]Journ. Anthrop. Inst., xx. 259.

[1]Mr. Kemble gives an important illustration of this proposition in hisSaxons in England, i. 331.

[2]I would refer the reader to Prof. York Powell's brilliant lecture on "A Survey of Modern History," printed in his biography by Mr. Oliver Elton, ii. 1-13, for an admirable summary of this view.

[3]View of the State of Ireland, 1595, p. 478.

[4]Asser'sLife of Alfred, by W. H. Stevenson, 262.

[5]It is not worth while unduly emphasising this point, but the peculiar habit of classing fictional literature as folklore and thereupon condemning the value of tradition is very prevalent. Mr. Nutt, in dealing with the Troy stories in British history, adopts this method, and denies the existence of historic tradition on the strength of it,Folklore, xii. 336-9.

[6]This expression was recently allowed in our old friendNotes and Queriesin a singularly unsuitable case, 10th ser. vii. 344.

[7]I am not sure this is always the fault of those who are not folklorists. I recently came across a dictum of one of the most distinguished folklorists, Mr. Andrew Lang, which is certainly much in the same direction. "As a rule tradition is the noxious ivy that creeps about historical truth, and needs to be stripped off with a ruthless hand. Tradition is a collection of venerable and romantic blunders. But a tradition which clings to a permanent object in the landscape, a tall stone, a grassy, artificial tumulus, or even an old tree, may be unexpectedly correct."—Morning Post, 2 November, 1906.

[8]It is worth while referring to Mr. MacRitchie's article inTrans. International Folklore Congresson the historical aspect of Folklore; but Professor York Powell has said the strongest word in its favour in his all too short address as President of the Folklore Society, seeFolklore, xv. 12-23.

[9]Chapter xi. of Tylor'sEarly History of Mankind.

[10]Spenser,View of the State of Ireland, 1595 (Morley reprint), 77.

[11]Perhaps the most remarkable testimony to the foundation of the folk-tale and ballad in the events of history is to be found in a statement made to theTribune, 14 September, 1906, by Mr. Mitra, once proprietor and editor of theDeccan Post, with regard to the agitation against the partition of Bengal into two provinces. Mr. Mitra deliberately states that "the best test of finding out Hindu feeling towards the British Government is to see whether there are any ballads or nursery rhymes in the Bengali language against the British. You can have it from me, and I challenge contradiction, that there is no single ballad or nursery rhyme in the Bengali language which is against the British." This is where the soul of the people speaks out.

[12]It is printed, and I have used this print, in Blomefield'sHistory of Norfolk(1769), iii. 506, from which source I quote the facts concerning it. Sir William Dugdale's account goes on to connect it with a monument in the church, but this part of the local version is to be considered presently.

[13]See theDiaryprinted by the Surtees Society, p. 220.

[14]The legend was also printed in that popular folk-book,New Help to Discourse, so often printed between 1619 and 1656, and Mr. Axon transcribed this version for theAntiquary, xi. 167-168; and see my notes inGent. Mag. Lib. English Traditions, 332-336.

[15]I happen to possess the original cutting of this version preserved among my great-grandfather's papers.

[16]These words are, "I am not a Bigot in Dreams, yet I cannot help acknowledging the Relation of the above made a strong Impression on me."

[17]Leeds Mercury, January 3rd, 1885, communicated by Mr. Wm. Grainge of Harrogate.

[18]Mr. Axon says it is current in Lancashire and in Cornwall,Antiquary, xi. 168; Sir John Rhys gives two Welsh versions in hisCeltic Folklore, ii. 458-462, 464-466; a Yorkshire version in ballad form is to be found in Castillo'sPoems in the North Yorkshire Dialect(1878), under the title of "T' Lealholm Chap's lucky dreeam,"Antiquary, xii. 121; an Ayrshire variant relates to the building of Dundonald Castle, and is given in Chambers'sPop. Rhymes of Scotland, 236.

[19]Blomefield,Hist. of Norfolk, iii. 507, suggests that the animal carving represents a bear. There is nothing to confirm this and readers may judge for themselves by reference to the illustrations, which are from photographs taken in Swaffham Church.

[20]I discussed the details in theAntiquary, vol. x. pp. 202-205.

[21]This story was communicated by "W.F." to theSt. James's Gazette, March 15th, 1888. Its continuation, in order to point a moral, does not belong to the real story, which is contained in the part I have quoted.

[22]Saga Library,Heimskringla, iii. 126.

