Part 37

FOLKESTONE, a municipal borough, seaport and watering-place of Kent, England, within the parliamentary borough of Hythe, 71 m. S.E. by E. of London by the South-Eastern & Chatham railway. Pop. (1891) 23,905; (1901) 30,650. This is one of the principal ports in cross-Channel communications, the steamers serving Boulogne, 30 m. distant. The older part of Folkestone lies in a small valley which here opens upon the shore between steep hills. The more modern portions extend up the hills on either hand. To the north the town is sheltered by hills rising sharply to heights of 400 to 500 ft., on several of which, such as Sugarloaf and Castle Hills, are ancient earthworks. Above the cliff west of the old town is a broad promenade called the Lees, commanding a notable view of the channel and connected by lifts with the shore below. On this cliff also stands the parish church of St Mary and St Eanswith, a cruciform building of much interest, with central tower. It is mainly Early English, but the original church, attached to a Benedictine priory, was founded in 1095 on the site of a convent established by Eanswith, daughter of Eadbald, king of Kent in 630. The site of this foundation, however, became endangered by encroachments of the sea. The monastery was destroyed at the dissolution of religious houses by Henry VIII. Folkestone inner harbour is dry at low water, but there is a deep water pier for use at low tide by the Channel steamers, by which not only the passenger traffic, but also a large general trade are carried on. The fisheries are important. Among institutions may be mentioned the grammar school, founded in 1674, the public library and museum, and a number of hospitals and sanatoria. The discontinued Harveian Institution for young men was named after William Harvey, discoverer of the circulation of the blood, a native of Folkestone (1578), who is also commemorated by a tercentenary memorial on the Lees. Folkestone is a member of the Cinque Port of Dover. It is governed by a mayor, 7 aldermen and 21 councillors. Area, 2522 acres. To the west of Folkestone, close to Shorncliffe camp, is the populous suburb of Cheriton (an urban district, pop. 7091).

Folkestone (Folcestan) was among the possessions of Earl Godwine and was called upon to supply him with ships when he was exiled from England; at the time of the Domesday Survey it belonged to Odo, bishop of Bayeux. From early times it was a member of the Cinque Port of Dover, and had to find one out of the twenty-one ships furnished by that port for the royal service. It shared the privileges of the Cinque Ports, whose liberties were exemplified at the request of the barons of Folkestone by Edward III. in 1330. The corporation, which was prescriptive, was entitled the mayor, jurats and commonalty of Folkestone. The history of Folkestone is a record of its struggle against the sea, which was constantly encroaching upon the town. In 1629 the inhabitants, impoverished by their losses, obtained licence to erect a port. By the end of the 18th century the town had become prosperous by the increase of its fishing and shipping trades, and by the middle of the 19th century one of the chief health and pleasure resorts of the south coast.

FOLKLAND (_folcland_). This term occurs three times in Anglo-Saxon documents. In a law of Edward the Elder (c. i. 2) it is contrasted with bookland in a way which shows that these two kinds of tenure formed the two main subdivisions of landownership: no one is to deny right to another in respect of folkland or bookland. By a charter of 863 (Cod. Dipl. 281), King Aethelberht exchanges five hides of folkland for five hides of bookland which had formerly belonged to a thane, granting the latter for the newly-acquired estates exemption from all fiscal exactions except the threefold public obligation of attending the fyrd and joining in the repair of fortresses and bridges. Evidently folkland was not free from the payment of _gafal_ (land tax) and providing quarters for the king's men. In ealdorman Alfred's will the testator disposes freely of his bookland estates in favour of his sons and his daughter, but to a son who is not considered as rightful offspring five hides of folkland are left, provided the king consents. It is probable that folkland is meant in two or three cases when Latin documents speak of _terra rei publicae jure possessa_.

