book 1, cap. xxiii. and book 21, cap. v.; _Mythical and Mediæval

Swords_, by Lady Verney, in _Contemporary Review_, October, 1880; _The Seven Champions of Christendom;_ and Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. xi. pp. 129, 164.

In the Finnish "Oriiksi muutettu poika," the devil has a wonderful sword, which the hero obtains by the help of the horse: see also "The Water Smith," Keightley's _Fairy Mythology_, p. 260.--"Shortshanks," in _Dasent_, p. 153, gets possession of the only eye an old hag had, and so obtained "a sword, such a sword! It would put a whole army to flight, be it ever so great;" and certainly it chopped up sundry ogres later on in the tale; cf. p. 188 in the same collection.

The trap-door by which Mirkó entered the nether world appears in many stories, such as "St. Patrick's Purgatory"; see Baring Gould's _Curious Myths_, p. 230, and note to "Shepherd Paul" in this collection, _infra_.

_Page 68._ In the Lapp stories it is said that if Stallo's[25] dog is not killed as well as the monster himself, that it will lick its master's blood and then Stallo will come to life again, just as the witch in this story is evolved out of the morsels of unburnt ribs. See "Stallo" and "Fogden i Vadsø, som gjorde sig til en Stallo," in _Friis_, pp. 74, 97.

_Page 71._ The flashing eyes of the princess remind us of the Gorgons. Her repentance is like that of the queen in the Russian story, who slays and restores the hero; _Ralston_, p. 235.

The "strength-giving fluid" occurs in numerous stories, _e.g._, in the Finnish stories, "Alder Block," _S. ja T._, ii., p. 2, and the "Enchanted Horse," where the hero cannot move an immense sword until he wets his head with the blood that is in a tub in the middle of the forbidden room in the devil's house. Cf. also _Ralston_, p. 237; _Dasent_, "The big bird Dan," pp. 445, 459; _Folk-Lore Record_, 1879, p. 99; and, "Irish Folk-Tales," _ibidem_, 1883, p. 55.

Sometimes it is a belt or ointment that gives strength, as in "The Blue Belt" and "The Three Princesses of Whiteland," in _Dasent_, pp. 178, 209. Cf. _ante_, p. 248.

A daughter explains to the hero how to conquer her father, in Brockhaus, _Märchensammlung des Somadeva Bhatta_, vol. i., p. 110.

_Page 72._ In the Karelian story "Awaimetoin Wakka," _S. ja T._ i., p. 151, the lad threw a great iron pole against Vääräpyärä's castle, in order to let the inmates know he was coming. In the Finnish "Alder Block," _S. ja T._ ii. p. 2, the hero throws or kicks off one of his shoes, and it flies to his comrades, and they come and help him.

In "The History of Gherib and his brother Agib," Terkenan threw an iron mace at his son with such power that it smote three stones out of a buttress of the palace; Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. vi., p. 152. See also "Story of Vasilisa" in Naake's _Slavonic Tales_, p. 57; and "Sir Peppercorn," in Denton's _Serbian Folk-Lore_, p. 128: where Peppercorn hurls the giant's mace back to him just as Mirkó did; and _Roumanian Fairy Tales_, p. 64.

As to the name "Doghead," see Notes to "The Three Dreams," _infra_, p. 377.

_Page 74._ The castle that collapses into an apple also appears in "The Three Princes," p. 206, in this collection.

For a variant of Knight Mezey cf. "Zöldike," a Magyar tale, in _Gaal_, vol. iii., in which the beautiful meadow, the tent, the sleeping knight, and the witch weaving soldiers, all occur.

THE STUDENT WHO WAS FORCIBLY MADE KING. Kriza vii.

_Page 77._ Heroes of folk-tales often attain wealth, &c., by picking up some apparently useless thing on the road. See Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, "The Three Questions;" "The Princess of Canterbury," pp. 153-155.

Oriental writers, Indian and Persian, as well as Arab, lay great stress upon the extreme delicacy of the skin of the fair ones celebrated in their works, constantly attributing to their heroines, bodies so sensitive as to brook with difficulty the contact of the finest shift, and we may fairly assume that the skin of an Eastern beauty, under the influence of constant seclusion and the unremitting use of cosmetics and the bath, would in time attain a pitch of delicacy and sensitiveness such as would in some measure justify the seemingly extravagant statements of their poetical admirers, of which the following anecdote (quoted by Ibn Khellikan from the historian Et Teberi) is a fair specimen. Ardeshir Ibn Babek (Artaxerxes I.), the first Sassanian King of Persia (A.D. 226-242), having long unsuccessfully beseiged El Hedr, a strong city of Mesopotamia, belonging to the petty king Es Satiroun, at last obtained possession of it by the treachery of the owner's daughter, Nezireh, and married the latter, this having been the price stipulated by her for the betrayal of the place to him. It happened afterwards that one night as she was unable to sleep and turned from side to side in the bed, Ardeshir asked her what prevented her from sleeping. She replied, 'I never yet slept in a rougher bed than this; I feel something irk me.' He ordered the bed to be changed, but she was still unable to sleep. Next morning she complained of her side, and on examination a myrtle leaf was found adhering to a fold of the skin, from which it had drawn blood. Astonished at this circumstance, Ardeshir asked if it was this that had kept her awake, and she replied in the affirmative. 'How, then,' asked he, 'did your father bring you up?' She answered, 'He spread me a bed of satin, and clad me in silk, and fed me with marrow and cream and the honey of virgin bees, and gave me pure wine to drink.'--Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. ix., note to p. 148. Cf. "the Tale of the Dragon," in Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, p. 142.

The same idea is the theme of _Andersen's_ "The Princess and the Pea."--Cf. Finnish verse about the lovely Katherine, p. 314.

_Page 78._ The castle turns round upon the approach of the dragon in the story of "Vasilisa," in _Naaké_, p. 51; see also _Ralston_, p. 66.

THE CHILDREN OF TWO RICH MEN. Kriza viii.

For another variant cf. the Magyar tale "The Poor Man and His Child's Godfather" in Merènyi's _Eredeti Népmesék_, vol. i. See also the Finnish story, "Lehmää wuohena myöjä," ("The Man who sold his Cow as a Goat") from Tavastland and Karelia, _S. ja T._ ii. p. 126, which tells of a man being fooled into the belief that his cow was a goat, but in the end he overreaches the sharpers.

Cf. Dasent's _Tales from the Norse:_ "Gudbrand on the Hill Side," p. 172; "Not a Pin to choose between them," p. 198; and "Big Peter and Little Peter," p. 387.

_Grimm_, "Wise Folks," vol. ii. p. 73; "Hans in Luck," vol. i. p. 325.

Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, "The Fool and the Birch Tree" (Afanassieff V. No. 52), p. 49. Also the latter part of the "Bad wife," _ib._ i. No. 9.

_Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 44, 200, and 388.

_Dublin Magazine_ 1868, p. 707, "Bardiello."

Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. iv. p. 223, "The Simpleton and the Sharper."

_Udvalgte Eventyr og Fortœllinger_ ved C. Molbech. _Kjöbenhavn_, 1843, p. 317, "Lön som forskyldt, et jydsk eventyr."

Myllenhoff, _Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der Herzogthümer Schleswig Holstein und Lauenburg_. (Kiel, 1845.) "Die reichen Bauern."

J. W. Wolff (Leipzig, 1845), _Deutsche Märchen und Sagen_, ii. p. 52, "Die betrogenen Schelme."

Kletke, _Märchensaal aller Völker_, i. p. 98, "Herr Scarpacifico."

_Il Pentamerone_, ii. 10, "Lo compare."

_Grimm_, vol. i. "Clever Elsie," p. 138; Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_; "Foolish Sachúli," pp. 27, 257; _Folk-Lore Record_, 1884, p. 40, Variant of "The Three Noodles." See also Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, "Mr. Vinegar," p. 149, and the well-known verses about the pedlar called Stout, and "The Wise Men of Gotham," pp. 24, 56.

Amongst the numerous other simpleton stories we may note those where people harrow up their feelings about that which might happen to as yet unborn children.

The following are Magyar simpleton tales:--

The people in one village tried to carry a ladder through a forest _across_ their shoulders and cut all the trees down so as to get through.

_In another_: A stork soiled the new gold nob on the spire and they shot it so awkwardly that it hung there and disfigured the place worse than ever.

_In another_: Some grass was growing upon an old church: so, instead of cutting it and throwing it down, they erected an elaborate scaffold and pulled a bull up by a rope tied round his neck. The poor brute, half strangled, put out his tongue, whereupon they said, "See, he wants it already."

_In another_: When the Turks were coming they put a foal in a little grotto, and when it grew they could not get it out.

_In another_: By mistake they made it out that they ate the _same_ lentils twice, which is still a joke against them.

In Finland there are many such tales current, of which the following are specimens. There is a village called Hölmöla, the inhabitants of which are said to be very cautious, and who always considered well before doing anything, lest they might get into trouble by overmuch haste. For instance, when they are going to cut their rye, they always take seven persons, one bent the rye-stalk down; another held a piece of wood under it; the third cut the straw off; the fourth carried it to the sheaf; the fifth bound the sheaf; the sixth piled the sheaves together; and the seventh ricked them. Matti chanced to see them one day, and was struck with their manner of working. When evening came there was but a quarter of the field cut; so he thought he would do them a good turn, and set to work to cut and bind the rest. When he had finished he laid his sickle on the last shock and went to sleep. Next morning, when the Hölmöla people came, they found all cut, and the sickle lying on the shock. They were all astounded, and came to the conclusion that work done in such hurry must have been done by witchcraft, and that the sickle was the wizard who had transformed himself into that shape, and concluded that he ought to be drowned in order to prevent him interfering with honest folks' work for the future. As it was not deemed wise to touch such a creature, they fished it down by means of a long pole with a loop at the end, and dragged it to the shore, although it was very troublesome, as it would stick into the stubble and ditches, and try to prevent them dragging it along. At last it was got into a boat, and rowed off into the middle of the lake. They then tied a large stone to the handle with a strong rope, so that it might not float, and then with joyous shout threw it into the water. Unfortunately the sickle caught the bulwark of the boat; and, being weighted with a heavy stone, the boat canted over, and the good folks barely escaped with their lives from the wicked wiles of the wizard.[26]

Once they built a hut, and did it so thoroughly that they forgot the windows. When it was done, it was very dark, and so they sat down to consider how to get the light in. At last they hit upon a plan: the light was to be brought in a sack! So they opened the bag wide in the sunlight, and then, when it was full, tied it carefully up, and brought it in; but alas! the darkness was not enlightened. They were very much cast down at this; and while they pondered over it Matti passed by, and, hearing of their trouble, offered to get them the needed light for one hundred marks; and they were delighted to get it for so little. Matti cut a hole in the wall, and lo! the hut was flooded with light. The people were so delighted that they decided to take the whole wall down. Now they had light enough, but unfortunately, just then the hut fell down.

The writer of this has often heard in Holderness of a man who could not get into his trousers, and used to get up hours before his comrade, and get into his trousers by setting them up by a chair and jumping into them; till at last he was told to sit down, and put on first one leg and then the other. This was a great revelation to him. Another man took his wheelbarrow to wheel daylight in, and worked away till he was told to open his shutters, and it would _come_ in. One day another brilliant saw some grass in a church steeple, and was just going to hoist his cow up to it, when a friend pointed out to him that it was easier for _him_ to go up and bring it down. When at school at Newcastle-on-Tyne, some twenty years ago, we were very fond of the story of a Dutchman, who, with his comrades, went out walking one night; saw the moon's reflection in the water, and thought it was a Dutch cheese. He determined that the best way to get it was to go on to the bridge, and by taking hold of each other's feet to form a chain, and so reach the cheese. The Dutchman was top man, and held on to the bridge. Just when the bottom man was about to seize the cheese, the Dutchman hollowed out, "Hold on a minute, till I spit on my hands!" and so they all fell into the water, and destroyed the cheese, besides other calamities![27]

Amongst the Lapps, it is the Giants, and Stallo who are fooled, _e.g._: "Patto-Poadnje hævner sig paa Stallo," "En Askelad narrer Stallo," and an amusing story of how a dressed-up log was palmed off as a Lapp girl ("Stallobruden"). _Friis_, pp. 78, 90 and 98.

See also "Den listige Lappen," Hofberg, _Svenska Sägner_, p. 195; and a Russian variant given in _Ralston_, p. 53.

Forgetting to put the spigot into the vessel, and so losing all the wine, occurs in "The Husband who had to mind the House," _Dasent_, p. 310, and in _Grimm_, vol. i.; cf. also note to "Frederick and Catherine," p. 238; and "Clever Hans," p. 381.

_Page 82._ In _S. ja T._ ii. pp. 113-126, under head "Kuolema Kummina" ("Death as Godfather"), two stories are given which resemble this part of the Magyar tale. In "Taiwaan wuohen synty" ("Heaven's Goat's Origin") from Karelia, a poor man has a child, and goes to look for a godfather. He meets a stranger, who turns out to be God; but the poor man will not have him, as he makes one poor and another rich. Soon after he meets Death, and him he accepts, for with him there are no favourites. Death gives his godchild three gifts: a chair that whoever sits down on it cannot get up without leave; a bag that is never empty; and the power to know whether a person will recover, by noticing whether Death stands at the head or foot of the bed. The man lived to be over three hundred years old by tricking Death; and when he died he was not admitted into heaven because he called God a deceiver, and so he still goes wailing in mid-air: and this was the origin of the Snipe. In the other story, "Taiwaasen menijä," (Going to Heaven,) from Kivigari in Tavastland, Death gives the man an ointment, as a christening present, to heal all, providing the man sees him standing at the foot of the patient's bed. Death is grossly deceived, and when the man does die, he only gets into heaven by a fluke. A variant of the whole story is "Gambling Hansel," _Grimm_, No. 81. See also: _Grimm_, vol. i. "The Godfather," p. 168; "Godfather Death," p. 171, and note, p. 391; and "Brother Lustig," p. 312. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, ii. p. 951; _Dasent_, "The Master Smith," p. 120; C. Molbech, _Udvalgte Eventyr_, No. 70: "Döden og hans Gudsön," and "Brave Petrus en zign Zak," a Flemish Tale in _Volkskunde_. Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Folklore onder redactie van Prof. A. Gittée 3ᵉ Aflevering 1888, may be quoted as further instances.

Mistress Death appears in "Starving John, the Doctor," in _Patrañas_, p. 125; and in _Vernaleken_, "Hans with the Goitre," p. 238, it is a skeleton.

In a Wendish Story, St. Hedwige stands as godmother; see _Dublin Magazine_, 1861, p. 355.

In the Russian Story, "The Bad Wife," _Afanassieff_, i. No. 9, quoted in _Ralston_, p. 39, the devil flies out of Tartarus, to get out of the bad wife's way, and assists her husband to become a great doctor. See also a Lapp variant, from Utsjok, "Kjærringen og Fanden," in _Friis_, p. 138.

THE HUSSAR AND THE SERVANT GIRL. Kriza xix.

Cf. _Dasent_, "The Dancing Gang," p. 507; and the "Drop of Honey," in Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. v. p. 275, where, we are told, "a certain man used to hunt the wild beasts in the desert, and one day he came upon a grotto in the mountains, where he found a hollow full of bees' honey. So he took somewhat thereof in a water-skin he had with him, and, throwing it over his shoulder, carried it to the city, followed by a hunting dog which was dear to him. He stopped at the shop of an oilman, and offered him the honey for sale, and he bought it. Then he emptied it out of the skin, that he might see it, and in the act a drop fell to the ground; whereupon the flies flocked to it, and a bird swooped down upon the flies. Now, the oilman had a cat, which pounced upon the bird, and the huntsman's dog, seeing the cat, sprang upon it and killed it; whereupon the oilman ran at the dog and killed it; and the huntsman in turn leapt upon the oilman and killed him. Now the oilman was of one village and the huntsman of another; and when the people of the two places heard what had passed, they took up arms and rose on one another in anger, and there befel a sore battle; nor did the sword cease to play amongst them till there died of them much people; none knoweth their number save God the Most High." See also, "_The Book of Sindibad_," Folk-Lore Society, 1882, p. 133.

MY FATHER'S WEDDING. Kriza x.

Cf. Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes:_ "Sir Gammer Vans," p. 147.

_Grimm_, vol. ii., "The story of Schlauraffen land," p. 229; "No-beard and the Boy," p. 518; "The Turnip," p. 213, and notes, pp. 413, 442, 452.

_Vernaleken_, "The King does not believe Everything," p. 241.

Caballero, _Fairy Tales_, "A tale of Taradiddles," p. 80.

Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, "Lying for a Wager," p. 107.

Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, Nos. 4, 8, and 17.

Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, p. 295.

Mr. Quigstad has kindly sent the following Lapp variants collected at Lyngen. There was once a pot so large that when cooking was going on at one end, little boys were skating at the other. One of the men to whom the pot belonged set to work to make his comrade a pair of shoes, and used up seven ox-hides on the job. One of them got a bit of dust in his eye, and the other sought for it with an anchor, and found during his search a three-masted ship, which was so large that a little boy who went aloft was a white-haired old man when he got back again. There were seven parishes in that ship!

"Lügenmärchen" are common in Finland, and generally turn on a big fish, or a big turnip, and a big kettle to boil it in, giant potatoes, huge mushrooms, and so on. A schoolboy's story in Newcastle-on-Tyne relates how one man told his comrade of a remarkable dream he had had of an enormous turnip; whereat his comrade replied he had dreamt about an enormous kettle which was to boil the turnip in.

The other day a Boston friend told the writer a Lincolnshire story of a man who grew such splendid turnips that there were only three in a ten-acre field, and one grew so big it pushed the other two out. This man had a mate who made such a big kettle, that the man at one side could not hear the rivetting at the other! I am told by my friend Prof. Gittée that similar tales are current in Flanders.

Another north country yarn tells of a naked blind man going out to shoot, and seeing six crows, he shot them, and put them in his pocket.

_Page 88._ The river Olt rises in Transylvania, and flows into the Danube in Wallachia, in which country it is called the Aluta.

THE BAA-LAMBS. Kriza xiv.

Cf. "Saint Peter's Goddaughter," in _Portuguese Folk-Tales_. Folk-Lore Society, 1882, p. 54.

Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, "The Seven Foals," p. 349.

Naaké, _Slavonic Tales:_ "The Three Brothers", p. 254.

Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, "The King's Son," p. 234; and the Servian tale quoted on p. 294.

_Page 93._ Kriza notes that the "rotting, dead dog's head" occurs in the "Historiae Tripartitae ex Socrate, Sozomeno et Theodorico in unum collectae," by Cassiodorus; ii. 12. The first edition appeared in 1472.

FAIRY ELIZABETH. Kriza xv.

Cf. Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, "The Outcast Son," p. 151.

_Page 98._ The Judas she-devil's service lasted for three days in "The Three White Doves," _Vernaleken_, p. 269.

Amongst the many stories in which time passes rapidly, see Gilmour, _Among the Mongols_, "The Wizard," p. 344; Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, p. 304; Baring-Gould, _Curious Myths_, "The Seven Sleepers," p. 93; and _Friis_, "Troldkjaerringen og Jes," from Swedish Lapmark, p. 38.

In the Lapp tale, _Friis_, No. 45, swan-maids come and steal the corn, and the two elder sons fail to catch the thieves, Gudnavirus (Ashiepattle) the youngest, succeeding in doing so.

_Page 99._ Concerning the bird enticing the boy, cf. the bird that steals the jewel in "Kemerezzam and Budour," in Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. iii. p. 157.

Cf. also Rink, _Tales of the Eskimo_, "The Sun and the Moon," p. 236; _S. ja T._, i., "Lippo ja Tapio," from Ilomantsi, p. 6; and _Friis_, Nos. 44 and 45.

In some other Magyar tales a lame wolf or a lame eagle takes the woodpecker's place. Cf. Gaal, "Többsinsckirályfi" ("Prince Non-such"). In a Bohemian story it is a limping cock-pigeon, see _Vernaleken_, p. 359.

_Page 101._ Numerous incidents in folk-tales bear on the widespread superstition against looking (or going) back after setting out on a journey.

Cf. _Friis_, "Ulta-Pigen," where a lad is returning home with his bride; the girl warns him not to look back but he does, and lo! there is a great herd of beasts his wife's parents have given him. The moment he turned all those outside of the gate vanished; in "Jætten og Veslegutten," the lad fools the giant, because he dare not look back; and in "Bondesønnen og Solens Søster," the hero stumbles and falls and so sees behind him and in a moment the king's town and palaces disappear.

See also Rink, _Tales of the Eskimo_, "The Revived who came to the underground people," p. 300; Hofberg, _Svenska Sägner_, "Soåsafrun"; Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, "The Bél Princess," pp. 140, 283; and Gregor, _Folk-Lore of North-East Scotland_, Folk-Lore Society, 1881, p. 91.

A Lincolnshire labouring man, when I lived in the north of the county, told me he knew a wizard who wished to mend the road that led to his house across a field. He ordered one of his men to take a cartful of stones and a rake and to set off to mend the road, which was to be done as follows. The cart was to be taken to the far side of the field, and driven slowly along the road that needed mending, but the man was under no circumstances to look back. He did as he was ordered, but there was such a noise behind him that when he had got nearly over the field he looked round, and lo! there were thousands of devils at work, who disappeared the moment he looked round, and the road is not done yet.

In the same part of Lincolnshire, one day when a lady had gone out with a child to be baptized she turned back as she had forgotten something; when she entered the house one of the servants begged her to sit down before she went out again or something terrible would happen. The same superstition exists in Holderness, Finland, Hungary, Algeria, and Sweden.

_Page 101._ Amongst the numberless examples of swan-maidens, cf. the following:

_Friis_, "Pigen fra Havet," p. 27; "Bæivekongens eller Solkongens Datter," p. 152; and "Goveiter-Pige," p. 39, where the girls appear in gorgeous dresses.

_S. ja T._ i. p. 35, "Tuhkamo"; and ii. p. 53, "Ei-niin-mitä."

Hofberg, _Svenska Sägner_: "Jungfrun i Svanhamn," p. 27.

A story is current in Småland of a clergyman's son who assisted his father as curate. One morning when the young man awoke he saw the sun-beams coming in through a knot-hole in the floor, and suddenly a woman of marvellous beauty came floating in on the light and stood before him. He sprang up and threw his cloak over her and took her to his parents. She became his wife and lived happily with him for many years. One day he chanced to say how strange her coming was, and in order to emphasize his words he took the knot out of the hole in the floor, and in a moment she was gone!

In a Lapp story, _Friis_, No. 7, the girl tells her husband to drive a nail into the threshold to prevent her going away. See also "Lappen i Skathamn." _Hofberg_, p. 174.[28]

Other examples of the swan-maiden kind are to be found in:--

Rink, _Tales of the Eskimo_, "The Man who mated himself with a Sea-fowl," p. 146.

Keightley's _Fairy Mythology_, "The Peri Wife," p. 20; also p. 163, where seals are said to put off their skins; and "The Mermaid Wife," p. 169.

_Legends of the Wigwam_, "Son of the Evening Star," p. 81.

Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, "Phúlmati Ráni," p. 6.

Steere, _Swahili Tales_, "Hasseebu Kareem Ed Deed," p. 355.

_Household Stories from the Land of Hofer_, "The Dove Maiden," p. 368.

Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, "The Three White Doves," p. 263; "The Maiden on the Crystal Mountain," p. 274; "How Hans finds his Wife," p. 281; and "The Drummer," p. 288.

_Grimm_, vol. ii. "The Drummer," p. 333.

Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, p. 120.

Croker, _Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland_, "The Lady of Gollerus," p. 177.

_Sagas from the Far East_, pp. 29, 91.

Payne's _Arabian Nights_, "The Story of Janshah," vol. v. p. 98;

"Hassan of Bassora," and the "King's Daughter of the Jinn," vol. vii. p. 145.

_Portuguese Folk-Tales_, Folk-Lore Society 1882, "The Spell-bound Giant," p. 35.

_Folk-Lore Record_, 1879, p. 12; 1883, pp. 203, 250, 284, 320; and 1884, p. 11.

Wägner's _Epics and Romances_, p. 280, see "Valkyrs"; _Asgard and the Gods_, sub voce "Walkyries."

Baring Gould, _Curious Myths_, sub "Swan-maidens."

