Chapter 14

_Parallels_.--The first part is clearly the theme of “Hop o' my Thumb,” which Mr. Lang has studied in his “Perrault,” pp. civ.-cxi. (_cf._ Köhler, _Occident_, ii. 301.) The change of night-dresses occurs in Greek myths. The latter part wanders off into “rob giant of three things,” a familiar incident in folk-tales (Cosquin, i. 46-7), and finally winds up with the “out of sack” trick, for which see Cosquin, i. 113; ii. 209; and Köhler on Campbell, in _Occident and Orient_, ii. 489-506.

XXIII. RED ETTIN.

_Source_.--“The Red Etin” in Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, p. 89. I have reduced the adventurers from three to two, and cut down the herds and their answers. I have substituted riddles from the first English collection of riddles, _The Demandes Joyous_ of Wynkyn de Worde, for the poor ones of the original, which are besides not solved. “Ettin” is the English spelling of the word, as it is thus spelt in a passage of Beaumont and Fletcher (_Knight of Burning Pestle_, i. 1), which may refer to this very story, which, as we shall see, is quite as old as their time.

_Parallels_.--“The Red Etin” is referred to in _The Complaynt of Scotland_, about 1548. It has some resemblance to “Childe Rowland,” which see. The “death index,” as we may call tokens that tell the state of health of a parted partner, is a usual incident in the theme of the Two Brothers, and has been studied by the Grimms, i. 421, 453; ii. 403; by Köhler on Campbell, _Occ. u. Or._, ii. 119-20; on Gonzenbach, ii. 230; on Bladé, 248; by Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 70-2, 193; by Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 326; and by Jones and Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 329. Riddles generally come in the form of the “riddle-bride-wager” (_cf._ Child, _Ballads_, i. 415-9; ii. 519), when the hero or heroine wins a spouse by guessing a riddle or riddles. Here it is the simpler Sphinx form of the “riddle task,” on which see Köhler in _Jahrb. rom. Phil._, vii. 273, and on Gonzenbach, 215.

XXIV. GOLDEN ARM.

_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 338, collected by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, in Devonshire. Mr. Burne-Jones remembers hearing it in his youth in Warwickshire.

_Parallels_.--The first fragment at the end of Grimm (ii. 467, of Mrs. Hunt's translation), tells of an innkeeper's wife who had used the liver of a man hanging on the gallows, whose ghost comes to her and tells her what has become of his hair, and his eyes, and the dialogue concludes

“SHE: Where is thy liver? IT: Thou hast devoured it!”

For similar “surprise packets” see Cosquin, ii. 77.

_Remarks_.--It is doubtful how far such gruesome topics should be introduced into a book for children, but as a matter of fact the _katharsis_ of pity and terror among the little ones is as effective as among the spectators of a drama, and they take the same kind of pleasant thrill from such stories. They know it is all make-believe just as much as the spectators of a tragedy. Every one who has enjoyed the blessing of a romantic imagination has been trained up on such tales of wonder.

XXV. TOM THUMB.

_Source_.--From the chap-book contained in Halliwell, p. 199, and Mr. Hartland's _English Folk and Fairy Tales_. I have omitted much of the second part.

_Parallels_.--Halliwell has also a version entirely in verse. “Tom Thumb” is “Le petit Poucet” of the French, “Daumling” of the Germans, and similar diminutive heroes elsewhere (_cf._ Deulin, _Contes de ma Mère l'Oye_, 326), but of his adventures only that in the cow's stomach (_cf._ Cosquin, ii. 190) is common with his French and German cousins. M. Gaston Paris has a monograph on “Tom Thumb.”

XXVI. MR. FOX.

_Source_.--Contributed by Blakeway to Malone's Variorum Shakespeare, to illustrate Benedick's remark in _Much Ado about Nothing_ (I. i. 146): “Like the old tale, my Lord, 'It is not so, nor 'twas not so, but, indeed, God forbid it should be so;'” which clearly refers to the tale of Mr. Fox. “The Forbidden Chamber” has been studied by Mr. Hartland, _Folk-Lore Journal_, iii. 193, _seq._

_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of “An Oxford Student,” whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave. “Mr. Fox” is clearly a variant of the theme of “The Robber Bridegroom” (Grimm, No. 40, Mrs. Hunt's translation, i. 389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1).