Two principal explanations have been given to this term. Allen thought that folkland was similar to the Roman _ager publicus_: it was the common property of the nation (_folc_), and the king had to dispose of it by carving out dependent tenures for his followers more or less after the fashion of continental _beneficia_. These estates remained subject to the superior ownership of the folk and of the king: they could eventually be taken back by the latter and, in any case, the heir of a holder of folkland had to be confirmed in possession by the king. A letter of Bede to the archbishop Ecgbert of York may be interpreted to apply to this kind of tenure. Kemble, K. Maurer, H.C. Lodge, Stubbs and others followed Allen's lead.

Another theory was started by Professor Vinogradoff in an article on folkland in the _English Hist. Review_ for 1893. It considers folkland as landownership by folkright--at common law, as might be said in modern legal speech. In opposition to it bookland appears as landownership derived from royal privilege. The incidents recorded in the charters characterize folkland as subject to ordinary fiscal burdens and to limitations in respect of testamentary succession. Thane Wallaf has to be relieved from fiscal exactions when his estate is converted from folkland into bookland (C.D. 281). Ealdorman Alfred's son, not being recognized as legitimate, has to claim folkland not by direct succession or devise, but by the consent of the king. These incidents and limitations are thrown into relief by copious illustrations as to the fundamental features of bookland contained in the numberless "books." These are exemptions from fiscal dues and freedom of disposition of the owner. This view of the matter has been accepted by the chief modern authorities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--J. Allen, _Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of Royal Prerogative in England_ (London, 1849); K. Maurer, _Kritische Uberschau_ (1853), Band i. 102 ff.; F.W. Maitland, _Domesday Book and Beyond_, 244 ff. (Cambridge, 1897); P. Vinogradoff, "Folcland," in the _Eng. Hist. Rev._ (1893), p. 1 ff.; Sir F. Pollock, _Land Laws_ (London, 1896); H. Brunner, _Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte_, Band i. (2nd ed., 293, Leipzig, 1887-1892). (P. Vi.)

FOLKLORE, a term invented in 1846 by Mr W.J. Thoms as a designation for the traditional learning of the uncultured classes of civilized nations. The word has been adopted in this sense into many foreign languages; it is sometimes regarded as the equivalent of the Ger. _Volkskunde_. But folklore is, properly speaking, the "lore _of_ the folk," while _Volkskunde_ is lore or learning _about_ the folk, and includes not only the mental life of a people, but also their arts and crafts. The term folklore is also used to designate the science which deals with folklore; the study of survivals involves the investigation of the similar customs, beliefs, &c., of races on lower planes of culture; consequently folklore, as interpreted by the English and American societies, concerns itself as much or more with savage races as with the popular superstitions of the white races.

_History._--The scientific study of folklore dates back to the first quarter of the 19th century, but folklore was collected long before that date. The organized study of folklore is a thing of recent growth. The first Folklore Society was founded in London in 1878; similar bodies now exist in the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland and especially in Germany and Austria. The folk-tale makes its appearance in literature at a very early period; Egyptian examples have come down to us from the 28th century B.C. In Greece the Homeric poems contain many folk-tale incidents; for India we have the _Jatakas_ and _Panchatantra_; and for the Arabs the great collection of the _Thousand and One Nights_. Another type of folk-narrative is represented by Aesop's _Fables_. Not unnaturally beliefs and customs received less attention; our knowledge of them among the ancients is as a rule pieced together. Among the oldest professed collections are J.B. Thiers (1606-1703), _Traite des superstitions_ (1679), Aubrey's _Miscellanies_ (1686) and H. Bourne's (1696-1733) _Antiquitates vulgares_ (1725); but they belong to the antiquarian, non-scientific period.