_Page 103._ Anent the wedding here mentioned, it may be interesting to note some ceremonies connected with Magyar weddings in olden times. Love-making was very simple: there was no long courtship before the betrothal, and one meeting of the couple was often deemed quite sufficient.[29] The young folks did not choose their future companions, that being the parents' prerogative; and very often the match was arranged when they were in their cradles. It was not considered desirable to make connections with foreign families, and in case a girl was given away to a foreigner, one of the conditions insisted upon was that the husband should learn the language of the country. Francis Csáky was thrown into prison by his father because he would not marry Miss Homonmay, who had been selected as his wife. Occasionally, however, some choice was allowed; thus, for instance, Nicholas Bethlen was allowed to choose his wife from among the daughters of Paul Béldy and Stephen Kun. It was considered an offence if a young man, not being a relative, paid a visit to a house where marriageable girls[30] were, as he was suspected of courting the young ladies on the sly; if the young man was one whom the parents approved, a day was fixed for him to come and "see" the girls. On the appointed day the young man started on his journey with great pomp, and generally arranged to arrive about supper time (7 to 8 p.m.); if the sight was satisfactory, the girl's hand was at once asked for.[31] During supper the young couple sat opposite to each other, and after supper there was a dance. Some parents left it to their daughters to decide, while others endeavoured "to enlighten them." If the father was dead the widow sought the advice of her eldest son, or of the children's guardian. If the young man was refused[32] he left the place, sometimes carrying the young lady off by force, as John Mikes did Sarah Tarnóczy. The asking for the young lady's hand was performed by that member of the family who had the greatest authority; if the offer was accepted the bridegroom fixed a day for the betrothal. Then came the interchange of rings. The betrothal ring was not a plain hoop, but one enamelled and set with diamonds or rubies. From the day of the betrothal they were considered engaged, and henceforth called each other "my younger sister" (hugom), and "my elder brother" (bátyám),[33] and the young man was allowed to make his offerings of gold and silver. The betrothal--called in Magyar "the clasping of hands"--and interchange of rings was considered binding on both parties, and a breach of promise was considered the greatest insult. Sometimes a sort of preliminary wedding was celebrated, thus Nicholas Bethlen went through the marriage ceremony soon after the interchange of rings, but a whole year elapsed before, he took his bride to his house.[34]

Sometimes an agreement was drawn up; and the wedding-day having been fixed by the bridegroom, it was communicated to the bride's father, so as to allow him to make his preparations. The number of the wedding guests often amounted to several hundreds. At the wedding of Barbara Thurzó, in 1612, seventy Magyar nobles of the highest rank appeared personally, besides several from the Austrian dominions. The king of Poland sent his sons and several ambassadors, the number of the guests' horses being 4324.[35] The wedding-feast was sometimes utilized for the discussion of politics. All the inhabitants of the village were invited, bullocks with gilt horns were roasted, and a goodly number of knives stuck into them for the use of the people. The bread was exposed in troughs, and the wine in vats. Amongst people of modest means the forms were the same, the supplies being smaller. The expenses of the wedding were borne by the serfs.

The bridegroom chose his best man from among his near relations, the groomsmen were young friends. A widower had neither best man nor groom's men. The bride had a matron[36] who gave her away, and who, together with the bridesmaids were chosen from near relatives. There was generally also "a host" chosen from the higher nobility, and he carried a gold stick in his hand; the deputy host carried a stick painted green; these two walked about and looked after the guests. A few days before the wedding the guests met at the bridegroom's house, and on the night previous to starting a weeping soirée was held, when the bridegroom took leave of his bachelorship.[37] On the night previous to the wedding the bridegroom and his guests journeyed to a village near the bride's residence, and slept there. So far the bridegroom had come on horseback; but now he took his seat in a carriage, and in front of him rode two young nobles clad in wild animals' skins,[38] who were called "fore-greeters" (elölköszöntök). These were followed by pipers, drummers, and buglers. In the bridegroom's carriage the best man sat by his side, his groomsmen in the opposite seat. The "matron of the bedchamber" (nyoszolyó asszony) followed in another carriage preceded by two young nobles dressed in skins and on horseback. The procession was closed by the servants, leading gaily caparisoned horses. The two "fore-greeters" saluted the chief host of the bride, who returned the greeting, and sent a message saying that the master would be heartily welcome: this was conveyed to the assembled guests, who thereupon proceeded to the bride's residence. When they arrived at the outskirts of the village, the bride's chief host sent a gold ring and some saddled horses, and a horse-race was at once got up,[39] the prize being the gold ring. Then the bridegroom sent his presents to the bride; the guests, too, sent their presents; as did also the representatives of the united towns and counties.

If the wedding was kept in a fortified town the guests were saluted by the firing of guns. The best man greeted the family of the bride, to which the chief host replied: thereupon the best man asked for the bride[40] and the chief host replied, endeavouring to pass a joke on the bridegroom and his best man, to which the latter replied as best he could. Then the chief host delivered up the bride, and, with a long speech, invited the guests to the midday meal.[41] The meal was a sumptuous feast; musicians discoursing sweet music as it proceeded. The chief host assigned the proper places to the guests. The bride was not expected to eat, but to weep. The banquet over, dancing began. The first dance was danced by the best man and matron, who were followed by the bride and bridegroom; the former simply walking through her dances: several other dances followed. The bride appeared in three different dresses on the wedding-day;[42] the bridegroom in three different dresses on the three days of the wedding. When the bride appeared they played the "bride's dance." During the parting ceremony the bride went down upon her knees before her parents, and was handed over to the bridegroom, who unsheathed his sword and cut off the wedding wreath.[43] This ceremony was called "taking possession of the girl." The fortress guns thundered out to let the world know when it took place. The young couple remained with the bride's parents till the third day, when she distributed her presents, and then set off to her new home.[44]

See also an account of the Palócz wedding customs in the Notes to the "Girl with the Golden Hair," _infra_.

There is a host of wedding and love songs, especially in cases where the ardent lover had to go far to meet his beloved, as for instance, the Lapps had to do. Two are given in Nos. 366 and 406 of the _Spectator_. The following[45] I do not think has ever been translated before:

No, not under the wide spreading heaven Is there so sweet and rich a flower As my own, dear, sweet, beloved one, she has all my poor heart.

When I travel over the windy Alps I remember my own belov'd one, And in a moment it's calm and warm, as after Midsummer.

The tune is very sweet and plaintiff, like so many of the folk-songs, the translation conveys no idea of the sweet and liquid music that even the words of the original are brimful of.[46]

"_Six-ox farmers._"--To say that a farmer ploughs his land with six oxen yoked to his plough means that he is very wealthy.

_Page 104._ The giant in an Austrian story (_Vernaleken_, p. 95) draws circles in the sand and a fowl appears; and in the Lapp story ("Ulta-Pigen." _Friis_, No. 7) the lad marks out on the ground the plan of a house, &c., at night, and in the morning all is found complete.

"My lad, it is a _burial_ feast." Halotti tors or burial-feasts are still very common among the Magyar rural population.

_Page 105._ The trouble that comes from those at home[47] occurs over and over in all manner of folk-tales, _e.g._, in the Lapp story ["Fattiggutten, Fanden og Guldbyen"] the lad, after meeting a beautiful girl who becomes his bride, insists upon going home to tell of his good luck, and when there wishes for his bride and her attendants to appear, to prove that his story is true. They come, but vanish almost at once, and then comes the numerous troubles before the lost bride can be found. _Friis_, p. 161. In another, the son of the swan-maiden shows his mother her dress, which she at once puts on and vanishes, "Pigen fra Havet," _id._ p. 27, with which Cf. _Dasent_. "Soria Moria Castle," p. 466.

_Vernaleken._ "The Drummer," p. 289.

Payne, _Arabian Nights_, "The Story of Janshah," vol. v. p. 109, and "Hassan of Bassoria," vol. vii. p. 175.

_Page 105, "Johara."_ There is no town of _Johara_ in Hungary, but there is in Russia a province of the name of _Jugaria_ or _Juharia_--according to Lehrberg the Югра or Угра, of old Russian records--whence "the Hungarians (_sic!_) proceeded when they took possession of Pannonia [their modern home] and subdued many provinces of Europe under their leader Attila."[48] According to Lehrberg,[49] it comprised the greater parts of the governments of Perm and Tobolsk of our days. It was said in Herberstein's time--his journeys were made in 1517 and 1526--that "the Juhari ... use the same dialect as the Hungarians, but whether this be true, I cannot say from my own knowledge; for though I have made diligent search I have been unable to find any man of that country with whom my servant, who is skilled in the Hungarian language, might have an opportunity of conversing."[50] Since Ivan the Terrible, the province gives a title to the Emperors of Russia.[51]

Cf. Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. v. p. 121, wherein the maid flies to "the Castle of Jewels." The man only gets there by the aid of birds and beasts, and it is the _third_ and most skilful magician alone who summons a bird, which is the only one who knows the far-off place. In another story, vol. vii., p. 176, the maiden flies to the "islands of Wac."

_Dasent_, p. 212, it is "Whiteland," and an old pike knows where it is.

_Vernaleken_, p. 251, Moon and Sun do not know where the mysterious place is, but the wind does. See also "the Drummer," p. 289, where the bride flies to the "Crystal Mountain."

In the Lapp stories we find "Banka Castle" and "Bæive-kingdom," and in an Irish tale, "Grey Horn's Kingdom," as the mysterious land.

The three men (or women) to whom the forsaken husband goes occurs in the Lapp stories, "Bondesønnen," "Bæive Kongens Datter," and "Fattiggutten," Nos. 44, 45, and 46, _Friis_.

Finnish, _S. ja T._ "Tuhkamo," i. p. 35, and "Ei-niin-mitä," ii. p. 53.

_Vernaleken_, "The Judas She-Devil," p. 255. "The Three White Doves," p. 264. "The Maiden of the Crystal Mountain," p. 275.

_Folk-Lore Record_, 1883, p. 319.

_Portuguese Stories_, F. L. Soc., 1882, p. 108, "The Prince who had the head of a Horse."

_Grimm_, vol. ii. pp. 381, 399.

The Whistle and Whip as a mode of summoning in common, see "Fisher Joe," p. 16, _ante_.

_Page 108._ "The Lame Woodpecker" reminds us of the lame devil in "Stephen the Murderer," p. 10; in _Vernaleken_, there is "a limper," p. 265, and a "lame hare," p. 275, the reluctance of the birds to take the man to Johara, &c., occurs in the Finnish and Lapp stories referred to.

_Page 109._ "Youth-giving water." Cf. "The Fairies Well," in present collection, p. 295. In Hungary snow-water collected in March is said to possess the same virtue.

Cf. also _Finnish_, "Tuhkamo." _S. ja T._ i. p. 43, where Ashiepattle washes in a well and becomes marvellously beautiful.

_Lapp_, "Bæivekongen.". _Friis_, p. 152. Where the lad dips his sore head into a kettle and becomes beautiful and golden haired. See also _Folk-Lore Record_, 1879. "Old Ballad Folk-Lore," p. 100. In "The Jewel in the Cock's Head," an Italian story, quoted in the _Dublin Magazine_, 1868, p. 706, the hero at once becomes young and handsome by the virtues of the jewel, and in a Finnish story, "The Enchanted Ship," the same end is attained by eating some berries. Cf. the effect of the Tàtos and baa-lambs breathing on anything, pp. 63 and 92 _ante_; also _Dasent_, p. 362; and such stories as "The Old Man made Young," _Grimm_, vol. ii., p. 215, and note, p. 444.

There are numerous springs and wells whose waters are said to possess marvellous powers, such as St. Winifred's in Flintshire, St. Keyne's in Cornwall, St. Bede's at Jarrow, &c. See Chambers' _Book of Days_, sub voce "Wells"; _Henderson's_ "Wells"; Hardwick, _Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore_, p. 267; and Aubrey, _Remains of Gentilisme_, F.L.S., 1880, pp. 121.

THE THREE PRINCES. Erdélyi, i. 1.

Cf. _Grimm_, vol. i. "The Gold Children," and note; vol. ii. "The Two Brothers," p. 244, and notes, p. 418; in "Ivan Kupiskas Søn." _Friis_, p. 170, a bear, a wolf, and a dog help the hero.

See also _Dasent_, "The Blue Belt"; and Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, "The Three Brothers."

_Page 111._ In explanation of the fact that the wolf, lion, and bear are sometimes called "dogs," and other times "servants," we may mention that is quite common in Hungary to address a dog as "my servant;" and the three brutes in the story are supposed to follow their masters like dogs. For animals and birds that help, cf. _Ralston_, "The Water King," p. 120. _Old Deccan Days_, "Punchkin," p. 14. _Vernaleken_, "The Three White Doves," p. 269, and "The Enchanted Sleep," p. 312. _Sagas from the Far East_, p. 137. _Friis_, "Jaetten Os Veslegutten." _Uncle Remus_, No. xxii. and notes to Prince Csihan.

The sticking of knives into a tree to tell of the fortune or misfortune of the owner occurs also in "Knight Rose," see notes there, and p. 257.

A town draped in black cloth appears in _Grimm_, vol. i. note, p. 421. _Dasent_, "Shortshanks," p. 160. _Vernaleken_, "The Cobblers Two Sons," p. 197.

The dragon that devours a virgin every week reminds us of St. George, see Baring Gould, _Curious Myths_, "St. George," and _The Seven Champions of Christendom_. Cf. _Grimm. Stories from the Land of Hofer_, "The Three Black Dogs," p. 214. _Friis_, Bondesønnen and _Dasent_, p. 158.

_Page 112._ "The healing weed;" see note to "Knight Rose," p. 342.

The dragon in _No. 7, Pentamerone_, when one of its heads is cut off, rubs itself against a certain leaf and the head is at once fastened on again.

The treachery of the Red Knight which appears in this story has already been noticed in the notes to "The Hunting Princes." Cf. _Dasent_, "Big Bird Dan."

_Page 113._ Animals restore their master to life in _Grimm_, vol. i. p. 253. _Friis_, "Ivan," p. 170. _Ralston_, p. 231. _S. ja T._ i. "Här'än korwista syntyneet Koirat siw" (The Dogs who grew from the Ears of a Bull), p. 138; in another Finnish story, "The Golden Bird," the hero is restored to life by a wolf, after being slain by his treacherous brothers. In the Kalevala it is a bee that brings the honey which restores Lemminkäinen; Rune 15, 530.

The prince thinks he has been asleep, just as Lemminkäinen does in Kalevala, Song 15, 559. Cf. "Golden Hair," _Naaké_, p. 108; "Marya-Morevna," _Ralston_, p. 91.

_Page 114._ "Henczida to Bonczida," names of villages, the former in the county of Bihar, the latter in Kolozs.

_Page 115._ The witch throwing down a rod or hair; see also "Knight Rose," cf. _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, Folk-Lore Society, 1882, "The Tower of Ill-Luck," p. 49. Basile, _Pentamerone_, No. 7, where a fairy binds Cienzo by her hair. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, "The Three Brothers," p. 275.

It is curious the part hair plays in popular lore.[52] According to the old idea that any part of a person, such as his hair, nail clippings, &c. was to all intents and purposes himself (see notes to "The Lazy Spinning Girl"[53]); so it appears here the witch's power would be conveyed by one of her hairs, just as the witch in the "World's Beautiful Woman" spits on the child's face with the hope of conveying her enchantment, p. 166. See _Henderson_, _sub voce_, "Hair." Black, _Folk Medicine in Wäs_.

_Page 116._ The unsheathed sword in bed occurs in the story of Siegfried and Brunhild. Cf. also _Dasent_, "The Big Bird Dan," p. 450; Payne's _Arabian Nights_, "The Story of Prince Seif el Mulouk," vol. vii. p. 94; _Pentamerone_, i. 9; and _Gubernatis_, vol. i. 330.

THE THREE DREAMS. Erdélyi, i. 2.

Cf. "The Secret-keeping Little Boy," p. 233, in this collection.

According to Ladislaus Arany,[54] an almost exact version of the tale is given in Schott's _Wallachische Märchen_ (No. 9). Schott calls attention to the resemblance of this tale to the story of Joseph, in the Old Testament, who is released from prison and exalted for the successful solution of dreams. See also two stories from Radloff, _Proben der Volkslitteratur der Türkischen Stämme Süd-Siberiens_, quoted in _Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 139-142.

The "Operencziás Tenger," is the mythical sea of Hungarian folk-tales. With regard to the etymology of the word, it is said by some to come from the expression "ober der Enns," in the German name of the Duchy of Upper Austria. The etymology is given for what it is worth. As to the cosmology of the story-tellers, all we can say is, that they appear to uphold the Zetetic school. The earth is flat, and surrounded by the Operenczian sea: beyond that is fairyland.

The Magyar peasants think much of dreams, as may be seen in their wonderful dream-book, "_A legrégibb és legnagyobb Egyiptomi Almoskönyv_," a work something in the same style as the dream-books that are still common in country places in England.

The significance of dreams is noticed in _Uarda_, cap. xv. Cf. _Denton_, "The Dream of the King's Son." _Horace_, c. _iii_. _xxvii_. 41; S. i. x. 33. _Homer_ says that dreams of falsehood passed through an ivory gate in the lower world: true ones through a gate of horn.

See also Tylor, _Early History of Mankind_, pp. 5-10; and _Primitive Culture_, "Dreams."

There are many stories of dreams which foretold wealth and power, or were the means of the dreamer attaining them, _e.g._ "Gontram the good King of Burgundy," Claud Paradin, _Symbola Heroica_. Also Chambers's _Book of Days_, vol. i. pp. 276, 394, 617; vol. ii. p. 188. The writer remembers hearing an almost precisely similar story to the last, when the ill-fated "Lifeguard" was lost on her way from Newcastle to London.

The Indians pay great attention to their dreams during the long fast at the beginning of manhood: see _Legends of the Wigwam_, p. 99. In some stories one of the chief characters pretends to dream that she may obtain certain information, such as "Luxhale's wives:" _Stories from the Land of Hofer_, p. 317.

It is a common superstition in Holderness that a morning dream is sure to come true, but if it is told to anyone before breakfast, it will not.

_Page 118_. "Immured alive": see a Magyar folk-song, "Clement the Mason," in the _Academy_, July 31, 1886. Cf. a paper read by Oscar Mailand before the Historical and Antiquarian Society of the County of Hunyad (April 29, 1885) on the legend of the building of the Monastery at Arges in Roumania. The story is nearly the same as in the song of "Clement the Mason." Manuli, the master builder, has a dream, wherein he is recommended to immure the first woman that appears on the scene; the victim is Manuli's wife. During the discussion that followed, the president, Count Géza Kuun, mentioned that the same tale is told of the castle of Dévén in the county of Nógrád; the fortress of Dévény near Pozsony (Pressburg); and of another fortress in the Trans-danubian division, and that the legend is of Slavonic origin.

_Grimm_, ii. "Maid Maleen," p. 350.

_Livius_, viii. c. 15, "Virgo Vestalis damnati incesti, viva deforsa est."

The king vows to slaughter thirty Muslims at the gate of his palace, when complete, in "Ali Noureddin." Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. viii. p. 141.

_Folk-Lore Journal_, 1880, p. 282; January 1883, "A Bewildering Superstition."

Cf. also the incident in "Secret-keeping Little Boy", p. 238.

"_Dog-Headed Tartars_." Our story-tellers almost invariably use the epithet "dog-headed" when speaking of their old enemies, the Tartars. Medieval travellers, who wrote in Latin, speak of the Great Khan of Tartary as "Magnus Canis." Cf. _The Travels of Friar Odoric_, in _Cathay and the way Thither_ (Hakluyt Soc. 1866). The learned editor remarks (p. 128, note): "I am not sure that a faithful version should not render 'Magnus Canis' as the 'Great Dog,' for in most copies the word is regularly declined 'Canis,' 'Cani,' 'Canem,' as if he were really a bow-wow. According to Ludolf, an old German translation of Mandeville does introduce the mighty prince as 'Der grosse Hund.'"

The irruption into Hungary of the Tartars under Batu Khan, in the thirteenth century, and their frightful slaughter and terrible devastations are sufficiently known, and need not further be enlarged upon here.

With regard to dog-headed people (cf. the Kynokephaloi of Ktesias), such people are often mentioned in ancient travels; thus, Odoric of Pordenone says: "[L'Isola che si chiama] Nichovera ... nella quale tutti gli nomini [h]anno il capo a modo d'un cane." From an old Italian MS. text in the Bibl. Palatina at Florence, printed in _Cathay and the Way Thither_, p. 51.

The womankind of dog-headed people are always described as beautiful. Cf. the travels of Friar Jordanus, Odoric of Pordenone, Ibn Batuta. Cf. also the lovely wife of old Doghead in "Prince Mirkó" in this volume; and _Gubernatis_, vol. i. Preface, xix.

_Page 120._ "Born with a caul."

In Holderness and North Lincolnshire, a caul is said to prevent the owner from drowning. I have heard others say, that you can tell by its condition what the state of its owner's (the one who was born with it) health is, even if he (or she) is in a distant land. So long as it keeps as it is he is well, but if it "snerkles up" he is dead.[55] It is commonly called a "sillyhood" in the North.

Cf. _Henderson_, pp. 22, 23. _Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme_, p. 113.

Gregor, _Folk-Lore of North-East of Scotland_, p. 25.

_Grimm_, i. Hans in Luck. "I must have been born with a caul," p. 329.

Napier, _Folk-Lore_, p. 32.

Babies born with teeth are said by the Magyar peasants to be the children of witches; see Varga János, _A babonák Könyve_, Arad, 1877, p. 70.

Babies born with teeth are regarded as different to other children, in some parts of England, but the superstition is vague. A friend had a servant who was born with a grey lock, and the writer has often seen the girl; it was regarded as somewhat uncanny. Francisque Michel mentions in his _Histoire des Races Maudites_, that in the Valley of Argelès old women, when quarrelling with a cagot, shew their tongue "ou derrier l'oreille"; this is to remind the poor man of the wisp of hair on his ear, which is considered uncanny.

_Page 120_. The incident of the lad disguising himself so as to be exactly like his comrades occurs also at p. 241, in "The Secret-Keeping Little Boy." To be able to select the right person from several is looked upon as a test of the magic power of the person tried as in this case.

Cf. _Naaké_. "Golden Hair," p. 107.

_Vernaleken_. "How Hans finds his Wife," p. 284.

_Folk-Lore Record_, 1883. Ananci Stories, p. 284; and the Polish story, "Prince Unexpected," _ib._ 1884, p. 13.

_S. ja T._ i. "Kulta-orit," p. 187.

Cf. _Folk-Lore Record_, 1880, "Mons Tro," p. 220.

_Page 121._ In the Lapp story, "Patto-Poadnje." _Friis_, p. 78, the Stallo's wife suspects there is something wrong with the soup, which is in reality made of her late husband, but the man fools her by saying he cut his finger while making it.

In the Finnish story, "Tynnyrissä kaswanut Poika," ("The Boy who grows in a Barrel"), _S. ja T._ i., p. 105, there are nine cakes made of a woman's milk. Cf. "How the widow saved her son's life," _Sagas from the Far East_, p. 207.

We may here note the constant difficulties that appear in the folk-tales, and thwart the love-making of the heroes and heroines. Commonly it is the king who does all he can to prevent the lovers being happy, or it is some one at home who causes infinite trouble. For examples of the tasks that the lover or husband has to accomplish, see the tales "Fisher Joe," "Handsome Paul," "Fairy Elizabeth," "The Three Brothers," "The Girl with the Golden Hair," &c., in this volume.

Cf. also _Friis_. "Ruobba. Jætten og Fanden," p. 67; "Bondesønnen. Kongesønnen og Solens Søster," p. 140; "Solkongens Datter," p. 152; "Gutten, som tjente hos Kongen," p. 167.

_S. ja T._ ii. "Leppäpölkky" ("Alder Block"), p. 2; "Maan, meren kulkija laiwa" ("The Ship that sails over Land and Sea"), p. 22; "Kaikkia, matkalla karwitaan" (All is useful in a Voyage), p. 29; and "Lakwan tekijät," (Ship Builders), p. 33.

Basile. _Pentamerone_. No. 23.

Schott. _Wallachische Märchen_, No. 24.

_Ralston_. "The Water King," p. 120.

_Sagas from the Far East._ "How Shanggasba buried his Father," p. 189.

See also the troubles in getting to Johara in Notes to "Fairy Elizabeth," _ante_.

CSABOR ÚR. Erdélyi, i. 3.

According to some writers this story refers to King Matthias and his black troop. It is a Csángó tale.[56]

These traditional stories, as specimens of folk-history, are of great interest, showing how the kindness or tyranny of some lord or lady clings to the popular mind, and how all manner of stories attach themselves to great names.

Cf. "Herrn till Rosendal," in Hofberg, _Svenska Sägner_, p. 14; "Herrskapet på Ugerup," p. 17, where Arild dupes the Danish king by obtaining leave of absence until he reaps his harvest, he having sown fir-cones. (A variant of which the writer has heard amongst the peasants of the Eastern counties) and "Elestorps skog," p. 71, where the whole forest seems on the move as in _Macbeth_, act v. scene v. See also "An ancient Arabian parallel," by Dr. Redhouse, in the _Academy_, July, 24, 1886. See also "Snapphane-grafven," _ib_. p. 75, a story of a heap of stones,[57] now known as the "freebooter's grave," that tells how a brave peasant slew the chief of the plundering band and so dispersed them.