[23]These have been collected and commented upon with his usual learning and research, by Mr. Hartland in theAntiquary, xv. 45-48. Blomefield, in hisHistory of Norfolk, iii. 507, points out that the same story is found in Johannes Fungerus'Etymologicon Latino-Græcum, pp. 1110-1111, though it is here narrated of a man at Dort in Holland, and inHistoires admirables de nostre temps, par Simon Goulart, Geneva, 1614, iii. p. 366. Professor Cowell, in the third volume of theCambridge Antiquarian Society Transactions, p. 320, has printed a remarkable parallel of the story which is to be found in the great Persian metaphysical and religious poem called the Masnavi, written by Jaláluddin, who died about 1260. J. Grimm discussed these treasure-on-the-bridge stories inKleinere Schriften, iii. 414-428, and did not attach much value to them.

[24]It is not unimportant in this connection to find that London itself assumes an exceptional place in tradition. Mr. Frazer notes a German legend about London,Golden Bough(2nd ed.), iii. 235; Pausanias, v. 292. Mr. Dale has drawn attention to the Anglo-Saxon attitude towards Roman buildings in hisNational Life in Early English Literature, 35.

[25]SeeArchæologia, xxv. 600; xxix. 147; xl. 54;Arch. Journ., i. 112.

[26]I have worked this point out in myGovernance of London.

[27]Bishop Kennett, quoted inNotes and Queries, fourth series, ix. 258.

[28]Mommsen's account of the Pontifex Maximus should be consulted,Hist. Rome, i. 178; andcf.Fowler,Roman Festivals, 114, 147, 214.

[29]Mrs. Gomme,Traditional Games, i. 347.

[30]Bingley,North Wales, 1814, p. 252.

[31]See myFolklore Relics of Early Village Life, 29; Tylor,Primitive Culture, i. 97. This case was reported in the newspapers at the time of its occurrence. It came to England from theLondon and China Telegraph, from which theNewcastle Chronicle, 9 February, 1889, copied the following statement:—"The boatmen on the Ganges, near Rajmenal, somehow came to believe that the Government required a hundred thousand human heads as the foundation for a great bridge, and that the Government officers were going about the river in search of heads. A hunting party, consisting of four Europeans, happening to pass in a boat, were set upon by the one hundred and twenty boatmen, with the cry 'Gulla Katta,' or cut-throats, and only escaped with their lives after the greatest difficulty."

"The boatmen on the Ganges, near Rajmenal, somehow came to believe that the Government required a hundred thousand human heads as the foundation for a great bridge, and that the Government officers were going about the river in search of heads. A hunting party, consisting of four Europeans, happening to pass in a boat, were set upon by the one hundred and twenty boatmen, with the cry 'Gulla Katta,' or cut-throats, and only escaped with their lives after the greatest difficulty."

[32]I have worked out this fact in myGovernance of London, 46-68, 202-229.

[33]See Turner,Hist. of Anglo-Saxons, ii. 207-222;Y Cymmrodor, xi. 61-101.

[34]A passage in William of Malmesbury points to the fact of the Bretons in the time of Athelstan looking upon themselves as exiles from the land of their fathers. Radhod, a prefect of the church at Avranches, writes to King Athelstan as "Rex gloriose exultator ecclesiæ ... deprecamur atque humiliter invocamus qui in exulatu et captivitate nostris meritis et peccatis, in Francia commoramur" etc.,De Gestis Regum Anglorum(Rolls Ed.), i. 154.

[35]Rhys,Celtic Folklore, ii. 466. Sir John Rhys acknowledges his indebtedness to me for lending him my Swaffham notes, but at that time I had not formed the views stated above and Sir John Rhys confessed his difficulty in classifying and characterising these stories (p. 456).

[36]In theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, anno 418, and inEthelward's Chronicle,A.D.418, it is recorded that "those of the Roman race who were left in Britain bury their treasures in pits, thinking that hereafter they might have better fortune, which never was the case."