The pioneers of the modern scientific treatment of folklore were the brothers Grimm, by the publication of their _Kinder-und Hausmarchen_ (1812-1815) and _Deutsche Mythologie_ (1835). They were the first to present the folk-tale in its genuine unadulterated form. They differed from their predecessors in regarding the myth, not as the result of conscious speculation, but of a mythopoeic impulse. They were, however, disposed to press modern linguistic evidence too far and make the figures of the folk-tale the lineal representatives of ancient gods, as the folk-tales themselves were of the myths. This tendency was exaggerated by their successors, J.W. Wolf, W. Rochholz and others. At the outset of his career, W. Mannhardt (1831-1880), the forerunner of the anthropological school of folklore, shared in this mistake. Breaking away eventually from the philological schools, which interpreted myths and their supposed descendants, the folk-tales, as relating to the storm, the sun, the dawn, &c. (see MYTHOLOGY), Mannhardt made folk-custom and belief his basis. To this end he set himself to collect and compare the superstitions of the peasantry; but his health was always feeble and he never completed his scheme. For a time Mannhardt's researches bore fruit neither in his own country nor abroad. In 1878 the foundation of the Folklore Society marked a new era in England, where the philological school had had few adherents; and the anthropological school soon produced evidence of its vitality in the works of Mr Andrew Lang, Dr J.G. Frazer and Professor Robertson Smith.

With the growth of our knowledge of European folk-custom and belief on the one hand, and of rites and religions of people in the lower stages of culture on the other hand, it has become abundantly clear that there is no line of demarcation between the two. Each throws light upon the other, and the superstitions of Europe are the lineal descendants of savage creeds which have their parallels all over the world in the culture of primitive peoples.

_Subdivisions._--The folklore of civilized peoples may be conveniently classified under three main heads: (1) belief and custom; (2) narratives and sayings; (3) art. These again may be subdivided. The first division, _Belief and Custom_, includes (A) Superstitious beliefs and practices, including (a) those connected with natural phenomena or inanimate nature, (b) tree and plant superstitions, (c) animal superstitions, (d) ghosts and goblins, (e) witchcraft, (f) leechcraft, (g) magic in general and divination, (h) eschatology, and (i) miscellaneous superstitions and practices; and (B) Traditional customs, including (a) festival customs for which are set aside certain days and seasons, (b) ceremonial customs on the occasion of events such as birth, death or marriage, (c) games, (d) miscellaneous local customs, such as agricultural rites connected with the corn-spirit (see DEMONOLOGY), and (e) dances. The second head of _Narratives and Sayings_ may be subdivided (A) into (a) sagas or tales told as true, (b) Marchen or nursery tales, (c) fables, (d) drolls, apologues, cumulative tales, &c., (e) myths (see MYTHOLOGY), and (f) place legends; (B) into ballads and songs (in so far as they do not come under art); and (C) into nursery rhymes, riddles, jingles, proverbs, nicknames, place rhymes, &c. The third head, _Art_, subdivides into (a) folk music with ballads and songs, (b) folk drama. Any classification, however, labours under the disadvantage of separating items which properly belong together. Thus, myths are obviously the form in which some superstitions are expressed. They may also be aetiological in their nature and form an elaborate record of a custom. Eschatological beliefs naturally take the form of myths. Traditional narratives can also be classified under art, and so on.

_Literature._--The literature of the subject falls into two sharply defined classes--synthetic works and collections of folklore--of which the latter are immensely more numerous. Of the former class the most important is Dr J.G. Frazer's _Golden Bough_, which sets out from the study of a survival in Roman religion and covers a wide field of savage and civilized beliefs and customs. Especially important are the chapters on agricultural rites, in which are set forth the results of Mannhardt's researches. Other important lines of folklore research in the _Golden Bough_ are those dealing with spring ceremonies, with the primitive view of the soul, with animal cults, and with sun and rain charms. Mr E.S. Hartland's _Legend of Perseus_ is primarily concerned with the origin of a folk-tale, and this problem in the end is dismissed as insoluble. A large part of the book is taken up with a discussion of sympathetic magic, and especially with the "life index," an object so bound up with the life of a human being that it acts as an indication of his well-being or otherwise. The importance of children's games in the study of folklore has been recognized of recent years. An admirable collection of the games of England has been published by Mrs G.L. Gomme. With the more minute study of uncivilized peoples the problem of the diffusion of games has also come to the fore. In particular it is found that the string-game called "cat's cradle" in various forms is of very wide diffusion, being found even in Australia. The question of folk-music has recently received much attention (see SONG).

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Introductory works: M.R. Cox, _Introduction to Folklore_; Kaindl, _Die Volkskunde_; Marillier in _Revue de l'histoire des religions_, xliii. 166, and other works mentioned by Kaindl.