"Grefvinnan på Höjentorp," _ib_. p. 97, which is a good example of how historic incident is moulded and blended in the popular lore, and it may be of interest to give it here. Shortly after Charles XI. had seized the greater part of his nobles' property, he went to see his aunt Maria Eufrosyna and was saluted with a sound box on the ear, and upon asking why she did it was told he got it for taking all her property from her. They entered the house where a herring tail and an oat cake was set before the king, and he was told as he had made his bed so must he lie on it. The king then asked his aunt if he might take care of her riches for her, but was saluted with such a box on the ear that he fled and left her to enjoy her estates in peace.

"Fru Barbro på Brokind," _ib_. p. 112, is an example of how the memory of a tyrant lives.

"Qvick i jord," _ib_. p. 122, tells of a terrible outbreak of plague, and how a Finn advised the people to bury a live cock, but as the plague raged as fiercely as ever a live goat was buried, and then a living boy.[58]

"Jonas Spets," p. 123, tells how the king found an old soldier sharpening (putting a point to) his sword and was warned to use it well on the morrow. After the battle the king ordered him to show his sword, and lo! it was dripping with blood. "Well done," said the king, "I will gild the point for you," and so he ennobled the soldier and changed his name to "Gyllenspets" (Golden-Point). This, according to the popular story, is the way the family of Gyllenspets in Vermland became nobles.

The writer heard the following from old men in North Lincolnshire.

LIMBER.--There have been great wars and battles all over here and most of them are attributed to Cromwell. At Riby there was a fearful fight, the blood ran as deep as the horses' bellies, and to this day there is an opening in the hedge, where nothing will ever grow, known as Riby Gap, and there the blood flowed deepest.[59]

THORNTON ABBEY.--There was a great battle there and the soldiers knocked the church down and the town that used to be near it.

YARBOROUGH CAMP[60]--according to popular belief--was made by Cromwell's soldiers, who are said to have sat behind the entrenchment when firing at their enemies.

MELTON ROSS.--Perhaps the most curious is the tale told by an old groom about the gallows at Melton Ross:--

Some hundred years ago or so three or four boys were playing at hanging, and seeing who could hang the longest on a tree, when a three-legged hare (the devil, sir), came limping past; off ran the lads who were on the ground after him and forgot their comrade, who when they came back was dead. The gallows was put up in memory of that. The true story is that there was a rivalry between the Ross family and the Tyrwhits, and to such a pitch had it grown among their dependants that the two parties meeting on a hunting excursion got to blows and many were killed. James I. being in Lincolnshire shortly after, and hearing of it, ordered a gallows to be erected where the fight occurred, and enacted that in the future any persons slain in an encounter of this kind should be deemed murdered, and the perpetrators of the crime hanged. A gallows is always kept on the spot and when the old one falls to decay a new one is erected.[61]

_Page 125_. _Permanent blood stains._ Cf. those of Rizzio in Holyrood Palace; those in the Carmelite convent in Paris, said to have been made by murdered priests in the revolution; those at Cottele, on the banks of the Tamar, blood of the warder slain by the Lord of the Manor; those in Sta. Sophia, at Constantinople, &c.

THE DEVIL AND THE THREE SLOVAK LADS. Erdélyi, ii. 1.

Cf. _Grimm_, vol. ii. "The Three Apprentices," pp. 132, 418. _Stier_, No. 25.

A similar story used to be current among the schoolboys in Northumberland.

THE COUNT'S DAUGHTER. Erdélyi, ii. 2.

The writer of this remembers his grandmother telling him this story when he was a boy in Newcastle on Tyne.

Cf. _Grimm_, i. "The Robber Bridegroom," pp. 164, 389.

Chambers, _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 291, "Mr. Fox."

Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 164, "The Story of Mr. Fox"; and Benedict, in "Much Ado About Nothing," act i. scene i.[62]

Cf. _Hofberg_, p. 14, "Herrn till Rosendal," where the horrors of the lord's house drives his betrothed away; and the "Iron Virgin," of Munich, who was said to clasp the doomed in her arms and pierce them with spikes. _Fraser's Magazine_, 1872, p. 354.

The story reminds us strongly of Blue Beard. Cf. _Notes and Queries_, 7th S. ii. p. 321.

THE SPEAKING GRAPES. Erdélyi, ii. 3.

Cf. Thorpe. _Yule-Tide Stories_. "Prince Hatt under the Earth," p. 15. Stokes' _Indian Fairy Tales_, "The Fan Prince," p. 195. _Grimm_, vol. ii. "The Singing, Soaring Lark," p. 5, and Variants given on pp. 378, 382. _Gubernatis_, vol. ii. Story from Piedmont, p. 381, and a Tuscan tale, p. 382. In the latter, the father, who has promised his daughter a rose, forgets it, and his ship refuses to move on the homeward journey, and so he goes to a garden to get the rose, which is given to him by a hideous magician. This reminds us of the Finnish story, "Jykeä Lipas" (The Heavy Chest), _S. ja T._ ii. p. 146, where a man who was ploughing near a lake, went down to the strand to drink. When he had done drinking he tried to raise his head but could not, as a sea-troll had got hold of his beard,[63] and although the man repeated all manner of magic sentences he could not get away. The man at last had to promise his daughter, and so was set free: the story then turns on the forbidden chamber. In another, "Awaimetoim Wakka" (The Keyless Chest), _S. ja T._ i. p. 151, a man was lost and wanted to get home, when a being appeared and promised to take him if he would give him what he had at home, which turns out to be a beautiful child. Cf. "The King and the Devil," p. 189, in this collection. In Lapp stories the devil comes in. Cf. "Fattiggutten, Fanden og Guldbyen;" _Friis_, p. 161, where he promises plenty of fish to a poor man if he will promise what his wife "carries under her heart;" in another, "Gutten, Havfruen og Ridder Rød," _Friis_, p. 131,[64] a mermaid stops the king's ship and won't let it go till the king promises what his wife is bringing into the world. The latter part of the Finnish and Lapp stories is not like the Magyar, but rather reminds us of "Stephen the Murderer," and the latter part of "Shepherd Paul."

The "Dirty, filthy pig," that helps, is a variant of the huge frog that will not allow the girl to draw water from the well until she gives it her ring. Cf. "The wonderful frog," p. 224, and notes.

For the youngest daughter who wishes for such out-of-the-way, and in many cases utterly incomprehensible objects, Cf. Stokes' _Indian Tales_, "The Fan Prince," where the girl wants "Sabr," p. 195; and "The Rájá's Son," where the young man hears some parrots talk about the Princess Labám, whom he determines to find, p. 154; and the "Bél Princess," p. 138. Mr. Ralston also notes _Afanassieff_, vol. i. No. 14, and vol. vii. No. 6.

_Page 131._ The king tries to deceive the pig, in the same way as he, the king, on p. 191 tries to deceive the devil.

Usually, there is a long series of troubles between the enchanted one appearing in some loathsome form and the revelation of the prince in all his beauty, as in the well-known story of "Beauty and the Beast."[65] Cf. "Prince Wolf," _Folk-Lore Record_, 1880, p. 227. "Prince Jalma," _ib._ 1885, p. 293. On the subject of "Husks," or glorious beings occurring under lowly forms, see in this collection the snake in "Knight Rose," "The Wonderful Frog," "Snake Skin," the youngest daughter in "The Three Princesses," and notes to "The Three Oranges," "Cinder Jack," and "The Widower and his Daughter."

Cf. also: The boy in the Lapp stories that wears a hat to hide his golden helmet. _Friis_, "Jætten og Veslegutten." _Stokes_, "The Monkey Prince," and "The Boy who had a Moon on his Forehead, and a Star on his Chin," pp. 126, 130, and note, p. 280. _Old Deccan Days_, "The wanderings of Vicram Maharajah," p. 119, "The Jackal, the Barber, and the Brahmin," p. 167, and "Muchie Lal," P. 221.[66] _Dasent:_ Hacan Grizzlebeard. Also, "The twelve wild ducks" in the same collection, where the brothers appear under the form of ducks. Cf. the Finnish "Weljiänsä-etsijät ja Joutsenina lentäjät" (one who seeks brothers flying as swans): "Saaressa eläjät" (living on an island). "Tynnyrissä kaswanut poika" (a boy grown in a barrel); _S. ja T._ i. _Märchensaal aller Völker von Kletke_, No. 2. "Die Drei Königskinder." _Household Stories from the Land of Hofer_, "The grave Prince and the beneficent Cat." _Grimm_ ii. "The Donkey." "The Goose-girl at the Well," and note, p. 441. _Sagas from the Far East_, pp. 28, 92, 222, 244, and 274.

THE THREE ORANGES. Erdélyi, ii. 4.

_Page 133._ In "Loving Lailí." _Stokes_, p. 81, the prince is commanded to open the fruit when he is alone, as Lailí will be inside quite naked. See also _ib._ pp. 251, 284, and _Grimm_ ii. p. 496. _Pentamerone_, "The Three Citrons." _Portuguese Folk Tales_, p. 10, F. L. S. 1882; also _Dasent_, p. 437, "The Cock and Hen a-nutting."

_Page 134._ The changed bride occurs in the Finnish "Merestänousija Neito." (The Sea-Maid.) _S. ja T._ i. p. 77, and "Ihmeellinen Koiwu" (The wonderful Birch) _S. ja T._ i. p. 59. _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, "The Maid and the Negress," F. L. S. 1882. _Stokes, Indian Fairy Tales_, pp. xxiii. xxv. 3, 143, 284. _Dasent_, "The lassie and her Godmother," p. 219, and the "Bushy Bride," p. 376. _Grimm_, ii. "The Goose-girl;" "The White Bride and the Black one," and "The Maid Maleen," pp. 508, 525. _Friis_, Lappiske Eventyr, "Haccis-ædne," see "N. and Q." 7th Series, ii. p. 104. _Pentamerone_, "The Three Citrons." Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Knife of Slaughter," p. 63. _Folk-Lore Record_, 1884, p. 242, _ib._ 1885, p. 292. _Gubernatis_, vol. ii. p. 242. Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_, pp. 47, 54, 62. Gerle, _Volksmärchen der Böhmen_ No. 5. "Die Goldene Ente." Hyltén-Cavallius. _Svenska Folk Sagor_, No. 7, "Prinsessan som gick upp ur hafvet." Cf. also Steere, _Swahili Tales_, p. 398. Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, p. 310; and Denton, _Serbian Tales_, p. 191; also pp. 214 and 222, in this collection.

_Page 135._ The feigned illness occurs in numerous stories, _e.g._: _Deccan Days_, "Punchkin," p. 5. _Dasent_, "Katie Woodencloak," p. 413. _Payne_, vol. i. "The first old man's story," p. 21. _Stokes_, "The Pomegranate King," p. 9. _Records of the Past_, vol. ii. "Tale of the Two Brothers," p. 149. _Friis_, "Ivan, Kupiskas Søn," p. 170.

_Page 136._ House tidying incident. Cf. _Grimm_, vol. i. p. 226. "Sweetheart Roland."

THE YOUNGEST PRINCE, AND THE YOUNGEST PRINCESS. Erdélyi, ii. 5.

_Page 137._ Good luck coming from being under a tree. Cf. p. 323 in this collection; and Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, "Kagsagsuk," p. 101. Stokes, _Indian Tales_, "The Fan Prince," p. 198, and "The Bed," p. 204. _Pentamerone_, "The Raven."

_Page 138._ Old one who helps. Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, "The Three Tasks," p. 226, and "Piping Hans," p. 221. _S. ja T._ "Maan, meren kulkija laiwa" (a ship which can sail on land and sea), vol. ii. p. 22, and "Ihmeellinen Sauwa" (the wonderful stick), _ib._ vol. i. p. 158. In Vicram Maharajah, _Old Deccan Days_, p. 101, the parents of Anar Ranee caused her garden to be hedged round with seven hedges made of bayonets, so that none could go in or out, and published a decree that none should marry her but he who could enter the garden and gather the three pomegranates in which she and her maids slept.

_Page 139._ The horse incident. Cf. Trojan horse, also _Gubernatis_, vol. i. p. 336. Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Golden Steed," p. 98.

_Page 140._ The marks of moon and stars. In _Payne_, vol. ii. p. 163, we read, that an old woman was taken "for a man of the flower of God's servants, and the most excellent of devotees, more by token of the _shining of her forehead_ for the ointment with which she had anointed it." _S. ja T._ vol. i. p. 105, "Tynnyrissä kaswanut Poika" (a boy who grew in a barrel) p. 337, _ante_. Stokes _Indian Fairy Tales_, "a boy who had a moon on his forehead, and a star on his chin," p. 119. Denton, _Serbian Folk Lore_, "The Shepherd and the King's daughter," p. 173.

THE INVISIBLE SHEPHERD LAD. Erdélyi, ii. 6.

There is a similar tale in Erdélyi, iii. 5. See also _Grimm_, vol. ii. "The shoes that were danced to pieces," and notes, p. 430. _Roumanian Fairy Tales_, London, 1881, "The Slippers of the Twelve Princesses." A sleeping draught is given to the prince in the story of the Enchanted Youth. _Payne_, vol. i. p. 59.

_Page 142._ A copper forest occurs in the Lapp story, "Jætten og Veslegutten." _Friis_, No. 18. Also in _Dasent_, "Katie Woodencloak," p. 414.

THE THREE PRINCESSES. Erdélyi, ii. 7.

_Page 144._ A girl finds her way back in a similar way in the Lapp stories. "Stallo og Lappe brødrene Sodno." _Friis_, p. 85, and "Stallo-vagge," _ib._ p. 106. Cf. also _Roumanian Fairy Tales_, "Handsome is as Handsome does," p. 81. _Pentamerone_, "Nennillo and Nennella." _Serbian Folk-Lore_. Denton, "The wicked stepmother." _Grimm_, vol. i. "Hänsel and Grethel," and note p. 355.

In the Swedish legend, "Tibble Castle, and Klinta Well." (Hofberg. _Svenska Sägner_, p. 146,) the princess coming to meet her lover is carried off by the Mountain King, and leaves her crown hanging on a fir tree, to show her lover what has happened.

_Page 146._ The acorn's rapid growth reminds one of Jack and the Bean Stalk.

For Magyar idea of giants and giantesses, see the Introduction,[67] The one-eyed monster occurs in the Lapp, "Ruobba, Jætten og Fanden," _Friis_, p. 67, and in the Finnish "Leppäpölkky." (_S. ja T._ ii. p. 2) nine daughters fall into Syöjätär's power, and are only allowed one eye amongst them. See also _Round the Yule Log_.

The Lapps tell of monsters which they call Bædnag-njudne[68] who had dog's noses, and one eye in the middle of their forehead.

Page 147. Cannibalism. Cf. the Lapp Stories, "Bædnag-njudne," "Stallo og Fiskerlappen," "En Datter af Stalloslægten flygter fra sine Forældre og gifter sig med en Lapp," "To Lappepiger gifte sig med Stallo," &c. in _Friis_. Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, "The Brothers visit their Sister," p. 128. _Old Deccan Days_, "Brave Seventee Bai," p. 28. Payne, _Arabian Nights_, The History of Gherib and his brother Agib, vol. vi. p. 112.

_Page 148._ A monster is fooled in a similar way, in "The two Children and the Witch," p. 60. _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, F.L.S. 1882. See also _Grimm_, vol. i. Hansel and Grethel, p. 67. _Dasent_, "Buttercup," p. 146, and "Boots and the Troll," p. 253. Also other parallels noted in Ralston _Russian Tales_, p. 168.

The hair combing is a favorite incident in numerous Lapp stories.

The latter part of the story seems to be a compressed edition of the Cinderella incident.

CINDER JACK. Erdélyi, ii. 11.

The Magyar title of this tale is: "Hamupipöke," and as there are no genders in the Magyar language, the name may stand either for a male or a female.

Sports similar to those mentioned in the tale (but of course on a very much reduced scale, so as to suit ordinary mortals) formed part of the wedding festivities in Hungary in days gone by. Cf. Baron Radvánszky's work on _Magyar Family Life in the 15th and 16th Centuries_. 3 vols. (In Magyar).

For the whole story, Cf. the Finnish "Maan, meren kulkija laiwa" (_S. ja T._ ii. p. 22), a story from Ilomantsi, which tells of a king with an only daughter, whom he does not wish to marry, as he cannot bear the thought of parting from her, and so set as a task for any one who wished to marry her, the building of a ship that could sail over land and sea. Three brothers, who were merchants, lived in the land: the youngest was called Tuhkamo (Ashiepattle): these determined to try their luck; but the elder failed, because they rejected the offer of help from an old man; Ashiepattle secured the old man's good will, and so won the day. The latter part of the tale is something like that of Shepherd Paul in this collection.

A Karelian story, entitled "Tuhkamo" turns upon three brothers, whose father before he died bade them come and pray for him by his grave: only the youngest did so. He was rewarded, and by means of a wonderful horse, achieved marvellous feats of jumping, and so won the princess. Another story from North Finland: "Tuhkamo," relates how a dead father came to his three sons in their dreams, and ordered them to watch on the sea-shore; the youngest alone did so, and caught a swan maiden, whose father set him three tasks; viz. to fell all the trees near a bay; to set them up again; and to bring a golden chain from heaven. He managed all that by the help of his bride, but got into trouble over the last, as when he rode up to it, on his wondrous steed, and seized it, it was so heavy that he fell down to the earth, and was completely buried in the ground, except a little hair, which remained above ground; a duck made her nest on his head, and laid her eggs in it, and by means of a fox and other animals which came to eat the eggs Tuhkamo got out of his difficulty; he next fooled two men who were quarrelling over three precious gifts; he then went on to three houses asking for his bride; all the animals, &c. were summoned, and at last an eagle took him to his lost bride, who recognised him by a piece of the golden chain he put in the water the princess's servants drew.

In another Finnish tale, "The Golden Bird," the third son is the only one who can watch all night, and so finds out what it is that steals fruit from his father's favourite tree.

The Lapp story, "Ruobba,[69] Jætten og Fanden," _Friis_, p. 67, tells of _tools_ of all sorts, axes and planes, &c. coming and asking the sons to give them some food; the eldest refuse, but the youngest gives them food, and so succeeds in finding out the robber.

Another tale, "Solkongens Datter," _Friis_, p. 152, relates how a man has a barn full of corn from which some one steals every night. The man's two elder sons try to watch and fail; but Gudnavirũs (_i.e._ Ashiepattle) succeeds in finding the robbers--three swan-maidens--and securing one of them.

Cf. also Rink, _Eskimo Legends_, "Kagsagsuk," and "The Child Monster," where ill treated ones suddenly develope vast power. Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, "The Princess on the glass hill." _Old Deccan Days_, "The Raksha's Palace," p. 205. Stokes' _Indian Fairy Tales_, "The boy who had a moon on his forehead," p. 126, &c. and p. 280. Mitford, _Tales of Old Japan_, "The story of the Old Man who made withered trees to blossom." Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, "Hondiddledo and his Fiddle," and "Mr. Chick," p. 228. _Roumanian Fairy Tales_, "The Hermit's Foundling." Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Scab Pate." Steere, _Swahili Tales_, "Sultan Majnún." Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, "The Norka," p. 73. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, "The Golden Apple Tree and the nine Peahens." "Who asks much gets little." _Grimm_, vol. i. "The Golden Bird," "The Three feathers." _Ibidem_, vol. ii. "Iron John," and notes, p. 434. _Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 25, 177, and 293, &c. where Russian variants are given. Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_ "The Millet Thief." _Polnische Volkssagen und Märchen_, Aus dem Polnischen des K. B. Woycicki von F. H. Levestam, "Der Glasberg." _Deutches Märchenbuch_, von L. Bechstein, "Hirsedieb." _Sagen Märchen und Gebräuche aus Sachsen und Thüringen_, Gesammelt von Emil Sommer, "Der Dumme Wirrschopf." _Svenska Folk Sagor_, Hyltén-Cavallius och G. Steffens, "Prinsessan uppå Glasberget."

THE THREE BROTHERS. Erdélyi, ii. 8.

The beginning of the tale reminds us of "The travels of Truth and Falsehood," p. 36 in this collection.

_Healing Mud_, p. 152. Cf. pp. 36, 53, 323, and 336, in this collection. Also, "Right is always right," a Wendish story, quoted in the _Dublin Magazine_, 1868, p. 356, and _Vernaleken_, "The Accursed Garden," p. 308.

In Tuscany, the peasants believe that whoever washes his face in the dew before the sun rises on St. John's Day will have no illness all the year following. See _Gubernatis_, vol. i. p. 219. Cf. also Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. v. pp. 279, 281. A magic whistle appears in the Finnish story, _e.g._ "The ship that can sail on land and sea," _S. ja T._ ii. p. 22. See also in this collection, p. 192, and _Gubernatis_, vol. i. p. 289.

The envious brothers (or fellow-servants) appear in numerous stories, such as "Kulta-orit, Kulta-nuotta, wasta ja pilli (the golden stallion, golden drag net, broom and flute)," _S. ja T._ i. p. 187, and _Dasent_, "Boots and the Troll."

The tasks set are somewhat like those in "Fisher Joe."

In the Lapp story, "Gutten, som tjente hos Kongen" (_Friis_, p. 167), the hero is ordered to bring all the wild beasts of the forest into the King's courtyard. Animals help Hans in the "Maiden on the Crystal Mountain;" _Vernaleken_, p. 276. Cf. also notes to "Fisher Joe" and "Handsome Paul."

THE THREE VALUABLE THINGS. Erdélyi, ii. 9.

Cf. Naaké, _Slavonic Fairy Tales_, "The wise judgment." Caballero, _Spanish Fairy Tales_, "A girl who wanted three husbands." _Sagas from the far East_: "Five to one," p. 112; and "Who invented Woman," p. 298. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, "The three Suitors." Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Golden Casket," pp. 112 and 115, and _Arabian Nights_, "Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Banou."

THE LITTLE MAGIC PONY. Erdélyi, ii. 10.

A curious story of a magic horse is still told in Lincolnshire, which I heard the other day in Boston. This is _verbatim_. "Near Lincoln is a place called Biard's Leap; near there an old witch lived in a cave, who enticed people in and eat them. One day a man offered to go and kill her. He had his choice of a dozen horses, so he took them all to a pond, where he threw a stone into the water, and then led the horses to have a drink, and the one which lifted its head first he chose. It was blind. He got on its back, and, taking his sword, set off. When he got to the cave's mouth, he shouted to the witch to come out.

"Wait till I've buckled my shoe, And suckled my cubs,"

cried the witch. She then rushed out, and jumping on to the horse stuck her claws into its rump, which made it jump over thirty feet (the so-called Biard's leap). The man struck behind him with his sword, which entered the old woman's left breast, and killed her."

The legend is given in a curious little tract, entitled "The existing remains of the Ancient Britons within a small district lying between Lincoln and Sleaford, by the Rev. G. Oliver, D.D. London, 1846." The man of the above version is replaced by a knight, who "cast a large stone into the lake, accompanied by a secret petition to the gods, that the chosen steed might raise his head from the water;" Biard rises, and they go to meet the witch, who has her left breast cut off by the first blow of the knight's sword; the second blow she evades by springing on to Biard's flank, where she fixes her talons, so that the horse took a series of prodigious leaps, three of which are at least sixty yards asunder, and are still marked by the impressions of his feet. The witch died from her wound, and was buried under a huge stone at the cross roads, and a stake driven through her body. _Gubernatis_, i. p. 338. Cf. Notes to Prince Mirkó.

_Page 160. Obstructions placed in the way of the witch or giant who follows._

Cf. Finnish, "Awaimetoin Wakka" (the Keyless Chest), _S. ja T._ i. p. 151, and "Oriiksi muutettu poika" (the enchanted horse), _ib_. p. 142. Lapp. "Jaetten og Veslegutten." _Friis_, p. 49, and "Jaetten og Drengen hans," _ib._ p. 58. Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, "A tale about Two Girls," and "Giviok." Naaké, _Slavonic Tales_, "The wonderful hair," and "Ivan Kruchina." _Legends of the Wigwam_, "Exploits of Grasshopper," p. 61. _Old Deccan Days_, "Truth's Triumph," p. 63. _Portuguese Folk Tales_, F. L. S. 1882, "The Maid and the Negress," and "St. Peter's Goddaughter." Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, "Marya Morevna," p. 95: "the Baba Yaga," p. 141, and "the Witch and the Sun's Sister," p. 173. Dasent, _Norse Tales_, "The Mastermaid," p. 91; "Farmer Weathersky," p. 334, and "The Widow's Son," p. 363. _Grimm_, vol. i. "The Water Nix." Geldart, _Greek Tales_, "Starbright and Birdie," "The Golden Casket," p. 123, and "The Scab Pate," p. 164. _Vernaleken_, "The Two Sisters," p. 157. _Pentamerone_, "The Flea," and "Petrosinella." _Records of the Past_, vol. ii. "Tale of the Two Brothers," p. 142. _Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 166, 175. _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1883, "The Three Sisters and Itrìmobé," p. 235. A Malagasky tale. Ananci Stories, _ib._ p. 286. Irish Folk-Tales, _ib._ p. 323. _Ibid._ 1884. "Prince Unexpected," p. 15, a Polish tale, and "Isìlakòlona," _ib._ p. 31, a Malagasy tale.