[37]Buried treasure legends are worth examining carefully, especially with reference to their geographical distribution, with a view of ascertaining how far they follow the direction of the Roman, English, Danish and Norman Conquests. See Henderson,Folklore of Northern Counties, 320, for Yorkshire examples, andFolklore Record, i. 16, for an interesting Sussex example.The Danish part of Lincoln, near Sleaford, has numerous treasure legends, see Rev. G. Oliver,Existing Remains of Ancient Britons between Lincoln and Sleaford, pp. 29et seq.Mr. W. J. Andrew has proved in theBritish Numismatic Journal(1st ser. i. 9-59) that traditions of buried treasure may be verified a thousand years after the laying down of the hoard. This has reference to the famous Cuerdale find of coins. The people of Walton-le-Dale, on the Ribble, had a legend that if you stood on a certain headland and looked up the valley to Ribchester "you would gaze over the greatest treasure that England had ever seen." The farmers tried excavations, and the divining rod is said to have been used.The tradition was true. In May, 1840, the hoard was accidentally found, near Cuerdale Hall, within forty yards of the stream, by men who were repairing the southern bank. A willow tree, still in its prime, was planted to mark the spot. We do not know how much bullion was scattered by the finders, but there was recovered a mass of ingots, armlets, chains, rings, and so on, amounting to 1000 oz., with over 7000 silver coins. They lay in a crumbling leaden case, within a decomposed chest of wood. There were about 1060 English silver coins, whereof 919 were of the reign of King Alfred. There were 2020 from Northumbrian ecclesiastical mints, and 2534 of King Canute, with 1047 foreign coins, mainly French. The treasure had belonged to the Scandinavian invaders in the host of the Danish Kings of Northumbria, and very many bore the mark of York, the Danish capital. The chest was the treasure-chest of the Danes. The money had been seized in England, 890-897; on French coasts, 897-910; and collected among the Danes of Northumbria about 911. In that year, we know, the Danes raided Mercia, and were followed by the English King and thoroughly defeated. Their treasurer, Osberth, was killed, and it is argued that the Danes fell back by the Roman road, and were trying to cross into Northumbria by the ford at Cuerdale, but that, the ford being dangerous, they were obliged to bury their treasure-chest forty yards on the southern bank of the river. They were unable to cross, were cooped up in a bend of the stream, and were all put to the sword. Mr. Lang discussed this from the folklore point of view in theMorning Post, 2nd November, 1906, and concludes that "granting that none who knew the site of the deposit escaped, the theory marches well, and quite accounts for the presence of the hoard where it was found. The Danish rearguard defending the line of the Darwen would know that their treasure was hurried forward and probably concealed, but would not know the exact spot."Another good example is recorded in theAntiquary, xiv. 228. Further Henderson notes that the Borderers of England and Scotland entrusted their buried treasure to the brownie (Folklore of Northern Counties, 248). This is exactly the same idea which exists throughout India. "Hidden treasures are under the special guardianship of supernatural beings. The Singhalese, however, divide the charge between demons and cobra capellas. Various charms are resorted to by those who wish to gain the treasures. A pujâ is sufficient with the cobras, but the demons require a sacrifice. Blood of a human being is the most important, but the Kappowas have hitherto confined themselves to a sacrifice of a white cock, combining its blood with their own, drawn by a slight puncture in the hand or foot. A Tamil, however, has resorted to human sacrifice as instanced by a case reported in theCeylon Times."—Indian Antiquary, 1873. ii. p. 125.

The Danish part of Lincoln, near Sleaford, has numerous treasure legends, see Rev. G. Oliver,Existing Remains of Ancient Britons between Lincoln and Sleaford, pp. 29et seq.

Mr. W. J. Andrew has proved in theBritish Numismatic Journal(1st ser. i. 9-59) that traditions of buried treasure may be verified a thousand years after the laying down of the hoard. This has reference to the famous Cuerdale find of coins. The people of Walton-le-Dale, on the Ribble, had a legend that if you stood on a certain headland and looked up the valley to Ribchester "you would gaze over the greatest treasure that England had ever seen." The farmers tried excavations, and the divining rod is said to have been used.

The tradition was true. In May, 1840, the hoard was accidentally found, near Cuerdale Hall, within forty yards of the stream, by men who were repairing the southern bank. A willow tree, still in its prime, was planted to mark the spot. We do not know how much bullion was scattered by the finders, but there was recovered a mass of ingots, armlets, chains, rings, and so on, amounting to 1000 oz., with over 7000 silver coins. They lay in a crumbling leaden case, within a decomposed chest of wood. There were about 1060 English silver coins, whereof 919 were of the reign of King Alfred. There were 2020 from Northumbrian ecclesiastical mints, and 2534 of King Canute, with 1047 foreign coins, mainly French. The treasure had belonged to the Scandinavian invaders in the host of the Danish Kings of Northumbria, and very many bore the mark of York, the Danish capital. The chest was the treasure-chest of the Danes. The money had been seized in England, 890-897; on French coasts, 897-910; and collected among the Danes of Northumbria about 911. In that year, we know, the Danes raided Mercia, and were followed by the English King and thoroughly defeated. Their treasurer, Osberth, was killed, and it is argued that the Danes fell back by the Roman road, and were trying to cross into Northumbria by the ford at Cuerdale, but that, the ford being dangerous, they were obliged to bury their treasure-chest forty yards on the southern bank of the river. They were unable to cross, were cooped up in a bend of the stream, and were all put to the sword. Mr. Lang discussed this from the folklore point of view in theMorning Post, 2nd November, 1906, and concludes that "granting that none who knew the site of the deposit escaped, the theory marches well, and quite accounts for the presence of the hoard where it was found. The Danish rearguard defending the line of the Darwen would know that their treasure was hurried forward and probably concealed, but would not know the exact spot."