XXVII. LAZY JACK.

_Source_.--Halliwell, 157.

_Parallels_.--The same story occurs in Lowland Scotch as “Jock and his Mother,” Chambers, _l.c._, 101; in Ireland, as “I'll be wiser next time,” Kennedy, _l.c._, 39-42. Abroad it is Grimm's _Hans im Glück_ (No. 83). The “cure by laughing” incident is “common form” in folk-tales (_cf._ Köhler on Gonzenbach, _Sizil. Märchen_, ii. 210, 224; Jones and Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 312).

XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE.

_Source_.--_American Journal of Folk-Lore_, ii. 60.

_Parallels_.--Another variant is given in the same _Journal_, p. 277, where reference is also made to a version “The Gingerbread Boy,” in _St. Nicholas_, May 1875. Chambers gives two versions of the same story, under the title “The Wee Bunnock,” the first of which is one of the most dramatic and humorous of folk-tales. Unfortunately, the Scotticisms are so frequent as to render the droll practically untranslatable. “The Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow” in _Uncle Remus_ is similar to that of Johnny-Cake.

XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER.

_Source_.--From the ballad of the same name as given in Mr. Allingham's _Ballad Book_: it is clearly a fairy tale and not a ballad proper.

_Parallels_.--The lover visiting his spouse in guise of a bird, is a frequent _motif_ in folk-tales.

XXX. MR. MIACCA.

_Source_.--From memory of Mrs. B. Abrahams, who heard it from her mother some _x_ years ago (more than 40). I have transposed the two incidents, as in her version Tommy Grimes was a clever carver and carried about with him a carven leg. This seemed to me to exceed the limits of _vraisemblance_ even for a folk-tale.

_Parallels_.--Getting out of an ogre's clutches by playing on the simplicity of his wife, occurs in “Molly Whuppie” (No. xxii.), and its similars. In the Grimms' “Hansel and Grethel,” Hansel pokes out a stick instead of his finger that the witch may not think him fat enough for the table.

_Remarks_.--Mr. Miacca seems to have played the double _rôle_ of a domestic Providence. He not alone punished bad boys, as here, but also rewarded the good, by leaving them gifts on appropriate occasions like Santa Claus or Father Christmas, who, as is well known, only leave things for good children. Mrs. Abrahams remembers one occasion well when she nearly caught sight of Mr. Miacca, just after he had left her a gift; she saw his shadow in the shape of a bright light passing down the garden.

XXXI. DICK WHITTINGTON.

_Source_.--I have cobbled this up out of three chap-book versions; (1) that contained in Mr. Hartland's _English Folk-tales_; (2) that edited by Mr. H. B. Wheatley for the Villon Society; (3) that appended to Messrs. Besant and Rice's monograph.

_Parallels_.--Whittington's cat has made the fortune of his master in all parts of the Old World, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, among others, has shown, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, ii. 65-78 (_cf._ Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 251).

_Remarks_.--If Bow Bells had pealed in the exact and accurate nineteenth century, they doubtless would have chimed

Turn again, Whittington, Thrice and a half Lord Mayor of London.

For besides his three mayoralties of 1397, 1406, and 1419, he served as Lord Mayor in place of Adam Bamme, deceased, in the latter half of the mayoralty of 1396. It will be noticed that the chap-book puts the introduction of potatoes rather far back.

XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR

_Source_.--From Chambers, _l.c._, 64, much Anglicised. I have retained “Aih-late-wee-moul,” though I candidly confess I have not the slightest idea what it means; judging other children by myself, I do not think that makes the response less effective. The prosaic-minded may substitute “Up-late-and-little-food.”

_Parallels_.--The man made by instalments, occurs in the Grimms' No. 4, and something like it in an English folk-tale, _The Golden Ball_, _ap._ Henderson, _l.c._, p. 333.