THE BEGGAR'S PRESENTS. Erdélyi, ii. 12.

Cf. the wonderful gifts in: "Taiwaasen menijä" (one who goes to heaven) _S. ja T._ ii. p. 113, and "Ei-niin-mitä" (just nothing) _ib._ p. 53. "Bondesønnen, Kongesønnem og Solens Søster." _Friis_, p. 140. _Dasent_, "The Best Wish," p. 294, and "Katie Woodencloak," _ib._ p. 412. _Old Deccan Days_, "The Jackal, the Barber, and the Brahman." Stokes' _Indian Fairy Tales_, "The Story of Foolish Sachúlí." _Sagas from the Far East_, "The Avaricious Brother," p. 23. _Vernaleken, In the Land of Marvels_, "The Wishing Rag," "The Magic Pot." _Patránas_, "Matanzas." Caballero, _Spanish Folk-Tales_, "Uncle Curro and his Cudgel." _Pentamerone_, "The Months." _Grimm_, vol. i. "The Wishing Table, the Gold Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack," and notes, p. 387. Also "The Knapsack, the Hat, &c." and notes, p. 409. Crofton Croker, _Irish Fairy Legends_, "The Legend of Bottle Hill." Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. vi. Jouder and his Brothers. _Folk-Lore Record_, 1878, "Some Italian Folk-Lore," p. 202. _Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 127, 154, 161; and Nordlander, _Sagor, Sägner och Viso_ No. 4.

THE WORLD'S BEAUTIFUL WOMAN. Erdélyi, iii. 1.

Arany gives the following variants of this tale: _Mailath_ 2, _Grimm_[70] 53, and _Schott_, Wallachische Märchen 5. See also in Russian poetry by Pushkin, in Bodenstedt's translation i. p. 100. In the German variants, twelve pigmies take the place of the twelve robbers in the Hungarian tale; and the queen thus addresses her mirror:

"Spieglein, spieglein an der Wand Wer ist die schönste im ganzen Land?"

And receives the reply--

"Frau Königin. Thr seid die Schönste hier Aber Schneewitchen ist thausendmal schöner. Als Thr."

Cf. Pedroso _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, F.L.S. 1882. "The Vain Queen," and "The Maiden with the Rose on her Forehead."

_Page 164._ The love-stricken ones is a touch of the Oriental method of describing the power of love. See numberless examples in Payne's _Arabian Knights_.

_Page 165._ There is an Indian superstition noted in Temple's _Legends of the Punjáb_, p. 51, where we read, "he wore some coarse clothes over his own, so that her perspiration should not injure him," and in the footnote: "the woman's perspiration would take his 'virtue' out of him."

_Page 165._ Magic Mirror. Besides the variants at the beginning of the notes, we may compare the Magic Mirror in the Norse Saga, "King Gram" and the Hanoverian tale, in _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 379.

For spitting as a mode of enchantment, see numerous examples in _Arabian Nights_.

_Page 172._ "The Pin, &c. which prevents the girl from moving." Cf. Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, p. xiii., "The Pomegranate King,"

p. 14, "The princess who loved her father like salt," p. 165; and notes on pp. 248, &c.

In the Finnish tale, "Här' än Korwista syntyneet Koirat siw" (Dogs which sprang from the ears of a bull), in _S. ja T._ 1, a girl scratches her brother's head with a devil's tusk, and so kills him; but his faithful dogs lick the wound, and so restore him to life.

In a Lapp story, "Bondesønnen" (_Friis_, No. 44) the son's sister awakes, when the hero pricks her hand, and sucks the drop of blood off.

Cf. Schott, _Wallachische Märchen_, p. 251. Pedroso, _Portuguese Tales_, F.L.S. 1882, "The Maid and the Negress." _Irish Folk Tales_, Folk-Lore Record. 1884, p. 197, "The Story of John and the Amulet." Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes and Tales_, "The Red Bull of Norroway," p. 169. Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_, p. 40, "The Princess that came out of the water." Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. i. p. 375. _Gubernatis_, vol. ii. p. 15, and a story from near Leghorn, p. 242, where it states that similar stories are to be found in Piedmont, in other parts of Tuscany, in Calabria, &c. and in the _Tuti-Name_. _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 243, "The Glass Coffin." _Pentamerone_, "Sun, Moon, and Talia," and "The Three Citrons." Gonzenbach, _Sicilianiasches Märchen_, vol. i. p. 82.[71] _Old Deccan Days_, "Little Surya Bai," p. 83; "Chundun Rajah," p. 233; "Sodewa Bai," p. 240. In the two last, we also have examples of bodies remaining undecayed for months after death. Sodewa Bai looked as lovely a month after her death as on the night she died; cf. also the well-known "Sleeping Beauty."

The prince in the Greek story weeps and groans over a picture, just as this prince does over his dead princess. See _Geldart_, p. 95, "The Golden Steed."

_Page 180._ For a fuller note on witches see the Introduction.

THE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS. Erdélyi, iii. 2.

Cf. "Neitonen kuninkaan Sadussa" (The Maid in the King's Garden), and "Neitonen Hernemaassa"[72] (The Maid in the Pea-field). _S. ja T._ i. pp. 108-119. _Grimm_, vol. i. "The Girl without Arms," and note, p. 378. Molbech, _Udvalgte Eventyr og Fortaellinger_, "Pigen uden Haender."

THE KING AND THE DEVIL. Erdélyi, iii 3.

Cf. _Some Italian Folk-Lore_, "Lion Bruno," _Folk-Lore Record_, 1878, p. 209. _Portuguese Stories_, "The Story of a Turner," _Folk-Lore Record_, 1881, p. 152. _Irish Stories, Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, p. 39. _Grimm_, vol. ii. "The King of the Golden Mountain," and "The Nix of the Mill Pond." Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_, "The Gold Ring and the Frog," "The King's Son and Messeria," and "Goldmaria and Goldfeather." _Vernaleken, In the Land of Marvels_, "The Fisher's Son," and "The Stolen Princess."

_S. ja T._ i. "Awaimetoin Wakka," and _S. ja T._ ii. p. 146, "Jykeä Lipas" (the Heavy Chest). _Friis_, "Gutten, Havfruen og Ridder Rød," and "Fattiggutten, Fanden og Guldbyen." Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_ p. 362-366, 124, 133.

Steere, _Swahili Tales_, "The Spirit who was cheated by the Sultan's Son." _Gubernatis_, ii. p. 382. One may also compare the Viennese Legends of the "Stock-im-Eisen," and of the "Baren-Häuter," for which _vide Pictures of Hungarian Life_, pp. 172 and 387. Cf. also the Swedish Legend, "Friskytten," in Hofberg's _Svenska Folksägner_, and the well-known stories of Faust and Der Freischütz. See also p. 130 _ante_.

_Page 191._ The attempts to deceive the devil are found in numerous tales, e.g. _Friis_, "Stallobruden." _Grimm_ ii., "The Iron Stone," p. 158. Lindholm, _Lappbönder_, "De bedragne jätten and; Quigstad og," Sandberg _Lappiske eventyr og folkesagn_, "Stallo og lappepigen."

_Page 191._ "Owl's Feathers." Pillows of the same sort appear in "The Pelican," p. 255, and remind us of the superstitions connected with wild birds' feathers. In many parts of Lincolnshire, it is said, that it is impossible to die on a bed that contains them. I know of one old lady in Yorkshire, who when _in extremis_ begged to be moved off her bed, as she was sure she could not die on it, as it had some bad feathers in it. In some places it is pigeon's feathers that the people particularly dislike. See also Henderson's _Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties_, p. 60.

_Page 192._ For different tasks, such as the millet cleaning, see also: _S. ja T._ i. "Ihmeellinen Koiwu" (The wonderful Birch). Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, "The Rájá's Son," p. 163, and p. 180. Temple, _Legends of the Punjáb_, "Râjâ Rasâlû," p. 43. Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_. "Svend's Exploits," p. 353. Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Snake, the Dog, and the Cat," p. 44. _Pentamerone_, "The Dove." _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, "Prince Unexpected," p. 13. _Gubernatis_, Vol. i. p. 38. Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, "The Water King," p. 126; also pp. 18, 153, 208 in this work.

The hairs that became serpents remind us of Medusa.

_Page 193._ The changes of the pursued, in order to avoid capture, occur in numerous tales, _e.g._ "Handsome Paul," and note 320 _ante_. Also _S. ja T._ i. "Oriiksi muutettu poika," and "Awaimetoin Wakka." _Friis_, "Jætten og Veslegutten," and "Jætten og Drengen hans." _Household Stories from the Land of Hofer_, "The Dove Maiden," p. 384. _Vernaleken, In the Land of Marvels_, "How Hans finds his Wife," p. 284, and "The Drummer," p. 292. _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, "Prince Unexpected," p. 15, and Malagasy Folk-Tales, "Isìlakòlona," p. 131. Campbell, _Popular Tales of the Western Highlands_, "The Battle of the Birds."

_Page 194._ The devil's limping and the woodpeckers and hares in other stories,[73] reminds us of an old Yorkshire saw, "Beware of those whom God has marked," and I know cases of people who regard any external deformity as the expression of internal malformation.

_Page 195._ In the Lapp stories, the giants swallow so much water that they burst.

With the moral tacked on to this tale, cf. _Vernaleken_, "The Nine Birds."

THE THREE PRINCES, THE THREE DRAGONS, AND THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE IRON NOSE. Erdélyi, iii. 4.

_Page 197._ Tátos. Cf. notes, p. 345, also _Roumanian Fairy-Tales_, "The Hermit's Foundling" and "Vasilica the Brave." _Pentamerone_, "Corvetto" and Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Golden Steed," and "The Scab Pate."

The dragon vomiting out those it has eaten. Cf. The queen swallowed by the whale, in the story of the "Two Orphans," p. 223. Also Red Riding Hood. _Grimm_, i. "The Wolf and the Seven little Kids." Cf. old Greek legend of Kronos devouring his children.

_Page 199._ The bridge seems to suggest the bridge in the Koran. See also the bridge in _Pentamerone_, "The golden root."

This part of the story somewhat resembles that of "the Accursed Garden," in _Vernaleken_.

_Page 201._ The transformation of Ambrose and the Dragon. Cf. _Roumanian Fairy Tales_, "Vasilica the Brave," p. 73.

In the Lapp stories the hero calls for help to his gods. See _Friis_. "Stallo og Patto Poadnje," and "Stallo og Fiskerlappen."

_Page 202._ In the Finnish story, Alderblock turns himself into an ermine. See _S. ja T._ 2, "Leppäpölkky," a story which is very much like the Magyar in this part. Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, "Ivan Popyalof," p. 69. Also _ib._ pp. 71 and 72. In the Finnish tale (_S. ja T._ i.) "Weljiänsä-etsijät Tyttö"--a little dog prevents the girl from bathing in water which would transform her. Cf. Pedroso, _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, "Pedro and the Prince," p. 26. _Gubernatis_, i. p. 191.

_Page 203._ Ambrose sticks to the axle as the people did to the lamb, p. 14, _ante_. Cf. Story of Loki and the Eagle.

_Page 204._ The witch in the lower world reminds us of the Egyptian Legend of Ishtar, _Records of the Past_, vol. i. p. 144.

_Page 205._ The folk-tale-teller was ever fond of having a sly rap at the clergy. Cf. Lapp tale, where the priest wants to marry the goveiter girl himself, because she has a costly silver girdle; _Friis_, "Goveiter-Pige." Also Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, p. 27.

_Page 205._ Worming secrets out of witch, &c. by flattery. Cf. _S. ja T._ ii. "Antti Puuhaara," and _Friis_, "Stallo og Lappebrødrene Sodno."

_Ib._ Concealed Life. Cf. _Friis_, "Jætten, som havde skjult sit Liv i et Hønseaeg," and "Jætten og Veslegutten," where the giant has hid his life in the middle of a cow's heart. Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, "The girl who fled to the Inlanders," p. 220. _Old Deccan Days_, "Punchkin," p. 13. Stokes, _Indian Tales_. "Brave Hírálálbásá," p. 58; "The Demon and the King's Son," p. 187, and note, p. 261. Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, "The giant who had no heart in his body," p. 75.

_Sagas from the Far East_, "Child Intellect," p. 133. Steere, _Swahili Tales_, "Story of the Washerwoman's Donkey," p. 5. Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_. "Koschei the Deathless," p. 103, and pp. 113--115. Mr. Ralston also gives _Asbjörnsen_, "New Series," No. 70, p. 39. Haltrich, _Deutsche Volksmärchen ausdem Sachsenlande in Siebenbürgen_, p. 188. Wenzig, _Westabauischer Märchenschatz_, No. 37, p. 190. _Hahn_, No. 26, i. 187, and ii. pp. 215, 294--5, _Vuk Karajich_, No. 8. Cf. _Records of the Past_, vol. ii. "Tale of the Two Brothers," p. 149. Geldart, _Greek Folk-Tales_, "The little Brother who saved his Sister from the Dragon," p. 56. _Pentamerone_, "The Dragon." Campbell, "Tales of the Western Highlands," vol. i. p. 81. _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 564. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_. "Bash-chalek," p. 172. Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. i. p. 118, and vol. vii. p. 91. Engel, _Musical Myths_, vol. i. p. 201. _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, "The Philosophy of Punchkin." Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, pp. 152, 153. _Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 131, 140, 269, and 412. Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_. "The Man without a Heart." Black, _Folk-Medecine_, p. 32. _Gesta Romanorum_, "The Knight and the Necromancer." Castren, _Ethnologische Vorlesungen über die Altaischen Völker_, p. 174. _Page 206._ A wonderful chest in the Finnish story, "Awaimetoin Wakka" (_S. ja T._ i.) opens as the golden apple in the Magyar tale, and out of it comes castle, servants, &c. See also Prince Mirkó, p. 74, _ante_.

THE WIDOWER AND HIS DAUGHTER. Erdélyi iii. 7.

There are some wild variants of this tale to be found amongst the Finnish Folk-Tales. See "Ihmeelinen Koiwu," the wonderful birch, "Kummallinen Tammi," the marvellous oak, and "Kolmet Sisärykset," the three sisters. _S. ja T._ i. pp. 59-77, also "Awannolla kehrääjät," the spinner beside the ice-hole, and "Sisärpuolet," the half-sisters. _S. ja T._ ii. pp. 161-172. Winther, _Danske Folkeeventyr_, "Den onde Skemoder," Asbjörnsen og Moe, _Norske Folkeeventyr_, "Manddattern og Kjärringdattern." _Deutsches Märchenbuch von L. Bechstein_, "Die Goldmaria und Pechmaria." Kuhn und Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen_, "Das Mädchen im Paradis." Hyltén-Cavallius, _Svenska Folksagor_. "De twå Skrinen," Geldart, _Folk Lore of Modern Greece_. "Little Saddleslut" and the "Goat Girl," _Sagas from the Far East_, p. 180. Ralston's _Russian Folk Tales_, "The Dead Mother," and p. 260, where a Serbian variant is quoted, which apparently bears a strong resemblance to some of the Finnish. Denton's _Serbian Folk-Lore_, "Papalluga." Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, "The Blackbird," and p. 84. _Pentamerone_, "La Gatta Cenerentola."

_Gubernatis_, vol. i., pp. 31, 182, 195, 208, 241, 291, 293. Thorpe's _Yule-tide Stories_. "The Little Gold Shoe" and "The Girl clad in Mouseskin." _Grimm_, vol. 1, "Cinderella," "Allerleirauh," and notes, pp. 364, 416, 420. _Household Stories from the Land of Hofer_. "Klein-Else." _Folk-Lore Record_ 1878. "Some Italian Folk-Lore," p. 188: _ib._ 1880. "The Icelandic story of Cinderella." _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, F. L. S. pp. 68 and 97: _Folk-Lore Record_ 1884; Folk Tales of the Malagasy, p. 74, _ib._ Chilian Popular Tales, "Maria the Cinder Maiden." _Tasks imposed_, p. 208; see _ante_, p. 398. The gold rose stuck into the gate-post (p. 211) occurs in one of the Finnish variants.

_Page 214_. The gipsy woman incident. Cf. _ante_, p. 386.

_Page 215_. The "feather picking" refers to gatherings of country girls held during the winter, to dress feathers collected during the year for bedding.

_Ib_. The golden duck incident is an exceedingly common one. Cf. _Old Deccan Days_, pp. 85 and 223. _Portuguese Folk-Tales_: F.L.S. p. 12. Stokes' _Indian Tales_, p. 284.

THE WISHES. Erdélyi iii. 11.

Cf. _Payne_, vol. v. "The man who saw the night of power." _Caballero's_ Fairy Tales, "The three wishes." _Grimm_, "The poor man and the rich man," and notes; and a fragment in _Notes and Queries_. Finnish Folk-Lore, 6th S. viii., p. 201, also _Lewins_ "A fly on the wheel," p. 81, where a Hindustani variant is given.

THE TWO ORPHANS. Erdélyi iii. 9.

In a Finnish Tale, "Weljiänsä-etsijät Tyttö," _S. ja T_. i. p. 119, the girl who seeks her brothers, the girl is warned by a faithful dog, from going near or touching water which a witch wishes her to do, and which entails misery on her; as also in another, "Leppapölky," where the witch tempts the heroes in like manner. Cf. Geldart's _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_. "Starbright and Birdie," p. 33. _Grimm_, "Brother and Sister." _Gubernatis_, vol. i., pp. 175, 354, and 390.

_P. 221_. The cutting off of the lock of hair reminds us of the widespread superstitions connected with hair, or any other part of a person. Cf. _ante_ pp. 332 and 374. _Archaeology_, "The Physicians of Myddfai," p. 113. I have also often heard the following in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. That you must not give a lock of hair to anyone, or else you will quarrel with that person; that you must not keep the hair of a dead person unless it is "made up," or you will have ill-luck; and that all hair cuttings and nail parings ought to be saved and placed in the coffin, so that the person may "enter heaven perfect!" A baby's hair and nails must not be cut until it is a year old, or else it will be a thief. Hair must not be cut when the moon is waning. It is also said that ague can be cured by hanging a lock of hair on a willow tree.[74]

_Page 223._ The witch wishes to get rid of the deer, in the same way that the gipsy does the golden duck, _ante_ p. 215. Cf. Stokes's _Indian Fairy Tales:_ "The Pomegranate King," p. 10; "Phúlmati Ráni," p. 4; "The Jackal and the Kite," p. 22; "The Bél-Princess," p. 144; and Notes, pp. 245-253. _Gubernatis_, vol. i., p. 412, and vol. ii., p. 31.

_Page 223._ In the Lapp Story, "Pigen fra Havet," _Friis_, No. 8,[75] a child is brought down to the sea-shore to bring mother back; and in the Finnish story, "Ihmeelinen Koiwu," The wonderful Birch, the child's cry brings mother back, just as the little deer's lament in this tale reaches the sister's ears at the bottom of the well.

In this Finnish tale the mother replies, and says to the reindeer, which are feeding near:

"Reindeer! Reindeer! feeding in the swamp, Come and take care of your child! Come and see the child you have borne! For the witch's daughter has neither food nor drink, And cannot quiet its cries."

See also _Finnish_, "Maid who rose out of the sea."

_Grimm_, "The lambkin and the little fish," and notes.

_Pentamerone_, "The two cakes." Theal, _Kaffir Folk-Lore_, "The story of Tangalimlibo," p. 61.

_Page 223._ Creatures inside others.

Cf. Theal, _Kaffir Folk-Lore_, "The story of the cannibal mother," p. 142; "The story of the glutton," p. 175; "The great chief of the animals," p. 177; and the Finnish story, "Seppo Ilmarisen Kosinta" (Smith Ilmarinen's courtship), where the smith, after being swallowed by Untamoinen, cuts his way out.

Stokes's _Indian Fairy Tales_, "Loving Lailí," p. 76.

THE WONDERFUL FROG. Erdélyi, iii. 15.

My friend, Prof. Aug. Gittée, has kindly forwarded me a Flemish variant, "Van het Meisje dat met een Puits trouwde." "The tale of a girl who married a frog." See _Volskunde Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Folklore_, 1888, p. 48. Cf. _Grimm_. "The Frog King" and notes. Stokes, _Indian Folk Tales_, p. xvi. and "The Monkey Prince." _Gubernatis_. "The Frog." Max Müller, _Chips from a German Workshop_, vol. ii. p. 249. Cox. _Mythology of the Aryan Nations_. "Frog." Halliwell. _Nursery Rhymes and Tales_. "The maiden and the frog."[76] Dasent. _Tales from the Norse_. "Bushy Bride."

THE DEVIL AND THE RED CAP. Erdélyi, iii. 19.

Cf. Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, "The Soldier and the Vampire," p. 314. Vernaleken. _In the Land of Marvels._ "How a Shepherd became rich."

JACK DREADNOUGHT. Erdélyi, iii. 16.

Cf. _Grimm_, "The Story of the youth who went to learn what fear was," and notes: _ib._ "The King's son who feared nothing," and notes. _Household Stories from the Land of Hofer._ "Fearless Johnny." _Afanassieff_, v. 46.

_Page 232._ The secret treasures guarded by ghosts, &c. is a world-wide tradition. Cf. Hofberg, _Svenska Folksägner_. "Skatten i Säbybäcken," Where a carriage full of gold and silver is said to be sunk mid-stream, over which a weird light flickers. Many attempts, we are told, have been made to rescue it, but each time some one has spoken, or else the bull-calves--which are not to have a single black hair on them, and were to be fed for three years on unskimmed milk--were not strong enough; and so the attempts have ever failed. See also, in the same work "Skattgräfvarna," where the searchers were frightened away by the Demon guardians of the hidden store. In Lincolnshire I have heard of a field where, tradition says, countless barrels of beer, and a fender and fireirons of silver, are buried, and in my own parish I have collected three similar tales told of places here, and the other day a Negro from South Carolina told me another. Cf. Hardwick, _Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore_ (chiefly Lancashire and the north of England), pp. 41, 46, 195, and 252. Cf. Baring Gould. _Curious Myths_. "The Divining Rod."[77]

THE SECRET-KEEPING LITTLE BOY AND HIS LITTLE SWORD. Erdélyi, iii. 8.

Cf. _Grimm_, vol. i., "Faithful John" and note. See _ante_, p. 350.

With regard to the sword growing in the garden, Cf. the Hunnish superstition mentioned by Priscus. "He (Attila) believes also that there will be before long some noteable increase of his power; and that the gods have signified this by revealing to him the sword of Mars, a sacred relic much venerated by the Huns, for many years hidden from their eyes, but quite lately re-discovered by the trail of the blood of an ox which had wounded its hoof against it, as it stuck upright in the long grass." _Italy and her defenders_, by T. Hodgkin, vol. ii. p. 92. No doubt Priscus makes use of the name of Mars to designate the Hunnish deity in the same way as Tacitus when he speaks of the Teutonic god of war. A naked sabre, fixed hilt downwards in the earth, was worshipped by the Alani. Cf. p. 33 of the above-mentioned work.

_Payne_, vol. vi. "Jouder and his brothers," pp. 129, 152, 164.

See also, Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Scab Pate." Payne, _Tales from the Arabic_, vol. i., "The story of the King who knew the quintessence of things."

"The Three Dreams," p. 117, in this collection, and notes, p. 375.

_Page 236._ The execution. The last ceremony with a condemned man when he is pinioned is to read once more his sentence to him. This is done by the sheriff, and concludes with "Hangman, do your duty!" After the execution is over, the military present are commanded to prayer; the helmet is taken off, the musket taken in the left hand and grounded, and every soldier kneels on his left knee, and remains so for a few minutes till order is given "From prayer."

In olden times the sheriff, after he read the sentence, broke his judicial staff in twain, and threw the pieces at the culprit's feet: hence the Hungarian saying, "to break the staff near anyone," is equivalent to pronouncing sentence: _e.g._, "I have done this, but don't break a staff over my action," _i.e._, do not condemn my action.

_Page 238._ "Immuring alive." Cf. Roumanian legend "Manuli," and notes in this collection, p. 376.

_Page 243._ In the Finnish tale, "Alderblock," there is a sword, which cuts the enemy into fragments.

SHEPHERD PAUL. Erdélyi, iii. 17.