Another good example is recorded in theAntiquary, xiv. 228. Further Henderson notes that the Borderers of England and Scotland entrusted their buried treasure to the brownie (Folklore of Northern Counties, 248). This is exactly the same idea which exists throughout India. "Hidden treasures are under the special guardianship of supernatural beings. The Singhalese, however, divide the charge between demons and cobra capellas. Various charms are resorted to by those who wish to gain the treasures. A pujâ is sufficient with the cobras, but the demons require a sacrifice. Blood of a human being is the most important, but the Kappowas have hitherto confined themselves to a sacrifice of a white cock, combining its blood with their own, drawn by a slight puncture in the hand or foot. A Tamil, however, has resorted to human sacrifice as instanced by a case reported in theCeylon Times."—Indian Antiquary, 1873. ii. p. 125.

[38]Morris,Heimskringla, ii. 13.

[39]Laing'sHeimskringla, ii. 260.

[40]Rhys,The Arthurian Legend, 7. Squire, in his recentMythology of the British Islands, states the case for "the mythological coming of Arthur" in cap. xxi. of his book.

[41]As, for instance, in the case of Taliesin and Ossian, see Squire,Mythology of the British Islands, 318; Rhys,Celtic Mythology, 551; Nutt's Notes toMabinogion.I suppose the most ancient example of the duplication process is that of Dion Cassius (iii. 5), who suggests an earlier Romulus and Remus in order to account for the early occupation of the Palatine Hill at Rome. Middleton'sAnc. Rome, 45.

[41]As, for instance, in the case of Taliesin and Ossian, see Squire,Mythology of the British Islands, 318; Rhys,Celtic Mythology, 551; Nutt's Notes toMabinogion.

I suppose the most ancient example of the duplication process is that of Dion Cassius (iii. 5), who suggests an earlier Romulus and Remus in order to account for the early occupation of the Palatine Hill at Rome. Middleton'sAnc. Rome, 45.

[42]It is interesting to find that, with independent investigation, Mr. Bury explains on the lines I adopt the traditional part of the life of St. Patrick. See hisLife of St. Patrick, p. 111.

[43]Freeman,Hist. Norm. Conq., iv. 467.

[44]Wright,Essays, i. 244, notes this point; see also Freeman,Hist. Norm. Conq., iv. 828, and the preface to my edition of Macfarlane'sCamp of Refuge(Historical Novels Series), where I have discussed this subject at length.

[45]Journ. Anthrop. Inst., iii. 52.

[46]Russell,Kett's Rebellion, p. 6.

[47]Kemble'sHoræ Ferales, 108.

[48]Perhaps the most interesting example in a minor way comes from Shrewsbury. In the Abbey Church, forming part of a font, is the upper stone of a cross (supposed to have been the Weeping Cross) which was discovered at St. Giles's churchyard. It had been immemorially fixed in the ditch bank, and all traces of its origin were quite lost, except that an old lady, who was born in 1724, remembered having seen in her youth, persons kneeling before this stone and praying. The transmission of the tradition through very nearly three centuries proved correct, for on its being loosened by the frosts of a severe winter, it fell, and its religious distinction became immediately apparent from the sculpture with which it was adorned.—Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal, 5th October, 1889.

[49]Gent. Mag. Lib. Popular Superstitions, 121. The importance of this tradition may be tested by reference to my book on theGovernance of London, 96-98.

[50]Archæologia, xxvi. 369-370. One could give many additional examples from all parts of the country, and undoubtedly they are worth collecting. I cannot refrain from quoting the following, as it is from an out-of-the-way source. At Seagry, in Wilts, is an ancient farm, one field of which was known as "Peter's Orchard." The author of a local history records the following: "It has been handed down from generation to generation that in a field on this farm a church was built on the site of an ancient heathen burial ground. In order to test the accuracy of this tradition, in the autumn of 1882 I had excavations made on the spot, which I will now describe. The field contains about ten acres, and presents a very singular appearance. In removing the sods, about two feet from the surface we discovered extensive stone foundations, extending for a considerable distance over the field. From the charred appearance of the stones they had evidently suffered from fire, thus supporting the tradition of some of the oldest inhabitants that the ancient church had been destroyed by fire. On continuing the search we found, about two feet below these foundations, a quantity of early British pottery, the remains of broken urns, some charred bones, and heads of small spears. The following is an extract from a letter which I have received from a gentleman, whose family have been connected with this parish for over two hundred years, and who has given me great assistance. He says: My father was born at Startley in 1784, and remained there until about 1840. Both he and my grandfather were deeply imbued with old folklore. I well remember them constantly speaking of the firm belief handed down to them of the heathen burial places at Seagry, and of the supposed ruins of a church and some religious house at Seagry. I think the discoveries made (on the very spot mentioned by tradition) in August, 1882, are abundant proof that after the lapse of more than nine centuries actual verification of the carefully transmitted tradition has at last been found."—Bath Herald, 1st September, 1883. If references to other examples were needed I should like to note Sir William Wilde's illustration as to "how far the legend, the fairy tale, the local tradition, or the popular superstition may have been derived from absolute historic fact."—Lough Corrib, 121, 123.