General works: J.G. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_; E.S. Hartland, _The Legend of Perseus_; A. Lang, _Custom, and Myth, Myth, Ritual and Religion_; Tylor, _Primitive Culture_; Liebrecht, _Zur Volkskunde_.

British Isles. England: Burne, _Shropshire Folklore_; _Denham Tracts_ (F.L.S.); Harland and Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folklore_; Henderson, _Folklore of Northern Counties_; _County Folklore Series_ (Printed Extracts) of the F.L.S. Wales: Elias Owen, _Welsh Folklore_; Rhys, _Celtic Folklore_. Scotland: Dalyell, _Darker Superstitions_; Gregor, _Folklore of N.E. of Scotland_; the works of J.G. Campbell, &c.

Germany: Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, English translation by Stallybrass; Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_; Meyer, _Deutsche Volkskunde_; Tetzner, _Die Slaven in Deutschland_; Mogk in Paul's _Grundriss der germanischen Philologie_, and the works cited by Kaindl (see above).

France: Sebillot's works; Rolland, _Faune populaire_; Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et legendes_.

On the Slavs see the works of Krauss and v. Wlislochi; for Bohemia, Grohmann, _Aberglaube_; for Greece, Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_, and Rennell Rodd, _Folklore of Greece_; for Italy, Pitre's bibliography; for India, Crooke's works, and the _Indian Antiquary_. For questionnaires see _Handbook of Folklore_ (Folklore Soc.); Sebillot, _Essai de questionnaires_; _Journal of American Folklore_ (1890, &c.); and Kaindl's _Volkskunde_. For a bibliography of folk-tales see Hartland, _Mythology and Folk-tales_; to his list may be added Petitot's _Legendes indiennes_; Rand, _Legends of the Micmacs_; Lummis, _The Man who Married the Moon_; and the publications of the American Folklore Society. For other works see bibliographies in _Folklore_ and other periodicals. On special points may be mentioned Miss Cox's _Cinderella_ (Folklore Society); Kohler's works, &c. (see also bibliography to the article TALE). For games see Gomme, _English Games_; Culin, _Korean Games_; Rochholz, _Alemannisches Kinderlied_; Bohme, _Deutsches Kinderlied_; Handelmann, _Volks- und Kinderspiele_; Jayne, _String Figures_, &c.; and the bibliography to DOLL. See also Sonnenschein's _Best Books_.

The following is a list of the more important Societies and publications:--

England: Folklore Society; Folksong Society; Gipsy-lore Society.

U.S.A.: American Folklore Society.

France: _Societe des traditions populaires_.

Germany: _Verein fur Volkskunde; Hessische Vereinigung fur Volkskunde_; and minor societies in Saxony, Silesia and other provinces.

Austria: _Verein fur osterreichische Volkskunde_.

Switzerland: _Schweizerische Gesellschaft fur Volkskunde_.

Italy: _Societa per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari_.

In addition to these, the anthropological societies devote more or less attention to folklore. Besides the publications of the societies mentioned above, minor societies or individuals are responsible for the following among others: Belgium, _Wallonia_; Poland, _Wisla_; France, _Melusine_ (1878, 1883-1901); Bohemia, _Cesky Lid_; Denmark, _Dania_, &c.; Germany, _Zeitschrift fur Volkerpsychologie_ (1859-1890); _Am Urguell_ (1890-1898). (N. W. T.)