Cf. Finnish stories, "Lappäpölkky," _S. ja T._ 2; where Alderblock has five companions who assist him in his labours; also "Mikko Metsolainen" and "Mikko Mieheläinen," _S. ja T._ i.; stories very much like the Magyar one. Also, "Maan, meren kulkija laiwa." In a Lapp story we find companions helping the hero. _Friis_. "Ruobba, Jaetten og Fanden."

_Grimm._ "How six men got on in the world," and notes; "The six servants," and notes; "Strong Hans," and notes.

Müllenhoff, _Märchen und Lieder der Hertzogenthümer Schleswig Holstein und Lauenberg_, "Rinroth." Molbech, _Udwalgte Eventyr_, "De fer Tienere." Cavallius och Stefens, _Svenska Folksagor_, "De begge Fosterbröderne," and "Halftrollet eller de Tre Swärden."

Bechstein. _Deutsches Märchenbuch_. "Der Hafenhüter."

Denton. _Serbian Folk-Lore_. "Sir Peppercorn."

_Patrañas._ "The ill-tempered Princess." "A tale of fourteen men," a Flemish tale; see _Magazin für die Literatur des Auslandes_, 1844. Caballero, _Spanish Tales_, "Lucifer's ear." Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Golden Casket" and "Little John, the widow's son." _Pentamerone_, "The Flea" and "The Booby."

_Folk-Lore Record_, 1881, p. 142. "The story of Mamma-na-Bura," a Portuguese tale: _ib._ 1883, p. 254, "Folk-Lore of Yucatan."

_Page 246._ The latter portion of the tale is to be met with in many tales, _e.g._, "Awannolla Kehräajät," where the girl goes through a hole in the ice, and finds a beautiful world there.

Dasent. _Tales from the Norse._ "The two step-sisters," p. 129; "Shortshanks," p. 166; and "The Big Bird Dan," p. 449.

Vernaleken. _In the Land of Marvels._ "The Taylor and the Hunter," "The Accursed Garden," and "The Three Princesses."

Denton. _Serbian Folk-Lore._ "The wonderful Kiosk."

_Patrañas_, "Simple Johnny and the spell-bound Princesses." _Grimm_, "The Elves," and notes. _Sagas from the Far East_, "How the Schimnu-Khan was slain." Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, "The Norka," and variants there given on p. 80.

Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece,_ "The Prince and the Fairy." Steere, _Shahili Tales_, "Hasseebu Kareem ed Deen," p. 337.

_Arabian Nights._ "Ahmed and Pari-Banou," and numerous other examples of underground palaces, where distressed princesses lie awaiting deliverance.

_Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 25, 129, 193, 194; vol. 187, &c.

Rink. _Tales of Traditions of the Esquimaux._ "The woman who got connected with the Ingersuit or under-world people." There are numerous stories about the under-world and its people in Lapp stories, _e.g._, _Friis_, "Cacce-haldek eller Havfolk," where a boy rows to the under-world. (_Notes and Queries_, 7th s. v. p. 381; cf. _ib._ 7th s. v. p. 501.) "Bæivekongens Datter," "Goveiter." There is also a tribe of underground people called Kadnihak, who are said to dress in red clothes, and have long flaxen hair reaching to their waists. Some people are said to have learned their songs, which are called "Kadniha-Vuolee." Cf. Baring Gould, _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_, "St. Patrick's Purgatory." _Deutsche Märchen und Sagen_, Gesammelt und mit Anmerkungen herausgegeben von J. W. Wolff, "Der Kühne Sergeant." _Polnische Volksagen_, Aus dem Polnischen des K. W. Woycicki von F. Levestam, "Die drei Brüder."

See also, Friis, _Lappisk Mythologi._ "Under jordiske Guder."

_Page 248._ The Lapp tales say that the Stallos used to wear an iron shirt. See _Friis_, No. 26. Læstadius believes them to have been old Vikings.

THE PELICAN. Erdélyi, iii. 6.

Pelicans may occasionally be seen in the South of Hungary, but upon the whole the bird is unknown to the common people. The story-teller represents it as a little bird that sings most beautifully.

The hypercritical reader may be shocked at another natural historical blunder, viz., when the whale is described as "the king of fishes." But then we must remember that our own Sir Walter Scott speaks of the phoca as a fish in the last sentence of chapter xxxvii. of _The Antiquary_.

The Emperor Joseph II.'s edict expelling the Jesuits is still valid, we believe, but is not enforced. The Order has one or two houses in the country, and nobody disturbs them.

In a Finnish tale one half of a castle weeps while the other half laughs. Cf. also another Finnish story "The Golden Bird," where a king's son goes in search of a splendid bird which his father longs for. The hero is assisted by a wolf, which, amongst many other strange things, by rolling three times on the ground on its back, becomes a shop full of precious goods.[78] After many trials, chiefly due to the perfidy of his brothers, the hero, by the assistance of the wolf, wins the golden bird and a lovely princess. The golden bird will not sing till the youngest prince appears, just as in the present tale.

_Page 251._ "The old Beggar." This incident is common in folk-tales.

_Page 252._ "Dragon's milk," a favourite compound of mighty power in the magic formulæ of Finnish and Magyar folk-medicine.

_Page 255._ "Owls' feathers." _Vide_ p. 398, _ante_, and _Notes and Queries_, 6th S. X. p. 401.

_Page 256._ "Traced triangle," _ante_, p. 370.

_Page 257._ "Pleiades." Stars and their lore is one of the most interesting branches of Folk-Lore. Space forbids more than passing allusion to it here. In a note sent by Mr. Haliburton, he points out the important part this group of stars plays in the history of Primitive Man. There appears to be a mass of primitive traditions amongst savages, as to a primæval paradise with its Tree of Life and Knowledge being situated in the Pleiades. See also legends current amongst the Polynesians, Kiowas of the Prairies, the Abipones of the Pampas, Dyaks, &c. We may also compare the Cabeiric brethren in Phoenician tradition.

In the seventh star, say the Finns, is the sign of the slave; the ancient Finns having regulated their rising by the seven stars. A Finnish friend, Mr. K. Krohn, says he has obtained some forty old Finnish star names from an old woman, and hopes, by comparison of the same with the Arabic names, to obtain valuable results.

See also _Sagas from the East_, p. 53, and _Gubernatis_, vol. i., p. 228. Cox, _Mythology of the Aryan Nations_, "Pleiades."

_Page 258._ Just as the hero here goes to seek in an unknown land for what he needs, so does the hero in the Finnish tale, "Antti Puuhaara"; _S. ja T._ 2, go to Pohjola. (Darkness, _i.e._ the Northern Part). Cf. also Dasent's _Tales from the Norse_ "Rich Peter the Pedlar," p. 236. Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, "For one Kreuzer a hundred." _Pentamerone_, "The Seven Doves," &c. and pp. 107 and 371 in this work.

_Page 259._ The threshold is a most interesting object in the lore and tales of the people. In Finland it is regarded as unlucky if a clergyman steps on the threshold when he comes to preach at a church. A Finnish friend told me of one of his relations going to preach at a church a few years ago, he being a candidate for the vacant living, and that the people most anxiously watched if he stepped on the threshold as he came in. Had he done so, I fear a sermon never so eloquent would have counted but little against so dire an omen.[79] In the Lapp tales the same idea appears, see _Friis_, "Ulta-Pigen," the lad returning from a visit to his wife's parents (who are fairy folk) is ordered to step quickly over the threshold, and so saves his life. In the same story we read that a nail driven into the threshold will prevent a fairy wife from running away.

Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, "The Fiend." Here Marusia gets entangled with the evil one, and death comes into her family; in terror she asks her granny what she is to do, and is told, "Go quickly to the priest and ask him this favour--that if you die your body shall not be taken out of the house through the doorway, but that the ground shall be dug away from under the threshold, and that you shall be dragged out through that opening." Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, "The Angakok from Kakortok," p. 391. Napier, _Folk-Lore from West Scotland_, p. 46, where, in the description of marriage ceremonies, we read "The threshold of the house was disenchanted by charms, and by anointing it with certain unctuous perfumes, but as it was considered unlucky for the new-made wife to tread upon the threshold on first entering her house, she was lifted over it and seated upon a piece of wood, a symbol of domestic industry."

Cf. 1 Samuel, v. 5, "Therefore neither the priests, nor any that come into Dagon's house, _tread on the threshold_ of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day." Priests and dervishes in India still leap over the threshold of their temples, as they are considered too sacred to be trodden upon.[80]

_Page 261._ "The Organ Playing." Cf. a similar incident in the Finnish story of the Golden Bird.

_Page 262._ In the Finnish "Alder Block," the hero's father and mother have their age at once reduced by one-half, when the lovely Catherine embraces them. In the romance of Ogier le Danois sweet singing banishes all care and sorrow. "Et quand Morgue approcha du dit chasteau, les Faes vindrent au devant dogier, chantant les plus melodieusement quon scauroit jamais ouir, si entra dedans la salle pour se deduire totallement," and so time is destroyed. "Tant de joyeulx passetemps lui faisoient les dames Faees, quil nest creature en ce monde quil le sceust imaginer se penser, car les ouir si doulcement chanter il lui sembloit proprement quil fut en Paradis, si passoit temps de jour en jour, de sepmaine en sepmaine, tellement que ung an ne lui duroit par ung mois."

THE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN HAIR.

This story, with the four that follows, viz., "The Lover's Ghost," "Snake Skin," "The Fairies' Well," and "The Crow's Nest," are Palócz Folk-Tales, _vide Palócz Folk-Poetry_, by Julius Pap, Sarospatak, 1865.

The hatchet-stick (in Magyar "fokos") mentioned in the tale is an ordinary walking-stick with an axe-shaped brass or steel implement at the end. It is nothing else than the old Scandinavian "paalstaf," the "palstave" or "winged celt" of English antiquaries. It forms part of the national costume of the Magyars, and was carried by nearly everybody before 1867.

The ceremony of exchanging handkerchiefs alluded to in the tale requires some explanation, and we avail ourselves of this opportunity to give a few details of the marriage customs among the Palócz people as related by Pap.

On the first morning in May the lad erects a May-pole outside of the window of his lady-love, the higher the pole the more it pleases the girl, because the length is understood to be in direct proportion to the intensity of her lover's passion. On Whitsunday a pilgrimage to the Holy Well adjoining the monastery at the village of Verebély is arranged, and here the girl buys a nosegay made of artificial flowers for her lover, in return for the maypole, which nosegay is worn by the lad until next May-Day, or until the wedding. In the meantime the lover visits the girl secretly once or twice at the house of her parents under the cover of night, and later on introduces himself to her parents. If he be well received he sends some friends to ask for the girl's hand, who state their request generally in very flowery language. If the lad's proposal be accepted, the ceremony of exchanging handkerchiefs takes place soon after, the lovers presenting handkerchiefs to one another in which they wrap apples or nuts. From this moment they are considered to be engaged.

The wedding is generally held after the vintage. On the day before the wedding a man, whom we shall call the master of ceremonies, perambulates the village and invites the guests to the festival. On the day itself the guests congregate at a place appointed by the M.C., and the whole company start in procession, headed by a band, to the house of the bride. They all stop outside the gate, and only the bridegroom's best man enters the house and invites the bride to start. The girl then, accompanied by her relations and bridesmaids, and a married woman, whom we shall call the Mistress of the Bedchamber, leaves the house and joins the procession, and they all proceed straight to the church. After church the young woman returns with the whole procession to her own house, and a light breakfast is served, at the end of which all the people adjourn to the bridegroom's house, leaving however the bride behind, until after lengthy coaxing, begging, and some elaborate ceremonies, she consents to go, and is led in triumph to her husband's house, where she is received by the father-in-law at the gate, who nearly overwhelms her with kind words, flattery, and congratulations, and holding her hand leads her into the house and introduces her to his wife, children, and relations. The rejoicing has now reached its climax, and the wedding banquet is at once commenced, to which each invited guest contributes a share according to his or her means.

During the banquet the bridegroom's best man waits at table, and ushers in the various courses reciting a verse for each _plat_, setting forth in most flowery language the various good points of the dish.

After supper the bridegroom's best man takes three lighted candles into his left hand and escorts the bride into her bedchamber, where he removes the "párta,"[81] and confides her to the care of the Mistress of the Bedchamber. The best man lifts the párta high up in the air at the end of his palstave, and invites the company to bid for it, and then recites the so-called slumber-verses, which are attentively listened to by everyone present.

Next morning two married women from among the bride's friends arrive "to wake the bride," who awaits them sitting in a corner. The two females place the cap worn by married women only, on her head, and present the young couple with cakes and a mixture of spirit and honey.

In the meantime another procession has arrived from the bride's house with the wedding presents, and the people inquire of the Master of the Ceremonies whether he has not seen a "pretty little golden lamb that strayed from home and must have come here." The Master of the Ceremonies replies in the affirmative, but before producing the "lamb" requires a description of the stray one, and then produces some very old person bent with age and her face covered with wrinkles, and wants to know whether this is the lamb they seek for; of course they reply in the negative, and add that the missing one is young and pretty. The bride is then produced and shakes hands all round and receives presents from all present.

In some places the wedding lasts on and off a whole week, and sometimes ends with another ceremony of "searching for the lamb," similar to the one just described.

Such complicated wedding ceremonies are to be found all over Hungary, and in order to facilitate matters, the rules and verses for the occasion are printed and sold at all country fairs, the title-page generally representing the Master of the Ceremonies and the bridegroom's best man in their full festive attire.[82]

Cf. Finnish, "Kulta-orit, Kulta-nuotta, wasta ja pilli." "The golden Stallion, golden Drag-net, broom and flute." _S. ja T._ i. and "Meresta nousija Neito," "The Sea Maid." Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, "Bushy Bride," p. 374.

Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vii. pp. 70, 114, and ix. p. 23.

Payne, _Arabic Tales_, iii. p. 61.

_Grimm_, "The White Bride and the Black one."

In the Lapp Story "Bondesønnen, Kongesønnen og Solens Søster." _Friis_. It is the tail feather of a golden hen, that causes all the troubles. The beautiful girl, who is the Sun's sister, shone like a star, and whenever she entered a house it became as light as the brightest day, even if before it had been pitch dark. The whole tale is a most interesting one; the Sun's sister's sister, "Evening Red," being stolen by giants, who are turned into stone by looking at the Sun's sister, "Dawn." Cf. Princess Labám in "The Rájá's Son," Stokes's _Indian Fairy Tales_, p. 158. Also, pp. 43, 50, 54, 69, and 93.

_Grimm_, "The Devil with the three golden hairs," and notes. _Dublin Magazine_, 1868, Fireside Lore of Italy, "Corvetto." _Folk-Lore Record_, 1880. Danish Popular Tales, p. 217. "Mons Tro." Naaké, _Slavonic Fairy Tales_, "Golden Hair," from the Bohemian.[83] _Old Deccan Days_, "Brase Seventee Bai," p. 35; Panch-Phul Ranee, p. 141.

Haltrich, _Siebenbuergische Märchen_, pp. 61 and 171.

Mr. Ralston, in his notes in Stokes also gives the following examples of shining and glorious beings. _Indian Antiquary_, vol. iv. p. 54; _ib._ Jan. 1875, p. 10.

Schott, _Wallachische Märchen_, p. 125.

_Mabinogion_, vol. ii. p. 310; and Thorpe, _Northern Mythology_, vol. i. p. 47. Cf. Mailath, _Magyarische Sagen_, "Die Brüder," and "Die Gaben." Cavallius and Stephens, _Svenska Folksagor_, No. 7.

_Records of the Past_, vol. ii. "Tales of the two Brothers," a fragrant lock is found in the water, which is said to belong to the daughter of the Sun God.

_Page 273._ In the Lapp story of the Sun's Sister the King will not allow the lad to marry his bride until he has done certain tasks. So also in the Finnish stories of the Golden Bird and the Golden Stallion.

_Page 273._ In the Finnish Tale "Totuus ja walte," the King's daughter is cured by being washed with dew. See also Notes to Fairy Elizabeth and the Fairies' Well in this collection.

THE LOVER'S GHOST.

As pointed by Lad. Arany, the plot of this tale is, with the exception of the happy ending, essentially the same as in Bürger's beautiful poem, "Leonore," in which the bridegroom's ghost repeats three times the question--

"Graut Liebchen auch? Der Mond scheint hell! Hurrah! Die Todten reiten schnell! Graut Liebchen auch vor Todten?"

to which the girl each time replies--

"Ach! lass sie ruh'n, die Todten."

Arany mentions a Dutch and a Norwegian version of the same tale. Cf. _Grimm_, vol. iii. p. 75.

It cannot be supposed that the good Palócz folk have read Bürger, either in the original or in translation. They only read two kinds of literature, the prayer-book and politics. Pap relates an incident that is characteristic. He had to superintend some farm-work; and, in order to while away the time, was reading a book, which made an old Palócz remark that he would go straight to heaven if he read his prayer-book all day, as he did.

Cf. The old ballad quoted in Old Ballad Lore. _Folk-Lore Record_, 1879, pp. 111, 112.

_Page 279._ The charm given by the witch is one of the innumerable superstitions of a like class. Vide _Magyar Folk-Tales. Notes and Queries_, 6th s. ix. pp. 501 and 502.

_Finska Fornminnesforëningens Tidskrift_ v. p. 106, "Folkströ och plägseder i Mellersta Österbotten," and _Notes and Queries_, 6th s. x. p. 404, and _ib._ 6th s. xi. p. 22.

Cf. "The churchyard mould," in McGregor, _Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland_, p. 216.

_Page 280._ The ghostly horsemen recalls a strange story an old woman (nearly 80) told me some time ago, and which it is averred happened in Lincolnshire. One fine frosty night, as the Winterton carrier was going along the road, he met a pale man on horseback, who said, "It's a hard winter, and there's going to be a hard time: twenty years' disease amongst vegetables, twenty years' disease amongst cattle, and twenty years' disease amongst men, and this will happen as surely as you have a dead man in your cart." The carrier angrily declared that there was no dead man in his cart. "But there is," said the horseman. Then the carrier went and looked, and found that a man he had taken up to give a ride was dead. Turning round he found the horseman had disappeared. The potato disease, cattle disease, and cholera followed, said the old dame. This pale horseman is said to have ridden through the county, and I have heard of him at various places.

SNAKE SKIN.

In the Finnish Story, "Haastelewat Kuuset," the talking Pines, _S. ja T._ 2: a hunter is rewarded for helping a snake. See notes to "Woman's Curiosity," in this collection.

_Pentamerone_, "The Serpent."

_Folk-Lore Record_, 1883. "The good Serpent," a Chilian tale.

The king in this tale is angry at his daughter marrying such a husband, just as he is in the Finnish "Hüri Morsiamena," where the bride is a mouse.

Cf. _Grimm_, "The three Feathers;" "The poor Miller's Boy and the Cat;" and notes thereto.

Kahn und Schwartz, _Norddentsche Sagen_, "Das weisze Kätschen."

Asbjörnsen og Moe, _Norske Folke eventyr_, "Dukken i Græsset."

Hyltén-Cavallius och Stephens, _Svenska Folksagor_, "Den förtrollade goodan," and "Den förtrollade fästemön."

_Contes des fées par Mdme d'Aulnoy_, "La chatte blanche."

_Polnische Sagen und Märchen des K. Woycicki._ "Die Kröte."

Cf. also an interesting article by Mr. Ralston, on "Beauty and the Beast." _Nineteenth Century._ December, 1878.

THE FAIRIES' WELL.

The chief points in this tale have already been noted in others. We may, however, note the following: The Devil in Stephen the Murderer, p. 7, in this collection, at once appears, when summoned, as in this tale.

_Page 290._ With regard to the _menu_ of the devil, cf.

"Here lies the carcass of a curséd sinner Doomed to be roasted for the devil's dinner." Poems of Robert Wilde. Strahan, 1870.

_Page 296._ There is a hunt for the father of a child in the Lapp. "Jætten, Katten og Gutten." _Friis_. Cf. Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vii. p. 227.

_Page 297._ Hot Bath, see p. 276, in this collection; and _Afanassieff_, v. 23.

THE CROW'S NEST.

The following version is still known to old nurses in Holderness, where I collected it. It is called "Orange and Lemon": "There were once a mother and a father who had two daughters, Orange and Lemon. The mother liked Lemon best, and the father Orange. The mother used to make Orange do all the dirty work, as soon as the father had turned his back. One day she sent her to fetch the milk, and said, 'If you break the pitcher I'll kill you.' As Orange returned she fell down and broke the pitcher, and so when she came home she hid herself in the passage. When the mother came out she saw the broken pitcher and the girl, and took her into the house, when the girl cried 'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'

The mother said, 'Close the shutters in.'

'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'

'Light the candle.'

'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'

'Put the pan on.'

'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'

'Fetch the block we chop the wood on.'

'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'

'Bring the axe.'

'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'

'Put your head on the block.'

'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'

But the mother chopped off her head, and cooked it for dinner. When the father came home, he asked what there was for dinner.

'Sheep's head,' replied the mother.

'Where's Orange?'

'Not come from school yet.'

'I don't believe you,' said the father. Then he went upstairs and found fingers in a box; whereupon he was so overcome that he fainted. Orange's spirit flew away to a jeweller's shop and said--

'My mother chopped my head off, My father picked my bones, My little sister buried me Beneath the cold marble stones.'

They said, 'If you say that again we will give you a gold watch.' So she said it again, and they gave her a gold watch. Then she went off to a boot shop and said--

'My mother, &c., &c., &c.'

And they said, 'If you say it again we will give you a pair of boots.' So she said it again, and they gave her a pair of boots. Then she went to the stonemason's and said--

'My mother, &c., &c., &c.'

And they said, 'If you say it again we will give you a piece of marble as big as your head.' So she said it again, and they gave her a piece of marble as big as her head.

She took the things, and flew home, and sat at the top of the chimney, and shouted down--

'Father! Father! come to me, And I will show thee what I've got for thee.'

So he came, and she gave him a gold watch.

Then she shouted down--

'Sister! Sister! come to me, And I will show thee what I've got for thee.'

So she came, and she gave her a pair of boots.

Then she shouted down--

'Mother! Mother! come to me, And I will show thee what I've got for thee.'

The mother, who thought the others had got such nice things, put her head right up the chimney, when the big block of marble came down and killed her.

Then Orange came down and lived with her father and Lemon happily ever after."

Cf. The story of the child that was murdered at Lincoln by a Jewess. See a fragment of it quoted in Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 276[84]. Shouting down the chimney occurs in several Lapp stories; also in the Finnish stories of the "Wonderful Birch" and "The Girl who seeks her Brothers," where songs somewhat like the above-mentioned occur. Also Cf. _Vernaleken_, "Moriandle and Sugarkandle," and Naake, _Slavonic Tales_, "Story of the little Simpleton." A story of a somewhat similar kind is current in Sweden. See Hofberg. _Svsnska Folksägner_, "Mylingen"[85] and Hyltén-Cavallius _Värend och Virdarne_, ii. p. 1.

Also _Grimm_, vol. i. "The Juniper Tree" and notes, and _ib._ "The Brother and Sister" and notes; _ib._ vol. ii. "The Lambkin and the Little Fish," and notes.

WOMAN'S CURIOSITY. Merényi.[86]

Cf. _S. ja T._ ii. p. 73, "Haastelewat Kuuset" (the Talking Pines), which is very like the whole story.

_Payne_, i. p. 14. Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, ii. p. 4. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, "The Snake's Gift." Naake, _Slavonic Tales_, "The Language of Animals" (from the Servian), and _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 541. The power to understand the language of animals is often referred to in folk-tales, _e.g. Grimm_, vol. i. "The White Snake" and note, and _ib._ vol. ii. p. 541, _et seq._

_Gubernatis_, vol. i. p. 152.

_Tales of the Alhambra_, "Legend of Prince Ahmed al Kamel."

Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, vol. i. pp. 190, 469.

The power of animals to speak still remains amongst the superstitions of the people. In Neudorf, near Schärsburg, there is a prevalent superstition that on new year's night--at midnight--the cattle speak, but in a language which man may not hear, if he does so he dies. See Boner, _Transylvania_, p. 372; and I have heard a similar story as to their speaking (or kneeling) on Christmas Eve in Lincolnshire. Curious remnants, too, are to be found in the doggrel rhymes of the people, _e.g._, a few years ago I heard a woman in North Lincolnshire say,

"What do doves say?

"Croo! pee! croo!

"Gillivirens and Jackdaws lay eight or ten eggs to my poor two."

It is very interesting to compare a Finnish fragment entitled "The Dove's Cooing" with the foregoing. A dove and a hen had each a nest, but the dove had ten eggs and the hen only two. Then the hen began to try and make the dove change with her. At last the dove consented, and gave the hen her ten eggs and took her two. Soon the dove saw she had lost, and began to repent her foolish bargain, and she still laments it, for as soon as you hear her voice you hear her sad song,

"Kyy, Kyy, Kymmenen munaa minä, waiwainen waihdoin tanan, kahteen munaan."

