Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-03-31
DECAY OF TRADITION.
The Invention of Writing Seems to
Have Put an End 30 Folklore.


Manchester Courier
1t is said that the invention OF writing
injured the power of memory, and years
ago, before the schoolmaster was abroad
as he is nowadays, it was possible to meet
with many instances OF strong memo
rizing capacity among persons who
could neither read nor write. Com
plicated accounts could be kept by the
aid of a italy only, and the memory Of
many a small farmer or petty rural shop
keeper was his only ledger and order
book. 1t is certain that since the art Of
writing has become an almost universal
accomplishment the faculty Of memory,
being less needed, is less cultivated.
Long after the invention of letters our
forefathers rested much upon oral tradi-
ton. Antiquarians assert that one OF
the ancient races OF Italy possessed no
written language, and even where writ
ten characters we're in use oral tradition
formedanimportint supplement to them.
"Folk-lore" tales and ballads have been
handed down from lip to lip for centuries
with curious fidelity.
When oral tradition was recognized as
a vehicle for actual information more
care was taken regarding its accuracy
than would be the case in these days.
The old rec.ters jealousy guarded
time hOnored form of words, even IN
their prose narratives. Breton pea
sants-notably those who possess a
talent as racOntcUrs-wiIl repeat a
legend or q story with scrupulous
fidelity to the established form in
which they have always heard the incl
dents related, aud viii check traveller
who attempts to deviate from the ortho-
dox version with " Nay, Monsieur, the
story should begin thus" repeating the
regular form OF the tale. The eastern
story-teller deviates little in his time
honored recitals OF tales OF love, adyen-
ture. and magic ; We recognize all our
old friends from the "Arabian Nights
if we halt to listen to a professional
raconteur in the streets of any Oriental
town. In the days of "war against pro-
scribed books" faithful memories were
often utilized TO preserve prohibited
works from oblivion. During the per-
secution of the Waldenses, in the thir-
teenth century, when their version
of tho Scriptures was prohibited
and destroyed wherever found, their
ministers committed whole books
of the sacred volume to memory
and repeated chapters at their re-
ligious meetings 1t would be tedious
to enumerate the many instances in
which tradition has preserved what writ
ten histories were forbidden to chronicle.
On the whole, oral traditions are strange
ly accurate; strangely, when we con
slider how facts are frequently altered
and distorted when occurrences are re-
lated by successive storytellers. The
childs game of Russian scandal " in
which a secret whispered to one person
and repeated to circle of others is
usually altered out of recognition when
aloud by the last hearer)
is played every day in society.
And yet local tradition will faith
fully chronicle the site of battle. the
burial-place of a hero, the date of
siege, and sometimes, after generations
of historians and antiquarians have
scOfted at the unreliable local legend.
a later investigation will discover that
the despised traditional story was the
true one after all. Centuries OF repetl
ton may have slightly added to the incl
dents or distorted some of the facts, but
the main tale is strictly exact. The re-
puted treasure trove" may prove but
q trihing hoard, the battlefield smaller
in extent, the grave of the heroes less
numerous but in each case local tradi-
ton is true regarding the facts that &C.
CURED and the locate where they took
place.
Traditions may at least claim to be as
accurate as written history though this,
perhaps is faint praise. Oral tradition
is usually free from conscious party bias.
The repeaters of traditional lore carry
On the tale as they heard it; but how
many an eloquent historian appears to
assume a brief for one side or another
in every party contest and to write his
history with view, not of calculating
facts, but OF representing certain his
torical characters rs angels or the reverse.
Such writers are always the pleasantest to /
read an Impartial historian is sadly /
hull. as a rule, but when a biased writer
plays the part of Clio tradition may Of
ten prove the safer guide of the two.
Folklore if not an altogether reliable I
guide is seldom totally at fault in its
statement OF facts, and tradition has fire. |
luently kept alive memories which |
might otherwise have persisted alto |
gether. Books may be destroyed and !
history wilfully garbled, but it is less
Easy to extinguish local tradition