[51]Echoes from the Counties(1880), p. 30.

[52]Grierson,The Silent Trade(1903).

[53]Pearson'sChances of Death, ii. 90. The reader should consult Dr. Pearson's entire study on this subject, chapters ix. and x., which may be compared with Mr. MacCulloch'sChildhood of Fiction, 5-15, and more particularly with Mr. Hartland'sScience of Fairy Tales.

[54]In 1881 I read a paper before the Folklore Society on "Some Incidents in the story of the Three Noodles by means of reference to facts,"Folklore Record, iv. 211, and in 1883 I published in theAntiquary, two papers on "Notes on Incidents in Folk-tales," based upon the same idea.

[55]Introduction, p. lxix.

[56]Introduction, p. lxxvii.

[57]Page 12.

[58]Ibid., p. 26.

[59]Ibid., p. 5.

[60]Tales of the Highlands, i. p. 251.

[61]Kennedy,loc. cit., p. 77.

[62]Ibid., p. 90.

[63]See Beda,Hist. Ecclesia, lib. i. cap. 25.

[64]See vol. i. p. 253.

[65]Miss Frere'sOld Deccan Days, p. 279.

[66]Ælian,Var. Hist., lib. xiii. cap. xxxiii.

[67]Folklore Record, vol. iv. p. 57.

[68]Asiatic Researches, xvii. p. 502.

[69]Folklore Record, vol. iii. p. 284.

[70]Campbell'sPopular Tales of the West Highlands, i. 308.

[71]Joyce,Old Celtic Romances, 38, 75, 153, 177, 270. In theSilva Gadelica, by Mr. Standish O'Grady, the assembly is described sitting in a circle, vol. ii. p. 159, and Tara is also described, vol. ii. 264, 358, 360, 384.

[72]Miss Cox's admirable study and analysis of the Cinderella group of stories includes the Catskin variants, which number seventy-seven.—Cinderella, pp. 53-79.

[73]Studies in Ancient History, p. 62.

[74]Sproat'sScenes and Studies of Savage Life, p. 96.

[75]See hisEarly Hebrew Life, p. 85.

[76]Frazer,Adonis, Attis, and Osiris, 27-28.

[77]Todd and Herbert,Irish Version of Nennius, p. 89.

[78]Indian Antiq., iii. 32.

[79]Laws of Manu(Bühler), ix. 127;Apastamba Gautama(Bühler), xxviii. 18.

[80]Sir Henry Maine in hisEarly Law and Custom, p. 91.

[81]A most remarkable instance of an actual case of running away from a marriage, resulting in adventures which might easily become folk-tale adventures if the story were once started on its traditional life, is to be found in Shooter'sKafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country, pp. 60-71.

[82]West Highland Tales, vol. i. p. lxix.

[83]Kennedy'sFireside Stories of Ireland, p. 64.

[84]Old Deccan Days, p. 52.

[85]Ibid., p. 233.

[86]"Standing-place."

[87]Journ. Ethnol. Soc.,loc. cit.

[88]New Statistical Account of Scotland, xiv. 273.

[89]Ure'sAgriculture of Kinross, 57.

[90]Archæologia, l. 195-214.

[91]Du Chaillu'sLand of the Midnight Sun, i. 393.

[92]Tupper,Punjab Customary Law, ii. 188.

[93]Cobden Club Essays—Primogeniture.

[94]Morris,Saga Library, ii. 194.

[95]Journ. Ethnol. Soc., ii. 336.

[96]Elton,Origins of English History, 91;cf.Du Chaillu,Land of the Midnight Sun, i. 393; Morris'sSagas, ii. 194.

[97]Breeks,Hill Tribes of India, 108.

[98]Mavor'sCollection of Voyages, iv. 41.

[99]Anecdotes and Traditions(Camden Soc.), 85.

[100]Mythologie der Volkssagen und Volksmärchen.

[101]Geiger,Hist. Sweden, 31, 32.

[102]Elton,Origins of English History, 92.

[103]Aubrey,Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, 14.

[104]Nutt,Legend of the Holy Grail, 44.

[105]Gentleman's Magazine, 1850, i. 250-252.

[106]Journ. Ethnol. Soc., ii. 337.

[107]Elton'sOrigins, 92.

[108]Mr. Jacobs (Folklore, i. 405) objected to my interpretation of this story because—first, the Latin rhyme appearing in the Gaelic tale, the twelfth-century Latin story and the German inscription "tell for the origination of the story in one single place in historic times;" and, secondly, because a Kashmir story (Knowles'Folk-tales of Kashmir, 241), based on the same main incident, omits the minor incident of the mallet altogether. The answer to the first objection is that the Latin rhyme has been attached, in historic times, to the ancient folk-tale; and to the second objection, that the Kashmir story preserves the main incident of surrender of property upon reaching old age, and omits the more savage incident of killing, because the Kashmir people are in a stage of culture which still allowed of the surrender of property, but, like the Scandinavians, did not allow of the killing of the aged. Similarly, an English parallel to this form of the variant is preserved by De la Pryme in hisDiary(Surtees Society), 162. It must be remembered that the Kashmiris occupy a land which is referred to by Herodotos (iii. 99-105) as in the possession of people who killed their aged (cf.Latham,Ethnology of India, 199); and if my reading of the evidence is correct, this is also the case of the Highland peasant.