"I've foolishly bartered my ten eggs For the hen's two!" [87]

[1] Cf. _Finska Kranier jämte några natur och literatur-studier inom andra områden af Finsk Antropologi_ Skildrade af Prof. G. Retzius, Stockholm, 1878, p. 121. A most valuable and interesting work which ought to be known to all students of anthropology. See also Du Chaillu's _Land of the Midnight Sun_, vol. ii. p. 277.

[2] Hereafter quoted as _S. ja T._

[3] This valuable collection will hereafter be quoted as _Friis_.

[4] Villon Society. London, 1884; and hereafter quoted as Payne's _Arabian Nights_.

[5] Such a window as they had in old times: a hole with sliding door or shutter. _Vide_ Retzius, p. 110.

[6] The bath-house is a separate building with a stove in the corner covered with large stones which become red hot and then water is thrown upon them which fills the house with steam. Round the sides are shelves where the bathers (both sexes) recline, and whip themselves with branches of birch on which the leaves have been left to die. _Retzius_, p. 119. Cf. also _Land of the Midnight Sun_, vol. ii. p. 207.

[7] A John Twardowski is said to have been a doctor of medicine in the university of Cracow, who, like Dr. Faust, signed a contract in his own blood with the devil. He is said to have been wont to perform his incantations on the mountains of Krzemionki, or on the tumulus of Krakus, the mythic founder of Cracow. The demon was to do all the magician bade him and to have no power over him until he met him at Rome, where he took good care not to go. Whether this gentleman is supposed to have ultimately become the lame fiend I know not. See _Slavonic Folk-Lore_, by Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrma, in _Folk-Lore Record_, vol. iv. p. 62.

[8] A division of South Sweden washed by the Skaggerack and Kattegat.

[9] Cf. "Haastelewat Kuuset" (The Talking Pines), _S. ja T._ ii. p. 73, where the man is about to reveal to his wife, who has been plaguing him to tell her, why he laughed when he heard some birds twittering, and, as this means death, he puts on all his clothes and lays himself out on a bench. Just then the hens are let loose, and as they run about the floor of the chamber where the man is the cock struts about and says, "Cock, cocko, cock, cocko! See, I have fifty wives and govern them all; the master has only one and can't manage her, therefore the fool is going to die." The man heard that, got up and kept his secret. Animals' language must not be revealed. Cf. Benfey, _Ein Märchen von der Thiersprachen_ in _Orient und Occident_. Naake's _Slavonic Tales_, Servian story of the Language of Animals, 71-99; and "Woman's Curiosity," p. 301, in the present volume.

[10] _Old Deccan Days_, "Rama and Luxman," p. 66.--Thorpe's _Yule-Tide Stories_, "Svend's Exploits," p. 343.--_Grimm_, "Faithful John," vol. i. p. 33, and Notes, p. 348.--"Secret-Keeping Little Boy," p. 233, in this volume.

[11] Near the bath-house (_vide supra_, p. 308) is the kiln to dry corn, a most important building in the Finnish farmstead. It is built of wood like the bath-house. On one side of the doorway is a stove (built of stones, see _Land of the Midnight Sun_, vol. ii. p. 274, where there are illustrations of somewhat similar stoves or ovens), that gives out a great heat and _smoke_, which fills the inside of the building, especially the upper part. This "ria" or kiln is used to dry the corn in. All Finnish rye is dried in this way. _Retzius_, p. 120.

[12] Ruobba, scurfy skull, or Gudnavirus, _i.e._ Ashiepattle.

[13] Cf. _Dasent_: "Boots and His Brothers," p. 382, where Boots finds an axe hewing away at a fir tree, and a spade digging and delving by itself, and by their means he got the princess and half the kingdom.

[14] Wagner's _Asgard_, p. 208. Roman intruders are called "the Roman dragon, the bane of Asgard." Wagner's _Epics and Romances_, "the Nibelung," p. 3; "the Dragonstone," p. 243. Henderson's _Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties_, p. 283.

[15] Professor Ebers says: "Red was the colour of Seth and Typhon. The Evil One is named the Red, as, for instance, in the papyrus of Ebers red-haired men were _typhonic_." See "Uarda," note on p. 58. Red-haired people are still in some parts looked on as unlucky to meet when going to sea, or as "first foot." See also Black's _Folk-Medicine_, pp. 111-113. According to a Magyar jingle:

"A red dog; a red nag; a red man; none is good!"

[16] A finger song, common, with slight variations, in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and Swedish speaking people in Finland. Cf. Yorkshire--

Tom Thumbkins, Bill Wilkins, Long Daniel, Bessy Bobtail, And Little Dick.

See Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 206.

[17] It is interesting to note the finger-lore of the people, _e.g._ _Gubernatis_, vol. i. 166, says: "The little finger, although the smallest, is the most privileged of the five." It is the one that knows everything; in Piedmont, when the mothers wish to make the children believe that they are in communication with a mysterious spy, who sees everything that they do, they are accustomed to awe them by the words, "my little finger tells me everything." See also vol. ii. p. 151.

In Holderness, Yorkshire, it is a common superstition that if you pinch anyone's little finger when they are asleep, they will tell you their secrets; or, as some say, "if you can bear your little finger pinching you can keep a secret." If you see a white horse, spit over your little finger for luck. Schoolboys make their bargains irrevocable by spitting over their little fingers.[A] In Petalaks (a parish in East Bothnia, about twenty miles from Wasa) every one believes in a "bjero"[B] or "mjero," which is one respect resembles Sampo in Kalevala, insomuch as he brings good luck to his possessor. Sometimes he looks like a ball of yarn, but more often like a hare. The way he is manufactured is as follows:--A wafer spared from the Communion, some wool stolen from seven cow-houses on Maundy Thursday, and a drop of blood from the _little finger_ of the left hand. During the performance the manufacturer must curse and swear without ceasing. The wool is to be spun on Easter morn when the sun dances; the thread to be wrapped round the wafer, and the whole put in the churn. Whilst churning, the spellmaker sings, "Milk and butter thou must bring to me; I shall burn in hell-fire for thee." After a time the "bjero" springs out, and asks, "What will you give me to eat?" "Raisins and almonds," is the reply. And all is complete. See _Suomen Muinaismusto-yhtiön Aikakauskirja_, ii.; _Helsingissa_, 1877, p. 133; _Vidskepelser insamlade bland allmogan i Petalaks_, 1874; _Skrock och vidskepliga bruk hos svenska allmogen i Vasabygden_. Af. Prof. Freudenthal, _Helsingfors_, 1883, p. 8; and Rink's _Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, p. 440.

[A] Cf. Tylor's Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 103; vol. ii. p. 439-441.

[B] _Några åkerbruksplägseder bland svenskarne i Finland_, af. dr. J. Oscar Rancken, pp. 17, 24, 32.

[18] Tegnér: Prologen till Gerda.

[19] See variants given in _Henderson's Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties_, pp. 258, 262.

Cf. Riddle set to three soldiers by the devil, and found out by the help of his grandmother. _Grimm_, vol. ii. pp. 152, 425. Also, _Vernaleken_, p. 206.

[20] A similar plant occurs in "The Merchant," in the _Pentamerone_.

[21] Taylor's Edition. London. 1848.

[22] Of the word "devil" one cannot do better than quote Mr. Ralston's words: "The demon rabble of 'popular tales' are merely the lubber fiends of heathen mythology, being endowed with supernatural might, but scantily provided with mental power; all of terrific manual clutch, but of weak intellectual grasp." Cf. _Castrén, Finsk Mytologi_, p. 163.

[23] A similar tale still exists in Holderness under the name of "The Glass Stairs."

[24] _Morte d'Arthur_, book I, cap. iii. tells how "in the greatest church in London, there was seen in the churchyard a great stone foursquare, and in the midst thereof was like an anvil of steel a foot on high, and therein stuck a fair sword naked by the point, and letters there were written in gold about the sword that said thus: whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of all England." Which sword was drawn out by Sir Arthur. Cf. book 2, cap. i. where a maiden comes girt with a sword, that no one could pull out but the poor knight Balin.

[25] This man-eating being was said to be something like a very big and mighty man, and was to be found in waste places. He was generally dressed in a white coat, with a silver belt round his waist, from which hung a silver-hafted knife, and a great many silver ornaments. He was exceedingly stupid, and the butt of Gudnavirucak. (Ashiepattle) They were probably nothing more than the old Vikings, and Stallo is thought to be derived from "Staalmanden," or men dressed in steel (Lapp, _staale_ = steel).

[26] Cf. _Grimm_, "The Three Sons of Fortune," i. p. 291.

[27] I have heard similar stories amongst the peasants in Flanders.

[28] The magpie is an important bird in folk-belief, and Swedish peasants say you must not kill it lest it be a troll in disguise as in this story. If they build in a house it is a sign of luck; if in the fields and come to the house and laugh, woe be to the house.

[29] Cf. Amelia Ferrier, _A Winter in Morocco_, p. 172, _et seq_.

[30] It is curious that the Magyar word for a marriageable girl, "eladó leány," also means "a girl for sale."

[31] In old times in Finland, a "spokesman" used to go beforehand to the girl, in order to find out whether the young man was likely to be acceptable. Cf. Scheffer, _The History of Lapland_. London, 1751, p. 71; and Boner, _Transylvania_, p. 488.

[32] "Given the basket:" in Finland the same phrase is used. Cf. the English phrase, "to give the sack."

[33] Cf. Note to "Handsome Paul," p. 317, _ante_.

[34] In the Russian Church there are two distinct services, which are performed at the same time, the "betrothal" when rings are given and exchanged, and the "coronation." Lansdell, _Through Siberia_, vol. i. p. 168.

[35] Cf. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, p. 205.

[36] Cf. this with the Finnish "bride-dresser," who looked after the bride's toilette, even providing the necessary dresses if the girl did not possess them.

[37] See Scotch "feetwashing," _Folk-Lore of North-East Scotland_; Folk-Lore Society, p. 89. In Finland, before a wedding, the friends of the bridegroom-elect invite to a party, which is called the "bachelor's funeral," at which he is oftentimes carried on a sofa shoulder-high as a mock funeral.

[38] The royal Hungarian bodyguard wear leopard-skins clasped with silver buckles.

[39] I have heard of racing for ribbons, &c., at weddings in Yorkshire; and of young men racing home from the church to tell the good folk at home that the marriage was _un fait accompli_. Cf. Napier, _Folk-Lore_, p. 49, and _Henderson_, p. 37.

[40] A remain of the marriage by force. Vámbéry notes the existence of this amongst the Turkomans. The bride's door in Transylvania is often locked, and the bridegroom has to climb over; or sometimes he has to chase her, and catch her: _Boner_, p. 491. Cf. also _Tissot_, vol. i. p. 94; _Scheffer_, p. 75; Gilmour, _Among the Mongols_, p. 259; _Napier_, p. 50.

[41] For accounts of English wedding-feasts in the north, see Sykes' _Local Records_, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1833, vol. i. pp. 194, 205, 209.

[42] The vizier's daughter is displayed in seven dresses in the story of "Noureddin Ali of Cairo, and his son Bedreddin Hassan": Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. i. pp. 192-194. And in old times the brides in Japan changed their dress three to five times during the ceremony: Mitford, _Tales of Old Japan_, p. 370.

[43] Cf. _Lappbönder, Skildringar Sägner och sagor från Södra Lappland_. af. P. A. Lindholm, p. 89.

_Fra Finmarken. Friis_, ("Laila" in S.P.C.K. translation), cap. xi.

Dancing the crown off the bride in Finland. See "A Finnish wedding in the olden times." _Notes and Queries_, 6th s. x. p. 489.

They cut the long hair off the Saxon brides in Transylvania; and in Spain, when the bride goes to her bedroom, the young unmarried men unloose her garter.

Just as in our land old shoes are thrown after the bride when she leaves home, and never matter how they fall, or how young relatives batter the backs of bride and bridegroom with aged slippers, you must not _look back_: so they say in Holderness, at least. The sumptuary laws of Hamburg of 1291, enacted that the bridegroom should present his bride with a pair of shoes. According to Grimm, when the bride put the shoe on her foot it was a sign of her subjection. (Boner, _Transylvania_, p. 491). See old Jewish custom, _Rath_. iv. 7.

See also _Napier_, p. 53, where he refers to the Grecian custom of removing the bride's coronet and putting her to bed.

Henderson, _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, pp. 36, 37, 42.

Aubrey, _Remains of Gentilisme_, Folk-Lore Society, p. 173.

Gregor, _Folk-Lore of North-East of Scotland_, pp. 96, 100.

[44] From a paper read before the Hungarian Historical Society, by Baron Béla Radvánszky, on Feb. 1st, 1883; Cf. _A magyar csalàdi èlet a_ xv. _es_ xvi. _szàzadban_, by the same author.

Cf. Tissot, _Unknown Hungary_, vol. i. p. 227.

Boner, _Transylvania_, pp. 488-495.

Fagerlund, _Anteckningar om Korpo och Houtskärs Socknar_, Helsingfors, 1878, p. 42.

_Lindholm_, "Ett bondbröllop," p. 86; and "Ett lappbröllop," p. 91.

[45] Laulu Lapista.

[46] See also Swedish Songs in Du Chaillu, _Land of the Midnight Sun_, vol. ii. p. 424.

[47] Cf. another group of stories, where trouble comes from the advice of those at home, such as _Dasent_, "East o' the Sun, and West o' the Moon," p. 29; _Afanassieff_, vol. vii. No. 15, and "Cupid and Psyche," see also notes to "The Speaking Grapes, &c." in this collection.

[48] Cf. _Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii_ by the Baron Sigismund von Herberstein. London, 1852. (Hakluyt Soc.) vol. ii. pp. 46 _et seq_.

[49] _Untersuchungen zur Erläuterung der ältesten Geschichte Russlands._ St. Petersburg. 1806.

[50] Loc. cit.

[51] Cf. Hunfalvy Pál, _Magyarország Ethnographiája_. Budapest. 1876. chap. 41.

[52] _Notes and Queries_, 7th S. ii. pp. 110, 111.

[53] Cf. also, _Folk-Lore Record_. 1879, p. 121; _Gesta Romanorum_, "The Knight and the Necromancer;" _Records of the Past_, vol. i. p. 136. "Tablet V."; Rink, _Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, p. 302; and Leland, _The Gipsies_, p. 159, where we are told gipsies object to having their photographs taken unless you give them a shoe-string.

[54] _Magyar Népmeséinkröl_ in the _Kisfaludy Társaság évlapjai_. New Series iv. p. 146.

[55] A Worcestershire woman told the writer that she had a nephew born with a caul, and when he was at the point of death it became quite moist.

[56] The Csángós are Magyar settlers in Moldavia; they are now assisted to return to Hungary by the Government. This story is told of the feud between two races. There are others which strike off the characteristics of neighbouring races, such as the story of the angels, current in Hungary, which is as follows:--

When Adam and Eve fell, God sent Gabriel, the Magyar angel, to turn them out of the garden of Eden. Adam and his wife received him most courteously, and most hospitably offered him food and drink. Gabriel had a kind heart, and took pity on them. He was too proud to accept any hospitality from them, as he did not consider it quite the right thing. So he returned to the Deity, and begged that somebody else should be sent to evict the poor couple, as he had not the heart to do it. Whereupon Raphael, the Roumanian angel, was sent, who was received and treated by Adam and Eve in like manner. He, however, was not above a good dinner, and having finished, he informed the couple of the purpose of his coming. The two thereupon began to cry, which so mollified Raphael that he returned to his Master, and begged Him to send some one else, as he could not very well turn them out after having enjoyed their hospitality. So Michael, the German angel, was sent, and was treated as the others. He sat down to a sumptuous meal, and when the last morsel of food had disappeared, and the last drop of liquor was drained, he rose from the table, and, addressing the host and hostess said, "Now then, out you go!" and the poor couple, though they cried most pitifully and begged hard to be allowed to remain, were cruelly turned out of the garden of Eden. See Arany's collection.

[57] The mound was opened in 1870, and found to contain bones.

[58] As late as 1875, a farmer near Mariestad buried a cow alive, upon disease breaking out in his herd. See also _Contemporary Review_, Feb. 1878, "Field and Forest Myths," p. 528, "Within the last few years, at least one Russian peasant has been known to sacrifice a poor relation in hopes of staying an epidemic."

[59] I heard this story again the other day in South Lincolnshire.

[60] Remains of a Roman camp near Brocklesby.

[61] Vide _A History of the County of Lincoln_. By the author of _The Histories of London, Yorkshire, Lambeth, &c. &c._ London and Lincoln: John Saunders gent., 1834.

[62] Boswell's _Variorum Edition of Shakespeare_, vii. pp. 162, 163.

[63] "Prince Unexpected." _Folk Lore Record_, 1884, p. 10.

[64] Cf. Lion Bruno. _Folk Lore Record_, 1878, p. 209.

[65] See Ralston's "Beauty and the Beast" in _The 19th Century_, December, 1878.

[66] In "The Raksha's Palace" in the same work, p. 203, the young princess found "the skeleton of a poor old beggar-woman, who had evidently died from want and poverty. The princess took the skin and washed it, and drew it over her own lovely face and neck, as one draws a glove on one's hand."

[67] The giant who demands human flesh of his wife, and the giantess who has only one eye in the middle of her forehead, are proofs of the foreign origin of this tale.

[68] See p. 340 _ante_.

[69] Ruobba, or Gudnavirũs, _i. e._ scurfy skull, is the Lapp for Ashiepattle. See "Jætten og Veslegutten," _Friis_.

[70] See note, vol. i. p. 407.

[71] _The Death of Dermid_, by Ferguson, may also be compared. Where the hero is slain by the envenomed bristle piercing his foot. For this part of the poem, vide _Dublin Magazine_, 1868, p. 594.

[72] See p. 335, _ante_.

[73] The witch's daughter in the "Two Orphans" is lame of one foot. See p. 221.

[74] There is a curious tale of a relation of my own who was popularly said to be able to cure people of ague by going to a thorn and shaking while she said: "Shake, good tree, shake for So-and-so," and then the disease fled. I have heard that the good old dame was herself always very ill after this operation. The hanging of a lock of hair on a tree, I presume, was understood to be the same as taking the afflicted person to the tree.

[75] See also another Lapp tale, "Haccis Ædne." _Notes and Queries_, 7th s. ii. Aug. 7, 1886.

[76] I have often had this tale told to me by my nurse when a child, and heard the following version a short time ago in Holderness, and was informed it had been told thus for ages: "There was a stepmother who was very unkind to her stepdaughter and very kind to her own daughter; and used to send her stepdaughter to do all the dirty work. One day she sent her to the pump for some water when a little frog came up through the sink and asked her not to pour dirty water down, as his drawing-room was there. So she did not, and as a reward he said pearls and diamonds should drop from her mouth when she spoke. When she returned home it happened as he said; and the step-mother, learning how it had come about, sent her own daughter to the pump. When she got there the little frog spoke to her and asked her not to throw dirty water down, and she replied "Oh! you nasty, dirty little thing, I won't do as you ask me." Then the frog said "Whenever you speak frogs, and toads, and snakes shall drop from your mouth." She went home and it happened as the frog had said. At night when they were sitting at the table a little voice was heard singing outside--

"Come bring me my supper,[A] My own sweet, sweet one."

When the step-daughter went to the door there was the little frog. She brought him in in spite of her step-mother; took him on her knee and fed him with bits from her plate. After a while he sang

"Come, let us go to bed, My own sweet, sweet one."

So, unknown to her step-mother, she laid him at the foot of her bed, as she said he was a poor, harmless thing. Then she fell asleep and forgot all about him. Next morning there stood a beautiful prince, who said he had been enchanted by a wicked fairy and was to be a frog till a girl would let him sleep with her. They were married, and lived happily in his beautiful castle ever after." This is one of the few folk-stories I have been able to collect from the lips of a living story-teller in England.

[A] There is a traditional air to which these lines are always sung.

[77] See also notes in the Introduction.

[78] There is a similar incident in _Grimm_, "The Sea Hare," where a fox changes himself by dipping in a spring.

[79] In Finland they say that if two persons shake hands across the threshold they will quarrel. In East Bothnia, when the cows are taken out of their winter quarters for the first time, an iron bar is laid before the threshold, over which all the cows must pass, for if they do not, there will be nothing but trouble with them all the following summer. Cf. _Suomen Muinaismuisto Yhdistyksen Aikakauskirja_, v. p. 99.

[80] On entering a house, especially a royal house, it is improper to use the _left_ foot on first stepping into it; one must "put one's best (or right) foot foremost." Malagasy Folk-Lore, p. 37. _Folk-Lore Record_ 1879.

[81] The "párta" is a head-dress worn by unmarried women only, in the shape of a "diadem" of the ancients in silk, satin, or velvet, and generally embroidered

[82] Cf. p. 365 _ante_.

[83] Cf. Gerll, Volksmärchen der Böhmen, "Die Goldene Ente."

[84] See also _Folk-Lore Record_, 1879, "Old Ballad Folk-Lore," pp. 110, 111.

[85] Myling, myring, or myrding generally means the ghost of a murdered person.

[86] Arany says he dare not accept the collection from which this story is taken for scientific purposes, as Merényi has drawn very liberally on his own imagination.

[87] _S. ja T._ iii. "Pienempiä Eläin-jutun katkelmia," p. 37. The whole of the Finnish beast stories are most interesting, and the resemblance in many cases to the negro variants in _Uncle Remus_ very striking.

INDEX.

Acorn, magic growth of [Jack and the Beanstalk incident], 146, 388

Age of giants, xxix.

----, hero grows old in his travels, 107

Agricultural, xli., see "plough"

Agriculture, giants' dislike of, xxviii.

Ague, cure for, 403

Allegorical story, 91-95

Alligator in Serbian folk-lore, 325

American Indians, folk-tales quoted, 364

---- notions of, as to dreams, 376

Ananci folk-tales, quoted, 379, 394

Angels, allegory of, 93

Animal superstitions, lx-lxiii.

Animals, grateful, assistance by, 158, 160, 249, 303-306, 323, 342, 371, 373, 374, 384, 392, 409

----, king of the, 106-107, 108

----, language of, 301, 421-422

----, magic, in service of fairies, xxxiii.

----, marriage of, with human beings, 225

----, sacrifice of, to stay the plague, 381

---- servants, 111

---- skins of, worn at Magyar weddings, 367

----, witch's life contained in, 205

----, &c., transformation of, into human beings, see "boy," "eagles," "falcon," "fish," "horses," "mares," "pig," "pigeons," "oranges," "snake"

Anthony's (St.) fire, cure for, xlix.

Apple, castle transformed into, 74, 247, 248, 353

---- smiling, 130

Apple tree, miraculous growth of, 11

Apricot, tinkling, 130

Arabian folk-tales, quoted, 381

_Arabian Nights_, quoted, 347, 352, 353, 355, 360, 362, 364, 368, 371, 375, 377, 389, 392, 395, 396, 400, 402, 406, 408, 415, 418

Argilus and Helen, story of, 345

Árpád, the founder of modern Hungary, viii.

Arrow, shooting of, as test of strength, 120

_Arthur, morte d'_, quoted, 351, 352

Ashes, strewed, used for finding way through forest, 145

---- (house), youngest brother sits among, 97

Asia, migration from, into Europe, viii.

Assembly of the giants, xxix.

Astronomy superstitions, lxiv.

Attila, conquest of Hungary by, vii.

----, story of, quoted, 342

Austrian folk-tales quoted, 370

Avaricious, allegory of the, 94

Avars, ethnology of, x.

Baa-lambs (the), story-title, 90-95

Bachelors' funeral at Magyar weddings, 367

Bædnag-njudne, giant beings, Lapp, 340

Bag which never gets full, 141

Baptism, allegory of unbaptised children, 94

Basket, to give the, that is to dismiss, Magyar, 366

Bath used to produce youthfulness, 110, 349

Bathing custom in Hungary, 308

Bathing in mare's milk, task set hero, 276

Bathing of fairy maidens, 101

Battlefields, silver and copper, created for fighting, 349

Battles, legends of, in Lincolnshire, 382

Beanstalk (Jack) parallel incident, 146, 388

Beating of wife, story incident, 23

Beauty, delicate skin a feature of, 354

Beauty and beast stories, 385

Bed, Madeys, devils dread, Slavonic tale, 310

Bede (St.), well of, at Jarrow, 373

Bees, assistance of, to hero, 153

----, honey brought by, restores life, 374

Beetles, witch's life and power contained in, 205

Beggar character in story helps hero, 251

Beggar's presents, story of, 161-163

Bells, church, ringing of, a hero-task, 228-229

Bells, magic, in giant assemblies, xxix.