XXXIII. THE LAIDLY WORM.

_Source_.--From an eighteenth-century ballad of the Rev. Mr. Lamb of Norham, as given in Prof. Child's _Ballads_; with a few touches and verses from the more ancient version “Kempion.” A florid prose version appeared in _Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore_ for May 1890. I have made the obvious emendation of

O quit your sword, unbend your bow

for

O quit your sword, and bend your bow.

_Parallels_.--The ballad of “Kempe Owein” is a more general version which “The Laidly Worm” has localised near Bamborough. We learn from this that the original hero was Kempe or Champion Owain, the Welsh hero who flourished in the ninth century. Childe Wynd therefore = Childe Owein. The “Deliverance Kiss” has been studied by Prof. Child, _l.c._, i. 207. A noteworthy example occurs in Boiardo's _Orlando Inamorato_, cc. xxv., xxvi.

_Remarks_.--It is perhaps unnecessary to give the equations “Laidly Worm = Loathly Worm = Loathsome Dragon,” and “borrowed = changed.”

XXXIV. CAT AND MOUSE.

_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 154.

_Parallels_.--Scarcely more than a variant of the “Old Woman and her Pig” (No. iv.), which see. It is curious that a very similar “run” is added by Bengali women at the end of every folk-tale they tell (Lal Behari Day, _Folk Tales of Bengal_, Pref. _ad fin._)

XXXV. THE FISH AND THE RING.

_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 326, from a communication by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould.

_Parallels_.--“Jonah rings” have been put together by Mr. Clouston in his _Popular Tales_, i. 398, &c.: the most famous are those of Polycrates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of “Sakuntala,” the plot of which turns upon such a ring. “Letters to kill bearer” have been traced from Homer downwards by Prof. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 220, and “the substituted letter” by the same authority in _Occ. u. Or._, ii. 289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of folk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of “the pre-ordained marriage” in folk-tales in Henderson, _l.c._

XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST.

_Source_.--I have built up the “Magpie's Nest” from two nidification myths, as a German professor would call them, in the Rev. Mr. Swainson's _Folk-Lore of British Birds_, pp. 80 and 166. I have received instruction about the relative values of nests from a little friend of mine named Katie, who knows all about it. If there is any mistake in the order of neatness in the various birds' nests, I must have learnt my lesson badly.

_Remarks_.--English popular tradition is curiously at variance about the magpie's nidificatory powers, for another legend given by Mr. Swainson represents her as refusing to be instructed by the birds and that is why she does _not_ make a good nest.

XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS.

_Source_.--Given by Mr. Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, vol. xiv. and reprinted in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890. It is very corrupt, both girls being called Kate, and I have had largely to rewrite.

_Parallels_.--There is a tale which is clearly a cousin if not a parent of this in _Kennedy's Fictions_, 54 _seq._, containing the visit to the green hill (for which see “Childe Rowland”), a reference to nuts, and even the sesame rhyme. The prince is here a corpse who becomes revivified; the same story is in Campbell No. 13. The jealous stepmother is “universally human.” (_Cf._ Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 206.)

XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON.

_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 2nd edition, published by the Folk-Lore Society, pp. 266-7. I have written the introductory paragraph so as to convey some information about Brownies, Bogles, and Redcaps, for which Henderson, _l.c._, 246-53, is my authority. Mr. Batten's portrait renders this somewhat superfluous.

_Parallels_.--The Grimms' “Elves” (No. 39) behave in like manner on being rewarded for their services. Milton's “lubbar-fiend” in _L'Allegro_ has all the characteristics of a Brownie.

XXXIX. ASS, TABLE AND STICK.

_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, first edition, pp. 327-9, by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould.

_Parallels_.--Mr. Baring-Gould gives another version from the East Riding, _l.c._, 329, in which there are three brothers who go through the adventures. He also refers to European Variants, p. 311, which could now be largely supplemented from Cosquin, i. 53-4, ii. 66, 171.