[109]Dr. Pearson advocates statistical methods in hisChances of Death, ii. 58, 75-77, and shows by examples the value of them.

[110]MacCulloch,Childhood of Fiction: "Some of the things which in these old-world stories form their fascination, have had their origin in sordid fact and reality" (p. vii).

[111]Bühler,Laws of Manu, i.: "In Vedic mythology Manu is the heros eponymos of the human race and by his nature belongs both to gods and to men" (p. 57).Cf.Burnell and Hopkins,Ordinances of Manu, p. 25.

[112]Early Law and Custom, 5.

[113]Pausanias, iii. 2(4).

[114]Maine,Ancient Law, 4; Grote,Hist. of Greece, iii. 101.

[115]Ortolan,Hist. Roman Law, 50; Maine,Early Law and Custom, 6.

[116]Morris,Saga Library, i. p. xxx; Dasent,Burnt Njal, i. xlvi.

[117]Early Law and Custom, 162.

[118]Manx Society Publications, xviii. 21-22.

[119]Strabo, lib. xv. cap. 1, pp. 709, 717; J. D. Mayne,Hindu Law and Usage, 4, 13.

[120]Mackenzie,Roman Law, 11;cf.Pais,Anc. Legends of Roman Hist., 139.

[121]Dasent,Burnt Njal, i. p. lvii, and Vigfusson and Powell,Origines Islandicæ, i. 348.

[122]Anc. Laws of Ireland, iv. p. vii.

[123]This appears very strongly in the famous twelfth-century law case which Longchamp pleaded so successfully.Rotuli curia Regis, i. p. lxii.

[124]Early Law and Custom, 9;cf.Burnell and Hopkins,Ordinances of Manu, pp. xx, xxxi. It is worth while quoting here the following interesting note from a letter from the Marquis di Spineto printed in Clarke'sTravels, viii. 417:—"From the most remote antiquity men joined together, and wishing either to amuse themselves or to celebrate the praises of their gods sang short poems to a fixed tune. Indeed, generally speaking,the laws by which they were governed, the events which had made the greatest impression on their minds, the praises which they bestowed upon their gods or on their heroes were all sung long before they were written, and I need not mention that according to Aristotle this is the reason why the Greeks gave the same appellation to laws and to songs."

"From the most remote antiquity men joined together, and wishing either to amuse themselves or to celebrate the praises of their gods sang short poems to a fixed tune. Indeed, generally speaking,the laws by which they were governed, the events which had made the greatest impression on their minds, the praises which they bestowed upon their gods or on their heroes were all sung long before they were written, and I need not mention that according to Aristotle this is the reason why the Greeks gave the same appellation to laws and to songs."

[125]The references are all given in Smith'sDict. of Greek and Roman Antiquitiessubνόμος. Aristotle in theProblems, 19, 28, definitely says, "Before the use of letters men sang their laws that they might not forget them, as the custom continues yet among the Agathyrsoi."

[126]Lib. xii. cap. ii. 9.

[127]Hist. English Commonwealth, 43.

[128]Anc. Laws of Ireland, iv. pp. viii, x.

[129]Hampson'sOrigines Patriciæ, 106-107; Kemble, line 5763et seq.

[130]Proctor'sHistory of the Book of Common Prayer, p. 410.

[131]Hist. Eng. Commonwealth, ii. p. cxxxvi. Littleton points out the legal antiquity and importance of these words: "no conveyance can be made without them." See Wheatley'sBook of Common Prayer(quoting Littleton), p. 406.

[132]The York manual had the additional clause, "for fairer for fouler." See Wheatley,loc. cit., p. 406.

[133]Palgrave,loc. cit.

[134]Ibid.

[135]Manuale et processionale ad usum insiquis ecclesiæ Evoracensis, Surtees Society, 1875. See alsoGentleman's Magazine, 1752, p. 171; Proctor'sHistory of the Book of Common Prayer, p. 409, for other examples.

[136]Palgrave,English Commonwealth, i. 43.

[137]Chambers,Popular Rhymes of Scotland, 115.

[138]Sinclair'sStat. Acc. of Scotland, x. 534.

[139]Chambers,Book of Days, January 19; Nichols,Fuller's Worthies, 494.

[140]Diary of De la Pryme(Surtees Society), 126. It may be noted here that Kelly,Curiosities of Indo-European Traditions, 179, notes the preservation of an ancient law for the preservation of the oak and the hazel in a traditional proverbial rhyme.