Belt, strength-giving, 353

Berries, youth-giving qualities of, 373

Betrothal in Magyar marriage, 366

Bible quoted, 375, 411

Biblical characters, see "God," "Joseph," "Peter"

Birds having power to restore youth, 251

----, hero transforms himself into, 286

----, iron, made alive by hero's singing, 317

----, leading of hero by, 99; carrying of hero by, 108-109

----, enticing of boys by, 362

----, hero assisted by, 201, 249

----, moral rebuke by, 20

Birth, signs of luck at, 120

Black, colour of the giants, xxx.

---- cloth, town draped in, 374

Blindness, cure for, in story incident, 37; by mud from well, 152

Blood flowing from finger post sign of disaster, 257

----, human, wine mixed with, 121

---- letting for restoration to life, 344

---- stains, indelible, 125, 382

Blood feud, incident, Arabian nights, 360

Blowing upon wound to heal, 95

Blue Beard incidents, 129, 383

Blue cross, hero changed to, on divulging secret, 314

Bohemian folk-tales, quoted, 323

Boiling skull with millet seed used as omen, 279

Bones, human, hatched by crow, 299

---- of boy collected by sister, 299

----, skeleton, miraculous joining of scattered, 12

Boy killed for dinner by mother, 298

Boy who could not shiver nor shake, type story, 228-232

Bramble, dragon's wife takes form of, 202

Bread, operation of making, used as story incident, 79

Breathing on old things, causes change, 349

Bridal customs, Magyar, 365

Bride, false, given to prince, 214

----, gipsy personates, 214

Bride-capture, evidence of, Magyar, 366, 368; Palócz, 413, 414

---- and pursuit, story incident, 32-35

----, symbolic customs representing, 369

Bride purchase, evidence of, Magyar, 365

Bridges, fights between hero and dragon, on, 199-201

----, in folk-tales, 399

---- of copper, silver, and gold, 64, 196; of gold, 74

Britain, Teutonic conquest of, xi.

Britanny, were-wolves, 344

Brocklesby, Roman camp near, Lincolnshire, 382

Broom, red hot, ridden by witch to pursue hero, 273

---- seller, story character, 22

Brothers, elder, separate from hero on journey, 257

Brothers, three, story title, 152-154

Brothers and sisters, marriage of, 137

Brush, used as obstacle to pursuit of hero, 160

Building, immuration during, 376-377

Building legends, 333-334

Bulgarians, origin of, xiii.

Bullet, magic, to kill a giant, xxx.

Bullocks with gilt horns, roasted at Magyar weddings, 367

Bulls used for rescuing treasure, 405

Burial feasts, 370

Cake, hero shares with beggar, 252

----, millet, used in story incident, 28-29

Cakes made with woman's milk, 379

Cannibalism, 25, 352, 388-389, 403

Cannibal-giant story character, 25

Cannibal-man in Lapp stories, 352

Castle built by magical command, 16

---- built and inhabited by fairies, xxxv.-xxxvi.

---- built by giants, xxvii.

---- turned into golden apple, 206, 247

---- weeping and laughing, 409

Cat, accompanies hero, 258

----, a servant of fairies, xxxiii.

Cat, the lazy, story title, 23-25, 317

----, troll, 346

----, witches assume the shape of xli.

Cataract, cure for, xlviii.

Cats, witch's carriage drawn by, 204

Caul, superstition as to being born with, 378

Caves as the haunts of fairies, xxxvii.

Caves, the three, riddle solved by hero, 259

Changed bride incident in folk tales, 386

Chap-books, xx.

Chapel and hermit, pursued heroine and hero turn themselves into, 33

Charitable (the) allegory of, 94

Charles XI., legend of, 381

Charming, fairy means of, xxxiii.

Charms, singing, used for restoration of life, 341

Chest, magic, incident in folk-tales, 401

Child, first-born, dedication to devil, 7, 189, 384

Child-marriage incident, 80

"Child born to be a King" type stories, 307-309

Children, substitution of, xlv., 52

Children's rhymes, Cumanian, xvi.

Chopping, symbolic action of, for cure of wrist disease, 332

Christ, _see_ "God."

Christianity, influence of, on folk-tales, xx., xl.

Christmas customs, li.

Church building legends, 333-334

Church to be built in one night task set heroine, 193

Church, heroine takes form of, 194

----, youth-giving bird kept in, 259

Church bells, ringing of, task of hero, 228-229

Church marriage, 4, 7

Cinder Jack, story title, 149-152

Cinderella incident occurring with hero, 97, 150; with heroine, 148; in folk-tales, 207-216, 389

Cinders, burning, drop from devil's hair, 192

Clan feuds, Lincolnshire, 382

Cloak given to hero for singing, 299

----, giving power of invisibility to its wearer, 141

----, giving power to transport wearer to any place, 156

Cloth, magic, provides food, 161

Clothes, stealing of fairy maiden's, 101

Club, used by giant for killing, 11

----, magic fighting, 162

Coachman, King's, hero takes service as, 270

Cock, a servant of fairies, xxxiii.

----, crowing of, good omen, 213

----, iron, on spire, in story incident, 42

----, lesson taught by, 301

----, red, accompanies hero, 259

Cock-crow, devils disappear at, 37

----, means of getting rid of ghost, 282

College, hero's attendance at, 7, 59

Constantinople, St. Sophia, blood stains at, 382

Cooking, methods alluded to, 30

Copper bridge, dragon's home near, 196, 199

---- forest, 388

---- objects used in story incidents, 2, 28, 31, 40, 61, 78, 142, 150

Corn, Finnish method of drying, 315.

Cornish folk-lore, 349

---- wells, 373

Corpse assists ghost to find bride, 282

Cosmogony, tales dealing with, 375-376

Cottele on the Tamar, blood-stains at, 382

Cotton as a clew to find way out of thicket, 144

Count's daughter, the, story-title, 127-130

Country inhabited by lions and wolves, 189, 195

Cramp, cure for, xlix.

Cray-fish in story incident, 84

Cripple, cure for, in story incident, 37

Cromwell, battles attributed to, 382

Crow assists hero in fight with dragon, 201

---- hatches bones of boy, 299

Crow's nest, story title, 298-301

Crutch sticks given to hero for singing, 300

Csabor Ur, story title, 123-125

Csángós, Magyar settlers in Moldavia, 380

----, origin of the, xv.

Csihan, Prince, story title, 1-6; notes to story, 303-306

Cuchulaiun, story of, quoted, 348

Cumanians, origin of the, xv.-xvi.

Cumberland wells, 373

Curry-comb, used as obstacle to pursuit of hero, 160

Curse of oblivion, 321-322

Dances, wedding, 104-105

Dancing, caused by flute, 13-15

---- fairy, xxxiv. 143

Danish folk-tales quoted, 306, 324, 334, 355, 401

Daughters, king ill-using, 288

---- of witch, mares till nightfall, 159

Dawn, as story character, 42

Dawn and night, tying up of, in folk-tales, 326

Days of the week, xlix.

Death cured by magic orange, 156

---- in equalled with sleep, 374

---- personification of, as story character, 82

---- sign of, to three brothers on adventure, 55; superstition, 403

---- (sudden) penalty for telling secret, 301

Death superstitions, xlix.

Deception as to birth of prince during king's absence, 335-338

Deer, brother of heroine transformed into, 221

Devil and the Red Cap, story title, 226-228

---- and the Three Slovac lads, story title, 126-127

---- and the King, story title, 188-195

"Devil with three golden hairs," Finnish variant of, 310

Devil carries off corpse from gallows, 289

---- carries off girls, 288

---- construction of road by, xxxvi.

---- conversations of, overheard, story incident, 37

---- dedication of first child to, 7, 189, 384

---- helps king to find game, 189

---- personates hero, 226

---- use of the word 346

---- son of, helps heroine to escape devil, 192

Devils marry sisters of hero, 288

---- used for carrying out magical commands, 27

Devonshire, Cottele on the Tamar, blood-stains at, 382

Dew, at Friday's new moon, used for cure of blindness, 37

Dew, healing powers of, 322, 416

---- St. John's Day, properties of, 392

Diamond, brought by fox to hero, 2

---- castle, the light of Hades, 68; abode of giant, 71

---- horse-shoe nails, used by hero, 68

Dissemination of folk-tales, causes of, xxi.

Doctor, successful, story incident, 83, 138

Dog, faithful, in folk-tales, 402

----, kissing of hero by, causes oblivion, 322

---- lungs and liver of, given instead of heroine's, 182

Doghead, story character, 70

Dogheaded Tartars, 118

---- people, xx., 377-378

Dragon, sacrifice of virgin to, 112, 374

---- milk of, 409; horse fed on, 252

Dragons devouring human beings, 196

----, pursuing devils take form of, 195

----, slain by three princes, story incident, 41, 199-201 247, 248

----, used for carrying out magical commands, 16, 78

----, when defeated vomiting lads they had swallowed, 197

Drawing of object on the ground, magic powers of, 370

Dream of hero _raison d'être_ of story, 233

Dream-books, 376

Dreams obviate the curse of forgetfulness, 35; importance of in misfortune, 120

Dreams, three, story title 117-123

Dress, fairy, stealing of, to secure bride, 101; losing of, gives power of escape to fairy bride, 105

Dresses, wedding, among the Magyars, 368

Drink, enchanted, causes oblivion, 321

---- customs, lxviii.

Drowning of devils when pursuing heroine, 195

Drugging hero's wine by witch, 253, 254, 255

Duck, gold, heroine transformed into, 214, 402

---- silver, devil's son takes form of, 195

Dust, figures drawn in, come to life, 103, 104

Dutch witchcraft, 343

Dwarf, assistance to heroine by, 47

---- outwits strong men, 245, 246

Eagle, pursuing-father takes the form of, 32, 33

Earthenware pot, skull boiled in, used to obtain news of lover, 279

Eating taboo, 9

Egg (black) presented to hero by fairy godmother, 197

Egyptian story quoted, 340, 341, 400

Eldest brother hero of tale, 262-277

Elk, coffin of heroine, carried about by, 174

---- with gold and silver hairs in Russian story, 304

Embroidery, an occupation of the fairies, xxxiv.

Enchantment by spitting, 395

English folk-tales, quoted, 354, 356, 360, 383, 396, 404, 406

Envious sisters, story title, 49-54

Epilepsy, cures for, xlviii.

Eskimo folk-tales quoted, 331, 341, 362, 363, 364, 375, 386, 387, 389, 391, 393, 400, 408, 411

Esthonian folk-tales quoted, 326

Ethnology of giants in Magyar folk-lore, xxvi., xxviii.

---- of Hungary, viii.

Ewe, hero suckled by, 244

Executioner, functionary at a wedding, 303

Eye in forehead, giantess with, 146

Eye, one, monster, 388

Eyes, affection of, story incident, 59

Eyes of King unlike each other, _raison d'être_ of story, 250

Eye-sight restored by herb, 322

Fairies in Magyar folk-lore, xxxii-xl.

Fairies, marriage of, with the giants, xxix.

----, descent of witches from, xli.

Fairies' well, youth-giving water from, 289

Fairies' well, story title, 288

Fairy dancing, 142

Fairy Elizabeth, story title, 95-110

Fairy godmother, present from, to hero, 197

Fairy, house, origin of, 136

"Faithful John," variants of, 313-315

Falcon, shooting at, story incident, 40

Falcon, pursuing mother takes the form of, 33

False champion, story character, 43, 112

Falsehood, personification of, story character, 36

Family feuds, Lincolnshire, 382

Family life of the fairies, xxxvii.

Farmer, story character, 7

Farming life in story incident, 80

Father eats flesh of his boy, 298

---- murdered by son in Finnish story, 307

---- throws knives and forks to frighten hero, 251

Father's (my) wedding, story title, 86-90

Faust type stories, 306-312

Fays, kissing by, causes oblivion, 322

Fear, hero unable to learn, 228

----, shown by pillows dropping from the seat, 45, 114

Feather picking festival, 215

---- picking, peasant occupation, 402

Feathers, copper, gold and silver, from tail of wood grouse in Karelian story, 305

Feet, silver, child born with, 337

---- washing at weddings in Scotland, 367

Feet and hands of hero renewed by rubbing with blood and dust, 261

Feuds, clan or family, Lincolnshire, 382

Fight between hero and dragons, 199, 200, 201, 247, 248

Finger-lore, 331

Finger-post as trysting place for hero and brothers, 257

Finger songs, 330

Finn giant beings, 340

Finnish folk-tales, quoted, 307, 314-315, 318, 321, 323, 324, 326, 328, 329, 331, 332, 334, 335, 337, 342, 346, 347, 349, 350, 352, 353, 355, 356, 372, 373, 374, 379, 384, 385, 386, 389-390, 392, 393, 396, 399, 401, 402, 403, 404, 407, 409, 410, 411, 414, 416, 421

---- marriage custom, 365, 369

---- names for stars, 410

Fire, ever-burning, story incident, 41

Fire camp, in story incident, 99

---- customs, liv., lviii., see "hearth"

Fire, obtained by youngest brother, 40

Firpole ridden by witch to pursue hero, 272

Fish, gold, princess turns into, when pushed into well, 135

----, king of, assists hero in task, 252, 254

----sung out of lake by hero, 316

----, transformation of, into lovely girl, 16

----, witch's daughters change to, 254

Fisher Joe, notes to, 313

---- story title, 15-22

Fishing, story incident, 16

Flame, red, dragon takes form of, 201

Flame, white, hero takes form of, 201

Flattery, applied to witches, 400

Flint, falling from falcons' rock, story incident, 40

Flint hoop, dragon takes form of, 201

Flintshire wells, 373

Flower gardens belonging to the fairies, xxxvii.

Fluid, strength-giving, 353

Flute, powers of, to compel dancing, 13-15

Flying, power of, by giants, xxx.

Foal, half rotten, of hero, demands for wages for performing tasks, 252

----, magic power of, 263; helps hero, 263-277

Foals, the three, riddle solved by hero, 240

Folk-tales, origin of, xix.

Food, enchanted, causes oblivion, 321

----, magic supply of, 284

Forbidden chamber stories, 326, 384

Forest, filling of, by devils, 28; clearing of, for ploughing, 96

Forgetfulness, curse of, story incident, 34

Formulae, conjuring, of the fairies, xxxiv.

Fortunatus' story, 141

Foundation sacrifice, 376-377

Foundling child becomes hero of tale, 244

Fox, a story character, 1, 316

---- in Russian Puss-in-Boots story, 304; in Finnish story, 305

French folk-tales quoted, 306, 347, 418

---- invasion appearing in folk-tales, xx., 5

Friar, ghost, in shape of, guardian of buried treasure, 231

Friday, efficacy of, in folk-medicine, 37

Frisian variants of Fisher Joe, 316

Frog, grateful, for hero's kindness, assists him, 150

----, the wonderful, story of, 224-226

Frog prince story, Lincolnshire, 404-405

Frogs, witches assume the shape of, xli.

Fruit, fairy maiden concealed in, 386

Funeral of heroine, 171, 173

Gallows, devil carries off man hanging from, 289

----, legend of, 382

----, resort of devils at night, 37

----, secrets heard under, 323

Gangrene, cures for, xlviii.

Garter, unloosing of, at weddings, 369

George (St.) legend of, quoted, 374

Gepidae, Ardaric King of, vii.

German folk-tales quoted, 306, 312, 321, 323, 324, 339, 341, 346, 347, 349, 350, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 364, 372, 373, 374, 377, 378, 383, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 391, 394, 395, 397, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 405, 406, 407, 408, 415, 416 417, 421

---- wedding customs, 369

---- witchcraft, 343

_Gesta Romanorum_ quoted, 375

Ghost, story character, 142

----, wishing to marry bride, 282

Ghost lovers, story title, 278-282, 417

Ghosts, xlv; guard buried treasure, 232

Giant objects in folk-tales, 361

---- story, xxvi.-xxvii.

Giants, northern, 340

----, identified with Huns, x.

----, origin of, as sons of witch, 57

----, story characters, 9, 25, 55, 72, 101, 147

---- in Magyar folk-lore, xxiv.-xxxi.

---- and giantesses, 388

Giantess, cannibal story characters, 146

Gift to hero by fairy godmother, 197

Gifts, wonderful, 394

Gipsy tales quoted, 375

Gipsy women in folk-tale, 213

Girl with the golden hair, story-title, 262-277

---- without hands, story of, 182-188

Girls assist hero, 248

----, captive, rescued by hero, 247, 248

---- under form of mares in daytime, 159

Glass mountains in folk-tales, 350

Glass rock, hero taken over by magic horse, 65

Gnats, assists hero in task, 252, 254

Goats, guardians of giant's treasure, xxxi.

Goblet of dazzling brightness, story incident, 19

Goblins, xlv.-xlvi.

God, or Christ, descent of, to earth, story incident, 20, 82

Gold bridge, dragon's home near, 196, 201

---- children, variant of story, 313

---- duck, heroine transformed into, 214

---- hair picked up by hero, 269

---- horses, fetched by hero as task, 274

---- objects used in story incidents, 2, 28, 63-64, 65, 71, 74, 130, 143, 150

Golden apple, castle contained in, 206

---- coffin of heroine carried about by elk, 173

---- forest, 258

---- haired children born to heroine, 177, 184

---- haired stud of horses, 62

---- hair, girl with, story title, 262-277

---- girl married to hero, 159

---- hair, Tátos horse with, 198

---- horned bullocks roasted at Magyar weddings, 367

---- spade used to dig up Tátos foal, 251

Goods of heroine fetched by hero in table cloth, 273

Goose's egg, copper fortress swivelling on, 78

Gorgons, parallels to, 353

Gothamite stories quoted, 356, see "noodle"

Grapes, speaking, smiling apple, and tinkling apricot, story title, 130-132

Grateful beasts, story incident, 2, [150], 153, 158, 160, 249, 303-306

Grave stone and mound, story about, 381

Greek folk-tales, quoted, 338, 340, 350, 355, 386, 387, 391, 392, 394, 396, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 406, 407, 408

Green king, character in story, 288

Greyhound, guardian of giant's treasure, xxxi.

Griffin helps hero to escape from underground world, 249

Griffins, witch's daughter changed to, 254

Guns fired at weddings, Magyar, 368

Gyllenspets, family of, legends as to ennobling, 381

Hair combing in folk-tales, 389

----, not to be thrown away, 332

----, cutting of, punishment, 216

----, at wedding, 369

----, folk-lore of, 374-375, 402

---- of heroine used as means to bewitch her, 222

----, gold, of heroine, used by her to give light, 270

Hair-pin, poisonous, used by witch for destroying heroine, 172

Hairs, transformed into serpents, 398

Handkerchiefs, exchange of, mode of engagements, Palócz, 413

Hands, girl without, story of, 182-188

----, gold, child born with, 337

Hands and feet of hero cut off by his brothers, 260; renewed by rubbing with blood, 261

----, cutting off of heroine's, by eldest sisters, 50

Handsome Paul, story title, 25-35; variants of, 317

Hanging, ceremonial at, 406-407

Harvesting customs, 98

Head-dress worn by maidens, Palócz, 414

Healing-grass, restoration of life by, 58

Healing-mud, 391

Healing-plants, 374

Hearth custom, mourning behind the oven, 15, see "ashes"

Heat, great, round fairies' well, 291

Heaven, journey to, story incident, 20; allegory of, 94

Helen and Argilus, story of, 345

Hell, hero marries witch in, 204

---- voyage to, 8-10, 67

Hermit character in tale, helps hero, 288; hero restores him to youth, 295

Hero maimed by elder brothers, 260

----, limbs of, restored by using magic mud, 261

---- suckled by ewe, 244

---- swallowed by king, 317

Hero transformed by Tátos horse, 198

---- unable to learn to fear, 228

Heroine marries devil's son, 195

History in folk-tales, 380-382

Holofernes, the fire-king, story of, 345

Holly tree with gold leaves in Russian story, 304

Holyrood, blood-stains at, 382

Home, troubles arising from bringing bride to the, 370-371

Homer quoted, 376

Horace quoted, 376

Horn, magic, in story incident, 61

Horse fed on dragon's milk for strength, 252

----, magic, story incident, 20, 62, 105, 144, 158, 160, 197, 387, 390, 392-393

----, old, made young by hero, 260

----, piebald, assists hero, 289

---- racing at weddings, Magyar, 368

---- (stallion) guardian of giant's treasure, xxxi.

---- with five legs produced from egg, 197

Horse-shoe, gold, picked up by hero, 270

Horses, age of, tested, 119

----, hero's task to take charge of, 253

----, mythic, called Tátos, 345-349

----, transformation of human beings into, 31

----, witch's daughters in shape of, 252

----, witches assume the shape of, xli.

House, folk-lore of the threshold, 410-411

---- tidying incident in folk-tales, 386

House-fairy, origin of, 136

Human sacrifice in story incident, 112

---- to stay the plague, 381

Hundetyrk, giant beings, Swedish, 340

Hunes, a tribe who came over with Saxons to Britain, xi.

Hungarian Faust story, 312

---- folk-tales, collections of, xxii.-xxiii.

Hungarians, origin of, vii.-viii.

Hungary, bathing customs in, 308

----, the happy land, 126

Huns, origin of the, vii., x.

Hunting princes, story title, 39-46

----, story incident, 1, 39, 54, 186, 188

Husks in folk-tales, 385

Hussar and the servant girl, story-title, 83-85

Hydrophobia, cures for, xlviii.

_Iliad_, quoted, 349

Illness, feigned, incident in folk-tales, 386

Images, wax, used in sorcery, 332

Immuration of human beings, 376-377, 407

----, punishment by, 114

Incantation, witch, xliii.

Indian tales quoted, 306, 307, 314, 321, 323, 338, 339, 341, 342, 344, 346, 356, 361, 362, 363, 364, 373, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 389, 391, 394, 395, 396, 398, 400, 402, 403, 404, 415

Invisible cap given by devil, 227

---- shepherd lad, story title, 141-144

Ishtar, legend of, quoted, 400

Italian folk-tales quoted, 356, 383, 384, 396-398, 400, 401, 408. 421

Irish folk-tales quoted, 322, 348, 353, 355, 364, 372, 394, 396, 397

Iron age, giants connected with, xxvi.

---- kneader, character in story, 245, 246

---- nose, woman with, 159, 203, 243

---- pole, witch rides on, to pursue hero, 269

---- railing round witch's house, 267

---- teeth, witch possessing, 221

Irons, brothers of hero working in, for debt, 260

Jack and the Bean Stalk incident, 146, 388

Jack Dreadnought, story title, 228-232

Jack the Giant Killer, 341

James I., legend of, 382

Japan marriage customs, 368

Japanese folk-tales quoted, 306, 391

Jaundice, cures for, xlvi.

Jazyges, origin of the, xvii.

Jesuits in Hungary, 409

Jewel, youth-giving qualities of, 373

Jewish wedding customs, 369

Jikil, a people of Hungary, xiii.

Johara, Juharia, province of, recorded in folk-tales, 371

Joseph, Biblical story of, quoted, 375

Kaffir folk-tales, 403

_Kalevala_, quoted, 331, 374

Karelian story quoted, 353, 359, 390

Keyne, St., well of, in Cornwall, 373

King adopts hero as his son, 234

---- and the devil, story of, 188-195

----, child born to be, type story, 233-244

---- made young again by magic water, 295

---- marrying most beautiful woman, 163

---- with eyes that weep and laugh, 251

King's daughter, story character, 4, 15, 234, 238

---- youngest daughter, story character, 27

Kissing by fays and by dog, causes oblivion, 322

Knife, non-use of, for killing, 11

----, wooden, stone cut by, 247

Knives stuck in a tree for life index, 374

Knot-holes in wood, folk-tale connected with, 364

Knowledge, obtaining of secret, 322-324

Koiran-Kuonalanien, giant beings, Finn, 340

Kronos, legend of, quoted, 399

Kuns, origin of the, xv.-xvi.

Ladybird rhyme, xx.

Lake, magic, power of restoring limbs possessed by, 185

----, silver, heroine takes form of, 195

Lamb, possessing power to rain gold, 162

---- with golden fleece, story title, 13-15; variants of, 312

Lamb and shepherd, pursued heroine and hero become, 33

Lameness of characters in folk-tales, 372

----, superstition about, 398

Language of animals, see "animals" Languages of Hungary, xviii., xix.

Lapp folk-tales quoted, 305, 312, 321, 326, 328, 329, 343, 344, 346, 352, 358, 359, 361, 362, 364, 370, 372, 373, 379, 384, 385, 386, 388, 389, 390, 392, 393, 396, 397, 399, 400, 403, 408, 410, 415, 418, 420

Lapp giant beings, 340

---- wedding customs, 369

Laughing, cure of illness by, 15

Lazy cat, 23-25; note to, 317

Lead, boiling, ordeal of truth by jumping in, 297

---- used as punishment by fairies, 294

Letter forged by witch, 178, 185

Letter intercepted, story incident, 52, 185

Life, allegory of, 92-94

---- concealed away from the body, 400

---- restoration to, 329, 341, 342, 344; by animals, 374, 396; by snake, 55; by healing grass, 58, 113

Life or soul, witch's, contained in animals, 205

Life index incidents, 339, 340, 374, 378

Light extinguished by animal bridegroom, 226

Limber, Lincolnshire, battle legends in, 382

Lincolnshire folk-lore, 343, 350, 363, 376, 378, 382, 398

---- folk-tales quoted, 358, 392, 393, 404, 405, 417, 418-420, 421

---- Mumby Hill, treasure legend, xxxi.