FOLLEN, AUGUST (or, as he afterwards called himself, ADOLF) LUDWIG (1794-1855), German poet, was born at Giessen on the 21st of January 1794, the son of a district judge. He studied theology at Giessen and law at Heidelberg, and after leaving the university edited the Elberfeld _Allgemeine Zeitung_. Suspected of being connected with some radical plots, he was imprisoned for two years in Berlin. When released in 1821 he went to Switzerland, where he taught in the canton school at Aarau, farmed from 1847-1854 the estate of Liebenfels in Thurgau, and then retired to Bern, where he lived till his death on the 26th of December 1855. Besides a number of minor poems he wrote _Harfengrusse aus Deutschland und der Schweiz_ (1823) and _Malegys und Vivian_ (1829), a knightly romance after the fashion of the romantic school. Of his many translations, mention may be made of the Homeric Hymns in collaboration with R. Schwenck (1814), Tasso's _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1818) and _Siegfrieds Tod_ from the _Nibelungenlied_ (1842); he also collected and translated Latin hymns and sacred poetry (1819). In 1846 he published a brief collection of sonnets entitled _An die gottlosen Nichtswuteriche_. This was aimed at the liberal philosopher Arnold Ruge, and was the occasion of a literary duel between the two authors. Follen's posthumous poem _Tristans Eltern_ (1857) may also be mentioned, but his best-known work is a collection of German poetry entitled _Bildersaal deutscher Dichtung_ (1827).

FOLLEN, KARL (1795-1840), German poet and patriot, brother of A.L. Follen, was born at Romrod in Hesse-Darmstadt, on the 5th of September 1795. He first studied theology at Giessen, but after the campaign of 1814, in which, like his brother August, he took part as a Hessian volunteer, began the study of jurisprudence, and in 1818 established himself as _Privatdocent_ of civil law at Giessen. Owing to being suspected of political intrigues, he removed to Jena, and thence, after the assassination of Kotzebue, fled to France. Here again the political murder of the duc de Berry, on the 14th of January 1820, led to Follen being regarded as a suspect, and he accordingly took refuge in Switzerland, where he taught for a while at the cantonal school at Coire and at the university of Basel; but the Prussian authorities imperatively demanding his surrender, he sought in 1824 the hospitality of the United States of America. Here he became an instructor in German at Harvard in 1825, and in 1830 obtained an appointment as professor of German language and literature there; but his anti-slavery agitation having given umbrage to the authorities, he forfeited his post in 1835, and was ordained Unitarian minister of a chapel at Lexington in Massachusetts in 1836. He perished at sea on board a steamboat which was totally consumed by fire while on a voyage from New York to Boston, on the night of the 13th-14th of January 1840. Follen was the author of several celebrated patriotic songs written in the interests of liberty. The best is perhaps _Horch auf, ihr Fursten! Du Volk, horch auf!_ of which Johannes Wit, called von Dorring (1800-1863), was long, though erroneously, considered the author. It was published in A.L. Follen's collection of patriotic songs, _Freie Stimmen frischer Jugend_.

His wife Elisa Lee (1787-1860), an American authoress of some reputation, published after his death his lectures and sermons, with a biography written by herself (5 vols., Boston, 1846).

FOLLETT, SIR WILLIAM WEBB (1798-1845), English lawyer, was born at Topsham in Devonshire on the 2nd of December 1798. He was the son of Captain Benjamin Follett, who had retired from the army in 1790, and engaged in business at Topsham. He received his education at Exeter grammar school and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1818. He had entered the Inner Temple in 1816 and began to practise as a pleader below the bar in 1821, but was called to the bar in 1824, and joined the western circuit in 1825. At the very outset his great qualifications were universally recognized. He was thoroughly master of his profession, and his rapid rise in it was due not only to his quick perception and sound judgment, but to his singular courtesy, kindness and sweetness of temper. In 1830 he married the eldest daughter of Sir Ambrose Harding Gifford, chief justice of Ceylon. In 1835 he was returned to parliament for Exeter. In parliament he early distinguished himself, and under the first administration of Sir Robert Peel was appointed solicitor-general (November 1834); but resigned with the ministry in April 1835. In the course of this year he was knighted. On the return of Peel to power in 1841 Sir William was again appointed solicitor-general, and in April 1844 he succeeded Sir Frederick Pollock as attorney-general. But his health, which had begun to fail him in 1838, and had been permanently injured by a severe illness in 1841, now broke down, and he was compelled to relinquish practice and to visit the south of Europe. He returned to England in March 1845; but the disease, consumption, reasserted itself, and he died in London on the 28th of June following. A statue of Follett, executed by Behnes, was erected by subscription in Westminster Abbey.