[141]Hazlitt,Tenures of Land, 80; other examples refer to the Hundred of Cholmer and Dancing, in Essex, 75; to Kilmersdon, in Somersetshire, 182; to Hopton, in Salop, 165. John of Gaunt is responsible for many of these curious and interesting remains of tribal antiquity. Bisley'sHandbook of North Devon, 28, refers to one relating to the manor of Umberleigh, near Barnstaple, and I have a note from Mr. Edmund Wrigglesworth, of Hull, of a parallel to this being preserved by tradition only. There is a tradition respecting the estate of Sutton Park, near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, which states that it formerly belonged to John of Gaunt, who gave it to an ancestor of the present proprietor, one Roger Burgoyne, by the following grant:—"I, John of Gaunt,Do give and do grant,To Roger BurgoyneAnd the heirs of his loinBoth Sutton and PottonUntil the world's rotten."Potton was a neighbouring village to Sutton. There is a moated site in the park called "John o' Gaunt's Castle," seeNotes and Queries, tenth series, vi. 466.Cf.Aubrey,Collections for Wilts, 185, for an example at Midgehall; Cowell'sLaw Interpreter, 1607, and theDictionarum Rusticum, 1704, for the custom of East and West Enborn, in Berks, which was made famous by Addison'sSpectatorin 1714.

"I, John of Gaunt,Do give and do grant,To Roger BurgoyneAnd the heirs of his loinBoth Sutton and PottonUntil the world's rotten."

Potton was a neighbouring village to Sutton. There is a moated site in the park called "John o' Gaunt's Castle," seeNotes and Queries, tenth series, vi. 466.Cf.Aubrey,Collections for Wilts, 185, for an example at Midgehall; Cowell'sLaw Interpreter, 1607, and theDictionarum Rusticum, 1704, for the custom of East and West Enborn, in Berks, which was made famous by Addison'sSpectatorin 1714.

[142]Sometimes these are called "burlesque conveyances." See an example quoted inHist. MSS. Commission, v. 459.

[143]It is well to bear in mind the great force of ancient tribal law, which was personal, upon localities. Nottingham is divided into two parts, one having primogeniture and the other junior right as the rule of descent. Southampton and Exeter have also local divisions. But perhaps the most striking example is at Breslau, where there co-existed, until 1st January, 1840, five different particular laws and observances in regard to succession, the property of spouses, etc., the application of which was limited to certain territorial jurisdictions; not unfrequently the law varied from house to house, and it even happened that one house was situated on the borders of different laws, to each of which, therefore, it belonged in part; Savigny,Private Int. Law, cap. i. sect. iv.

[144]Academy, February, 1884;Percy Reliques, edit. Wheatley, i. 384.

[145]Trans. British. Association, 1847, p. 321.

[146]Series No. V., published in 1895.

[147]Philological Society Papers, 1870-2, pp. 18, 248; Dr. Murray gives the air in an appendix. See also a note by Mr. Danby Fry in theAntiquary, viii. 164-6, 269-70; andThe Hawick Tradition, by R. S. Craig and Adam Laing, published at Hawick in 1898.

[148]Squire,Mythology of the British Islands, 69.

[149]Wilde,Lough Corrib, 210-248. Sir William Wilde has studied the details of this great fight with great care, and it is impossible to ignore his evidence as to the monuments of it being extant to this day among the recorded antiquities of Ireland. The battle lasted four days. The first day the Fir-Bolg had the best of the fighting, and pillar-stones erected to the heroes who fell are still in situ. Clogh-Fadha-Cunga, or long stone of Cong, which stood on the old road to the east of that village and a portion of which, six feet long, is still in an adjoining wall, being erected to Adleo of the Dananians, and Clogh-Fadha-Neal, or long stone of the Neale, at the junction of the roads passing northwards from Cross and Cong, commemorating the place where the king stood during the battle. After the battle each Fir-Bolg carried with him a stone and the head of a Danann to their king who erected a great cairn to commemorate the event, and this must be the cairn of Ballymagibbon which stands on the road passing from Cong to Cross. The well of Mean Uisge is identified as that mentioned in the MS. accounts of the battle, connected with a striking incident. After a careful examination of the locality, says Sir William Wilde, with a transcript of the ancient MS. in his hand, he was convinced of the identity of a stone heap standing within a circle as the place where the body of the loyal Fir-Bolg youth was burned. The second day's battle surged northwards, and at the western shores of Lough Mask, Slainge Finn, the king's son, pursuing the two sons of Cailchu and their followers, slew them there, and "seventeen flag stones were stuck in the ground in commemoration of their death," and by the margin of the lake in the island of Inish-Eogan there stands this remarkable monument to this hour. The line of the Fir-Bolg camp can still be traced with wonderful accuracy. Caher-Speenan, the thorny fort, was a part of this camp, and still exists. More to the south-east, on the hill of Tongegee, are the remains of Caher-na-gree, the pleasant fort, and still further to the east are Lisheen, or little earthen fort, and Caher-Phætre, pewter fort. Other forts also exist to give evidence both of the Fir-Bolg and the Danann lines. The Danann monuments are situate in the fields opposite the glebes of Nymphsfield. Five remarkable stone circles still remain within the compass of a square mile, and there are traces of others. The Fir-Bolgs were defeated on the fourth day and their king Eochy fell fighting to the last. "A lofty cairn was raised over his body, and called Carn Eathach, from his name." On the grassy hill of Killower, or Carn, overlooking Lough Mask, stands to this hour the most remarkable cairn in the west of Ireland, and there is little doubt this is the one referred to in the ancient tradition as commemorating the death of the last Fir-Bolg king in Erin.