---- superstitions, 402

---- treasure legend, 406

---- wedding customs, 369

---- witchcraft, xliii.

Lions, country inhabited by, 188, 195

Literature, mediæval, influence on folk-tales, xx., xxi.

Livy quoted, 377

Loaf, baked seven times with other loaves, used as charm against dragon, 79

Local influences on folk-tales, xx.

Lodging, hero's, at a cottage held by a murderer, 9

London, legend relating to, quoted, 351

Looking back, misfortune from, 101

----, superstition against, in folk-tales, 362-363

----, unlucky at weddings, 369

Looking-glass, magic, power of speaking possessed by, 165

Lord of the manor, story character, 17

Love of the fairies, xxxiv.-xxxv.

Lover's ghost, story title, 278-282

Luck and bliss, story title, 22, 23; variants of, 317

Lungs and liver eaten by would-be murderer, 183

Mace, sent as sign of recognition, 106

---- used by devil as weapon, 194

Mace-throwing, 353

Magic pony, little, story of, 157-160

---- powers of giants, xxix.

---- queen of, 78

---- woman, godmother to heroine, 144

Magpie in Swedish folk-lore, 364

Magyars, origin of, viii., xiii.

Maiming of slain enemies, story incident, 43

Malagasy folk-tales quoted, 340, 394, 398, 401

---- superstition as to the threshold, 411

Man, hanged, eaten by devil, 290

Manners of Magyars, lxvii.

Märchen, origin of, xix.

Mare, power of talking possessed by, 263

Mares, milking, task set hero, 275

Mares, witch's daughter in story, 159

Market operations in noodle story, 81

Marriage by guessing of bride's secret marks, 141

---- by taking down objects from high pole, 151

----, child, 80

----, church, 4, 7

---- customs, Magyar, liv., 365; Palóczy, 412-414

---- festivals, Magyar, 389

---- in folk-tales, 328

---- of hero to queen of the fairies, 298

---- of hero with witch, 204

---- of heroine with frog, 225

---- of most beautiful girl, 163

---- of twelve brothers to twelve sisters, 159

---- to slayer of king's enemies, 44

---- by capture, see "bride-capture."

Maundeville's travels quoted, 342

May-pole, used in marriage custom, Palóczy, 412

Meadow, silken, of enemies, 67

Medicine folk, xlvi.-xlix., 403, 409; in story incident, 37

Melton Ross, Lincolnshire, gallows legend at, 382

Merlin, tradition of, 341

Message stick, story incident, 106

Messenger, intercepted, story incident, 52

Mezey, knight, story character, 66

Mice, king of, assists hero in task, 252, 255

Midnight, a story character, 42

Migration of a people, probable reference to, in folk-tales, 371

Milk, adulteration of, allegory of, 94

Milk, bathing in, task set hero, 276

Milk flowing from finger-post a sign of prosperity, 257

Milk-jug, lid of, formed from remains of murdered princes, 136

Milk lake and golden duck, pursued heroine and hero become, 34

Milk, woman's, bread made with, 121

Milking mares, task set hero, 274

Miller, a story character, 1

Millet-cake, story incident, 29, 30

Millet-field, heroine takes form of, 32, 193

Millet-seed, skull boiled with, as means of divination, 279

---- to cleanse, task set heroine, 192

Millstone given to hero for singing, 300

Mirkó, Prince, story title, 59-76

Mirror, magic, 395

Mohammedanism, influence of, on folk-tales, xx., xl.

Moldavia, Hungarian settlers in, xv.

----, Magyar settlers in, 380

Money given to hero by devil to aid him on his journeys, 290, 292, 293

Mongolian marriage customs, 368

Monk, devil's son takes form of, 194

Moon, on forehead of twin son, 52, 337; on hero's forehead, 387; on right breast of king's daughter, 140

----, myth of, in folk-tales, 327

----, new, efficacy of, in folk-medicine, 37

---- superstition, 403

Moonlight in the water, 358

Mopstick, witch riding on, 253

Moss, eyelids covered with, sign of old age, 259

Mother marrying son, in Finnish story, 308

---- of heroine, her enemy, 183

Mountain adventures, story incident, 39, 54

Mountains built by giants, xxvii.

Mouse, assistance of, to hero, 153

Murder, crime of, committed and punished, 9-13

Murder of father by son in Finnish story, 307

Murders of the Blue Beard type, 129

Music, folk-, 370

Musical air to rhymes, 405

Musical myths, quoted, 347, 400

Mysterious land in folk-tales, 371-372

Myth, saints' legends develop into, x.

Nail-pairing superstitions, 402

Name, taboo in story incident, 47, 330-344

Names of fairies, xxxvi. xxxviii.

Negro legend of treasure, 406

Nettles, Prince Czihan, story title, 1-6

New Year's Day, liii.

_Niebelungen_ quoted, 351

Night and dawn, tying up of, in folk-tales, 326

Nimrod, giant legend of, viii.

Noodle stories, 80, 83, 86, 356-359, 361; parallels between, xix.

Norse tales quoted, 322, 323, 329, 342, 346, 350, 352, 353, 355, 358, 359, 360, 361, 370, 371, 372, 373, 375, 383, 385, 386, 389, 391, 392, 394, 396, 397, 398, 400, 404, 408, 410, 415, 421

Northumberland folk-lore, 343, 383

Norwegian giant beings, 340

Nose, sausage grows to man's, 219

Nothing, character in Finnish story, 315

Numbers, lix.

Nutshell, fairy bride's dress placed in, 102

Oak tree with golden leaves in Russian story, 304

Oblivion curse of, 321-322

Obstacles to pursuit in folk-tale, xxxiii., 32-35, 160, 393-394

Occupations of the fairies, xxxiv.

Ointment, strength-giving, 353

Operencian Sea, magic trees on shores of, 256

Orange, cure of dead by, 156

Oranges, three, story title, princesses spring from, 133-136

Orphans, the two, story of, 220-224

Oven, retirement behind, as mourning, 15

Owls' feathers, 409

----, pillow stuffed with, 191, 255, 398

Oxen, ploughing with, in tale, 298

Palaces of the fairies, xxxviii.

Palm Sunday, descent of God to earth on, 21

Palocz, origin of the, xviii.

----, folk-tales, 412

Palstave, used by Magyars, 412

Pannonia conquest of by Romans, vii.

Paris, Carmelite convent, blood stains at, 382

Pear-tree, poisonous, dragon's wife takes form of, 202

Pears, stolen from tree, incident in tale, 183

Peas in open field, picked up by hero, 76

Peel borrowed by mother in tale, 298

Pelican, the, story title, 250-262

Pelicans, unknown in Hungary, 409

_Pentamerone_ quoted, 339, 342, 374, 375, 379, 386, 387, 388, 394, 396, 398, 399, 400, 401, 403, 407, 410, 417

Perspiration, superstition about, Indian, 395

Peter (St.), appearance of, to hero, 141

----, descent of, to the earth with God, 20

Petticoat, tale said to be in tucks of, 282

Phooka, the wild horse of Ireland, 349

Picture in folk-tales, 396

Piebald horse, magic horse, 289; assists hero, 289; enemy of devils, 291, 292, 293

Pig, prince in form of, 131, 132

Pig-driving, in story incident, 80

Pigeon, hero transforms himself into, 286

Pigeons, transformation of, into girls, 101

Pigeons help heroine in task, 208

Pillow stuffed with owls' feathers in devil's house, 191

Pin, in folk-tales, 395-396

----, poisonous, used by witch to destroy heroine, 170

Pistols, used by hero, 63

Plaid, possessing power of making wearer invisible, 289

Plague, animal sacrifice at, 381; witch sacrifice, xliv.

Plants, wound-healing, 341

----, superstitions, lxiii-lxiv.

----, see "apples," "apricot," "bramble," "oak," "pear" Pleurisy, cures for, xlvii.

Plough, six-ox, yoking of, 370

Ploughing task, story incident, 28, 96

Pluto, story character, 29

Poker changed into horse by witch, 160

Polish folk-tales quoted, 322, 379, 418

Pony, magic, story of, 157-160

Pope, hero becomes, 12

Portraits, superstition against, 333

Portuguese folk-tales quoted, 324, 334, 339, 342, 361, 365, 372, 374, 386, 389, 394, 395, 396, 397, 399, 400, 401, 402

Post (finger) oozing blood, sign of misfortune to hero, 257

---- used as trysting place, 257

Poultry yard, hero and heroine locked in, 286

Presents, the beggar's, story of, 161-163

Priest, name for Tátos, also name for mythic horse, 345

Priests and their sermons, allegory of, 94

----, folk-tale allusion to, 205, 400

Princes, the three, story title, 110-117

Princess who never laughed, type story, 312

Princesses, the three, story title, 144-149

Property, obtaining of, by descent, 16, 34, 137; by force, 6; by marriage, 7, 46, 53, 153

Proverbial sayings, Székely, ix.

Punchkin, incident in folk-tales, 205, 400

Punishment by immuration, 114

Punishment of false knight, story incident, 45

Puppies supposed to be born of heroine, 178, 185

Purse which never gets full, see "bag"

Pursuit obstacles, in story incident, 32-35, 160, 393-394

Puss in Boots, type story, 1-6, 303, 306

Pygmy race, 330

Queen of the faires, 294

Quinsy, cure for, xlix.

Rabbit, hero takes form of, 202

Races, stories indicating old feuds between, 380

Rats, witch's daughters changed to, 255

Raven, shooting at, story incident, 39

Red cap, devil and the, story of, 226-228

Red-haired people, unluck of meeting, 329

Red Knight, a false champion, 43, 114

Relations, quarrels of, allegory of, 94

Rhymes, children's, Cumanian, xvi.

Rich men, children of two, story title, 80-83

Riddles in folk-tales, 239, 240, 334

Ring, betrothal, in Magyar marriage, 366

----, poisonous, used by witch to kill heroine, 168

---- possessing power of waking wearer in case of need, 291

Ring, wedding, 3, 7

----, wife's means of recognising husband, 315

Rivers, fairy origin of, xxxix.

Robbers, twenty-four, story characters, 42

----, heroine protected by, 167

Rod, growth of, put as a test, 119

----, growth, magic, 71

Rose, gold, means of identifying heroine, 211-213

Rose, knight, story title, 54-58

Roumanian folk-tales quoted, 353, 387, 388, 391, 399, 407

Roumanian intrigues with Turkey alluded to, 124

Rug, used as obstacle in pursuit of hero, 160

Russian folk-tales quoted, 304, 306, 321, 325, 329, 338, 339, 341, 344, 347, 353, 355, 358, 359, 361, 362, 364, 373, 374, 379, 381, 389, 391, 392, 393, 394, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 404, 408, 411, 415, 420, 421

Russian marriage ceremony, 366

Sacrifice, human, in story incident, 112, 344

----, to stay the plague, 381

Saddle, magic, for magic horse, 63

----, old, used on Tátos horse, 198

Saddle and bridle demanded by hero for wages, 252

Sale at markets, used as story incident, 22

Saints' legends, place of, in mythology, x.

---- quoted, 339

Saints' Days, customs, l.-lix.

Sausage, magic, 219

Scab, cure for, xlix.

Scabbard growing on hero's side, 233

Scandinavian Huns, xi.

School, hero's attendance at, 7

Scottish folk-lore, 363, 368, 411

---- folk-tales quoted, 312, 346, 349, 398, 400

---- wedding custom, 369

Scurvy, cures for, xlvii.

Sea, mythical, in Hungarian folk-tales, 375-376

Secret, hero's life depends on keeping, 233, 244

Secret-keeping little boy and his little sword, story title, 233-244, 314

Secrets, transformation of hero on divulging, 314

Selection, magic powers in, 378

Serbian folk-tales quoted, 306, 323, 325, 339, 342, 347, 353, 361, 362, 373, 374, 386, 387, 388, 391, 392, 400, 401, 407, 408, 421

Serpents, hairs from devil's beard become, 192

Servants, animals so-called, 373

Servian witchcraft, 343

Service of hero with king, 263

Seventh son superstition, xxx.

Shepherd, story character, 13, 91, 141

Shepherd Paul, story title, 244-249

Shepherd's daughter given to devil instead of heroine, 191

Ship that sails over land and sea, 316

Shirt, silk, given to hero to increase strength, 248

Shoe, Cinderella's, 149

Shoes, in folk-tales, 387

Shoes thrown after the bride, 369

Shooting incidents in folk-tales, 329

Sicilian folk-tales quoted, 338

Siculus, people of Székely, ix., xiii., xiv.

Sillyhood, name for the caul, 378

Silver bridge, dragon's house near, 196, 200

---- of dazzling brightness, story incident, 20

Silver horse, concealment in, 139

Silver objects mentioned in story incidents, 61, 130, 143, 150

_Sindibad_, book of, quoted, 360

Sins, washing away of, allegory of, 93

Sisters, twelve, marry twelve brothers, story incident, 159

Skin, delicacy of heroines, 354

Skin, assumption of snake's, 342

Skull, boiling of, used in divination to get news of absent lover, 279

Slavonic folk-tales quoted, 323, 306

Sleep, magic, falls on watchers of heroine, 183

----, mode of, as a test of princely origin, 77

Sleeping beauty incidents in folk-tales, 396

Smell, giants sense of, 340

Smithy, hero takes refuge at, 203

Snake in Russian Puss in Boots story, 304

----, prince in form of, 283; proposes to marry king's daughter, 284

---- teaches hero language of animals, 301

----, three-headed, sacrifice of king's daughter to, 344

---- with girl's head, restores life to hero, 55

---- field, task of hero's to clean, 316

---- friends, 342

Snake-skin, story title 282-287, 417

Snakes-skin, assumption of, by heroine, 342

Snipe, origin of, 359

Snow-water collected in March, youth-giving qualities of, 372

Social organisation of the fairies, xxxvii.

Son marrying mother in Finnish story, 308

Song, singing a, means of discovering truth, 299

Songs, mystic, for restoration of life, 341

----, wedding and love, 370

Spade, golden, used to dig up Tátos foal, 256

Spanish belief in herb to restore eyesight, 322

Spanish folk-tales quoted, 313, 329, 334, 347, 360, 392, 394, 402, 407, 408

Spanish wedding customs, 369

_Spectator_, wedding songs quoted from, 370

Spinning in folk-tales, 330

Spinning-girl (the lazy) who became queen, story-title, 46-49

Spitting, enchantment by, 395

Spittle, fairy, makes objects speak, xxxiii.

---- speaking of, to delude pursuers, 321

---- used by witch to disfigure heroine, 166

Sports at weddings, Magyar, 389

Spring of poisonous water, dragon's wife takes form of, 202

Sprites, xlv.

Squirrel, shooting at, story incident, 40

Staff broken at hanging ceremony, 407

Stag, means of finding heroine, 186

Star, morning, horse similar to, 63

---- superstitions, 410

Stars, child born with, on his face, 338

----, marks of, on hero's forehead, 387

----, three, on left breast of king's daughter, 140

----, kicking of, by high-stepping horses, 130

Steel dropping from raven's back, story incident, 39

---- hoop, hero takes form of, 201

Stepsister, heroine of tale, 207

Stephen the murderer, story title, 7-13; variants of, 306-312

Stone cut with wooden knife by hero, 247

Stone, giants turned to pillars of, 316

---- hero turned into, 71; hero's animal servants turned into, 115

Stone-boulders eaten by giants for food, 247

Stone-column, removal of, as task for hero, 18

Stone-crusher, character in story, 245, 246

Stonemasons, story characters, 18

Stones, with imprint of giant's heel, xxv; of fairies xxxiv.-xxxv. xxxix.

Stones, (precious) superstitions, lxiv.

Strength of giant kept apart from his body, 71

----, secret of, revealed in order to kill hero, 326

Strength-giving substances, 353

Student who was forcibly made king, story-title, 76

Students' careers alluded to, see "college" "school"

Subterfuge for gaining a wife, 4

Subterranean houses of the fairies, xxxviii.

Summons by whistle and whip, 372

Sun, child born with, on top of head, 337

----, on forehead of twin son, 52; of king's daughter, 140

----, comparison of hero with, 342

----, hero's beauty like the, 56

----, myth of, in folk-tale, 328

----, stoppage of, to admire heroine's beauty 112

Sunbeams, woman appearing on, 364

Swahili folk-tales quoted, 306, 322, 342, 364, 386, 391, 397, 400, 408

Swallow, herb known to, will restore eyesight 322

Swan-maiden incident, 101, 363-365, 315 390

Swedish folk-tales quoted, 306, 330, 333, 334, 362, 386, 388, 391, 397, 401, 405,415

Swedish giant beings, 340

Swedish wedding songs, 370

Swineherd helps hero of tale, 261

Swineherd hero-prince takes situation as, 296

Swineherd's daughter given to devil instead of heroine, 190

Sword, clanking of hero's, denoting approbation, 235, 241

Sword possessing power of slaying numbers, 293

Sword, unsheathed, placed between wife and husband's substitute, 116, 375

---- used by hero, 63, 66; growing in garden, 233; kills hero's enemies, 243

Swords, magic, in folk-tales, 350, 406

Székely folk-medicine quoted, 342

----, origin of the, ix., xii.-xv.

Table-cloth, magic, 162

---- used by hero to carry goods, 273

Tartar conquest alluded to, 118-119, 124

Tartars, dog-headed, 377

Tasks in folk-tales, 18, 27, 47, 153, 192-193, 273-275, 313, 315, 379, 390, 392, 393, 415

Tátos, giant's horse, xxv., 197, 345

Teeth, children born with, 378

Telescope, wonderful, bought by prince to win a bride, 156

Thorn-tree, cure for ague by shaking, 403

Thornton Abbey, Lincolnshire, battle legend about, 382

Three, significance of the number, 101

---- canes, riddle of, solved by hero, 239

---- foals, riddle of, solved by hero, 240

---- legs, foal with, 257

---- Princes, Three Dragons, and the Old Woman with the Iron Nose, story of, 196-206

---- sisters in tale, 224

---- sons, hero youngest of, 250

---- wishes type story, 217-219

Threshold, ceremonies at, 332, 333

----, folk-lore of, 410-411

Tinder, shot from squirrel's tree, story incident, 40

Time, rapid passing of, in folk-tales, see "age," "year"

----, stopping of, story incident, 42, 362

Toad used as means to bewitch heroine, 222

Tools, assistance by, to youngest son, 390

---- work by themselves, Frisian, 316

Toothache of king ceasing only with granting hero's wishes, 197

Tower, hero immured in, 240

Town draped in black cloth, 374

Trance, heroine falls into, through treachery, 172, 174

Transformation of hero and heroine to avoid pursuit, 321

Transylvania, wedding customs, 369

----, races occupying, ix.

Travelling, speed of, in folk-tales, xxiv.-xxv., 26, 350

---- with magic wings, 142

Treasure, buried, ghosts as guards of, 231, 232, 405

----, buried, legends, xxix., xxx.

Treasures, offered by witch as reward refused by hero, 255

Tree, good luck coming from being under, 387

----, grown from remains of murdered princes, 135

----, heroine and her children take refuge in, 179

----, heroine placed amongst branches of, 213

----, magic growth of, 146

----, sap of, used for cure of illness, 138

----, witch seated in, 57, 115

Tree-comber, character in story, 244

Trees, magic, on borders of Operencian Sea, 256

----, kissing each other means of hero crossing water, 258

----, notched by hero to guide his path, 258

Triangle traced by witch, 256

Tribal blood feud incident, _Arabian Nights_, 360

Trolls, assume shape of magpies, in Sweden, 364

Truth and falsehood, travels of, story title, 36-39

Trynetyrk, giant beings, Norwegian, 340

Tumuli, called giants graves, x.

Turkish sultan in folk-tales, xx.

Twelve brothers marry twelve sisters, 159, 263, 267

Twins, golden-haired, born to heroine, 184

Twilight, myth of, in folk-tales, 327

Uliva (St.) legend of, quoted, 339

Underground people, in folk-tales, 408

Useless article found on road, source of wealth to finder, 354

Valuable, three things, story title, 155-157

Vargaluska (dancing), concealed name of dwarf, 48

Vasfogu, Bába, story character, 5

Vikings, probable legend of, quoted, 352

Vine-growing as task for hero, 18

Vomiting of persons eaten, incident in folk-tales, 399

Walachian folk-tales, quoted, 338, 395, 396

Watching, youngest son successful in, 390

Water, foal washed in to gain strength, 256

---- immersion, cure of maiming by, story incident, 53

---- possessing power of transforming human being into animal, 220

----, reflection of heroine's face in, 135

----, want of, causes death of princesses who were cut from oranges, 133

----, youth-giving, from fairies' well, 289, 293, 295

---- of life, allegory of, 93, 250-262

Water-spring, blocking up by devils, story incident, 37

----, magic origin of, 72

Wayland Smith, legend quoted, 351

Weaving in folk-tales, 330

----, soldiers produced by, 68

Wedding customs, Magyar, 365

---- festivities, 104-105

---- party, greeting to, 80

Weeding operations in story incident, 81

Well, frog residing in, 224

----, holy, flowers from, used at marriages, Palócz, 412

----, mud from, cures blindness, 152

---- worship, xxxii.

Wells, marvellous powers of water, 373

Wend, folk-tales quoted, 359

Were-wolves, 344

Whale, heroine devoured by, 222

Wheat, dirty, heroine set task of cleaning, 208, 209, 211

Whip, magical, 16, 27, 107

Whistle, magic, 392

---- given by grateful animals for summons, 153

---- commanding obedience from insects, fish, or mice, 252, 253

Whistle and whip, a method of summons, 372

Widower and his daughter, story of, 207-216

Wife, lord's power over vassals, alluded to, 18

Wife of hero desired by king, 314

Wife-beating of, story incident, 23

Wife's kindred, interposition of, 24

Wine taken by hero to renew strength, 201, 248

---- drank by foal for food, 265

Wings, magic, for travelling, 142

Winifred, St., well of, in Flintshire, 373

Wishes, the, story of, 217-219

Witches, assist youngest son, hero, 61

---- burning of, 181

---- changes into pigeon, story incident, 160

----, children of, born with teeth, 378

---- drugs hero, 253, 254, 255

----, fear of, for animals, 57, 115

----, giants supposed to be, xxiv.

---- guardian of castle in Hades, 68

---- in Magyar folk-lore, xli.-xliv.

---- kills her own children by ruse, 159, 268

----, magical powers of, xlii.

----, method of seeing, xli.

----, mother of giants, 57

---- with iron nose, 241, 243

---- year consists of three days, 252

Witch's daughter personates heroine, 221

---- daughters in shape of horses, 252

---- maid helps hero, 204

Witchcraft defeated by the drawing of blood, 343

Wives, dragon's, destroyed by hero, 203

Wodin, dragon sacred to, 325

Wolf, assistance of, to hero, 153

Wolf, in Finnish grateful animal story, 305

Wolves, country inhabited by, 188, 195

Woman's curiosity, story title, 301-302, 313

Woman, old, made young by hero, 260

Women, aged, direct hero in quest, 258

Wood-grouse in Karelian grateful animal story, 305

Woodpecker in folk-tales, 362, 372

----, influence of, on hero's actions, 99, 108-109

Worcestershire folk-lore, 378

Words, story turning on similarity of, 84

World, underground, visited by hero, 247

World's beautiful woman, story of, 163

Wrestling of hero with strong men, 245

Yarborough Camp, Lincolnshire, legend concerning, 382

Year of service given by hero, 157

---- of three days duration, 98

Yellow Hammer, King, story character, 2

Yorkshire finger-lore, 330, 331

---- folk-lore, 349, 398

---- superstitions, 402

Youngest, success of, 389-391

Youngest brother, story hero, 40, 55, 60, 92, 97, 116, 153, 157, 203

---- daughter, story heroine, 27, 43, 49, 159

---- prince successful in quest, 288

---- prince and youngest princess, story title, 137-141

---- sister heroine of tale, 207, 224-226

---- son successful, 150, 196, 250

Youth, allegory of, 93

---- giving plants, 109

---- giving water, 288, 372-373

----, power to restore, possessed by pelican, 251, 258, 262

WESTMINSTER: PRINTED BY NICHOLS AND SONS, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET.

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Transcriber's note:

All obvious printer errors were corrected.

Some spelling was corrected for consistency.