_Remarks_.--As an example of the sun-myth explanation of folk-tales I will quote the same authority (p. 314): “The Master, who gives the three precious gifts, is the All Father, the Supreme Spirit. The gold and jewel-dropping ass, is the spring cloud, hanging in the sky and shedding the bright productive vernal showers. The table which covers itself is the earth becoming covered with flowers and fruit at the bidding of the New Year. But there is a check; rain is withheld, the process of vegetation is stayed by some evil influence. Then comes the thunder-cloud, out of which leaps the bolt; the rains pour down, the earth receives them, and is covered with abundance--all that was lost is recovered.”

Mr. Baring-Gould, it is well-known, has since become a distinguished writer of fiction.

XL. FAIRY OINTMENT.

_Source_.--Mrs. Bray, _The Tamar and the Tavy_, i. 174 (letters to Southey), as quoted by Mr. Hartland in _Folk-Lore_, i. 207-8. I have christened the anonymous midwife and euphemised her profession.

_Parallels_.--Mr. Hartland has studied Human Midwives in the _Archaeol. Review_, iv., and parallels to our story in _Folk-Lore_, i. 209, _seq._; the most interesting of these is from Gervase of Tilbury (xiii. cent.), _Otia Imper._, iii. 85, and three Breton tales given by M. Sebillot (_Contes_, ii. 42; _Litt. orale_, 23; _Trad. et Superst._, i. 109). _Cf._ Prof. Child, i. 339; ii. 505.

XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END.

_Source_.--Leyden's edition of _The Complaynt of Scotland_, p. 234 _seq._, with additional touches from Halliwell, 162-3, who makes up a slightly different version from the rhymes. The opening formula I have taken from Mayhew, _London Labour_, iii. 390, who gives it as the usual one when tramps tell folk-tales. I also added it to No. xvii.

_Parallels_.--Sir W. Scott remembered a similar story; see Taylor's _Gammer Grethel, ad fin_. In Scotland it is Chambers's tale of _The Paddo_, p. 87; Leyden supposes it is referred to in the _Complaynt_, (c. 1548), as “The Wolf of the Warldis End.” The well of this name occurs also in the Scotch version of the “Three Heads of the Well,” (No. xliii.). Abroad it is the Grimms' first tale, while frogs who would a-wooing go are discussed by Prof. Köhler, _Occ. u. Orient_ ii. 330; by Prof. Child, i. 298; and by Messrs. Jones and Kropf, _l.c._, p. 404. The sieve-bucket task is widespread from the Danaids of the Greeks to the leverets of _Uncle Remus_, who, curiously enough, use the same rhyme: “Fill it wid moss en dob it wid clay.” _Cf._, too, No. xxiii.

XLII. MASTER OF ALL MASTERS.

_Source_.--I have taken what suited me from a number of sources, which shows how wide-spread this quaint droll is in England: (i) In Mayhew, _London Poor_, iii. 391, told by a lad in a workhouse; (ii) several versions in 7 _Notes and Queries_, iii. 35, 87, 159, 398.

_Parallels_.--Rev. W. Gregor gives a Scotch version under the title “The Clever Apprentice,” in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 166. Mr. Hartland, in _Notes and Queries_, _l.c._, 87, refers to Pitré's _Fiabi sicil._, iii. 120, for a variant.

_Remarks_.--According to Mr. Hartland, the story is designed as a satire on pedantry, and is as old in Italy as Straparola (sixteenth century). In passionate Sicily a wife disgusted with her husband's pedantry sets the house on fire, and informs her husband of the fact in this unintelligible gibberish; he, not understanding his own lingo, falls a victim to the flames, and she marries the servant who had taken the message.

XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL.

_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 158. The second wish has been somewhat euphemised.

_Parallels_.--The story forms part of Peele's _Old Wives' Tale_, where the rhyme was

_A Head rises in the well_, Fair maiden, white and red, Stroke me smooth and comb my head, And thou shalt have some cockell-bread.

It is also in Chambers, _l.c._, 105, where the well is at the World's End (_cf._ No. xli.). The contrasted fates of two step-sisters, is the Frau Holle (Grimm, No. 24) type of Folk-tale studied by Cosquin, i. 250, _seq._ “Kate Crackernuts” (No. xxxvii.) is a pleasant contrast to this.