[150]Squire,op. cit., 76, 138.

[151]Squire,op. cit., 230.

[152]Squire,Mythology, 399.

[153]SeeLife and Writingsby Oliver Elton, ii. 224.

[154]Governance of London, 110-113.

[155]Celtic Heathendom, 125-133.

[156]See Bathurst,Roman Antiquities of Lydney Park, plates viii., xiii., for the famous example dealt with by Sir John Rhys; and Stuart,Caledonia Romana, 309, plate ix. fig. 2, for a dedication to the "Deities of Britain."

[157]See hisStonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments, chap. xxii.

[158]SeeFolklore, xv. 306-311, for the Greek evidence; and xvii. 30, 164, for the Irish evidence.

[159]Frazer,Golden Bough(2nd ed.), iii. 236-316. Mr. Frazer, however, is inclined to review his explanation of bonfires as sun-charms; see hisAdonis, Attis and Osiris, 151, note 4.

[160]The specialisation of the fire cult is illustrated by the Hindu myth of the Angiras, see Wilson,Rig Veda Sanhita, i. p. xxix.

[161]Gummere,Germanic Origins, 400-2.

[162]It will be convenient to give the references for the various details of savage life in Britain. The original extracts are all given inMonumenta Historica Britannicaand in Giles'History of Ancient Britons, vol. ii. Ireland—cannibalism: Strabo, iv. cap. 5, 4, p. 201, Diodoros, v. 32; promiscuous intercourse: Strabo; birth ceremony: Solinus, xxii. Scotland—human sacrifice: Solinus, xxii.; promiscuous intercourse, Solinus, cap. xxii., Xiphilinus from Dio inMon. Brit. Hist., p. lx., and St. Jerome adv. Jovin., v. ii. 201; nakedness, Herodian inMon. Brit. Hist., p. lxiv, and Xiphilinus,ibid., p. lx. Britain—head-hunting, Strabo, iv. 1-4, pp. 199-201, Diodoros, v. 29; tattooing, Cæsar,De bello Gallico, v. 12, Pliny,Nat. Hist., xxii. i. (2); promiscuous intercourse, Cæsar,ibid., v. 14, Xiphilinus inMon. Brit. Hist., p. lvii.

[163]History of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings, i. 14.

[164]Innes'Critical Essay, 45, 51, 56, 240.

[165]O'Curry'sManners and Customs of Ancient Irish, i. p. vi. Dr. Whitley Stokes has criticised O'Curry's translations as bad, "not from ignorance, but to a desire to conceal a fact militating against theories of early Irish civilisation."—Revue Celtique, iii. 90-101.

[166]Turner,Hist. of Anglo-Saxons, i. 64-74; Palgrave,Eng. Com., i. 467-8.

[167]Giles'History of Anc. Britons, i. 231, referring to parallel customs among the Chinese.

[168]Elton,Origins of English History, 82.

[169]Rhys,Celtic Britain, 55.

[170]Celtic Heathendom, 320, note.

[171]I have dealt with this in myEthnology in Folklore, 36-40.

[172]Skene,Celtic Scotland, i. 59, 84.

[173]Pearson,Hist. of England during the Early and Middle Ages, i. 15, 21, 35.

[174]Ramsay,Foundations of England, i. 9, 11, 30.

[175]Lang,Hist. of Scotland, i. 3-5.

[176]Joyce,Social Hist. of Ireland, i. 19.

[177]In addition to Mr. Lang and Dr. Joyce, who are folklorists as well as historians, and who as we have seen do deal with these records scientifically, the folklorist goes out of his way to reject these records. Thus Mr. Squire says that "the imputation" which Cæsar makes as to polyandrous customs "cannot be said to have been proved,"Mythology of the British Islands, 30.

[178]Village Communities, 17.

[179]Principles of Sociology, i. 714.

[180]Arch. Cambrensis, 6th ser. v. 3.

[181]Journ. Anthrop. Inst., xx. 259.

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