New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-17

iribution TO Irish folklore. The stories Ill ms
volume were collected by him personally in the
West of Ireland in Kerry, Galway and DONEGAL.
two wears ago. and all OF them were taken
down from the mouths Of men who. with one or
two exceptions, spoke only Gaelc. or "H' H''lc
English. and that impcriecty. The s'ory-tclers'
moreover, were all well advanced in years ana
some very old" that their myth tales may he
regaieed MS fairly representing The traditions OF
considerable antiquity. and as Offering unusually
favorable Illustrations of the genuine and little
modified native Irish mythology. II is of course,
as every student of folklore knows. idle to look
for new motives in tales of this kind. The most
secluded community will always be found TO pos
sess a FOLKLORE many elements Of which it shares
with all the rest of tho world, and the most that
can he expected in opening undevcloTcd held
is the discovery OF some variants Of familiar sto-
ries characterized by originality of treatment. The
dominant feature in the tales collected ny Mr..
Curtin is rs should have been anticipated, the
prcscrvation IN especial freshness Of the older
Gaelic legends and myths We are transported in
reading these tales to the Erin of Fin MacCool
and the Fenians. The modern element which
distinguishes the Irish stories collected by Ken
ncdy and others is not present here. save in oc-
casional fortuitous interpretations by the story
tcllers. We may say, also, that the traces of
that humor which render most modern irish
stories so attractive ere very slight
pre-mediaeval spirit is recognizable. The
supernatural plays great part in life, but its
incidence is more what il was among the North
men of the Saga period than what ii came to be
when the Church had established its supremacy.
We feel ourselves. in n word, nearer TO Paganism
in these stories than to the Middle Ages. They
are full of fighting, and their blocdthirstiness is
sometimes so great as TO recall the slaughter
house epics of the Nibelunccn Lied though it must
he said that they no. Overshadowcd by the
gloom which broods so heavily above that tragical
history darkening more and more TO the close.
Our Fenan heroes perform the most stupcndous
feats with light heart if with heavy hand.
1t is quite an everyday occurrence for one oil
them to challenge whole army and to 60
through it like hawk through flock of
pigeons leaving no survivor The witches ana
wizards. too. are far more formidable than those
of the Middle Ages reminding us again OF the
Scandinavian sorcercrs in the extent of their
maletic powers OF course the Fcnian hero Is
always more than match for the strongest of
them, bat then. tho hero is invariably helped at
the critical moment, either by some animal or
bind or some spirt-maidcn or swan-maiden who
knows the secrets Of the adversary All the old
friends of universal folklore reappear in Mr.
Curtin's tales: the inevitable swan-naidens are
here. TO rcawaken the long contention over their
origin and Incidentally TO emphasize the fact that
whatever else folklore may he. it is not yet
science for thus far it has been found impossible
to reach agreement upon its most elementary
prnciples Take this one question OF swan
maidcns. and observe how various are the In
terpretations thereof. Sir George Cox, Mr.
Andrew Lang. Professor Max Muller Mr.. john
Fiske Professor Gubcrnatis, each and all hold
their own views Folk-lorists also are lamentably
inclined to dogmatism, though enc should not be
surprised at that inasmuch as dogmatsm appears
TO be the normal effect of absolute uncertainty
in regard TO any subject Science alone IS not
docmatc. Men of science frequently are: nut
when they are il is sufficient proof that they
have been venturng beyond the realm OF demon
strable truths There being no stable foundation
for the science Of folklore hitherto, 1t IS there
fore quite natural that it's professors shonld DC
more than ordinarily positive, and that ti'S should
look with fine scorn upon such decline 10
accent their speculations as conclusive. Perhaps
those who hold the forces of Nature view" as it
NAV be named those who explain all myths
upon the convenient theory that they originated
in observation of natural phenomena, and es-
pecally in solar and lunar phenomena, are the
Ill
is natural since it is obvious that their cxplana-
tions are often the furthcst from explaining.
In general. the folk-lorists follow one another
in the commission of one fatal blunder. They at
tribute TO the myth makers An intelligence. an i'm
arination n sense of analogies which il Is quite
certain the myth-makcrs did not possess. Inc
student who with all the knowledge of the nine
teenth century at his disposal. tries 10 find Out
the meaning Of myths by literally putting himself
in the place of the myth-makers is almost certain
10 fall into this error. and in so doing 10 vi'iate
all his subsequent differences. Mr.. Flskes theory
is another which is liable to be ovcrworked. and he
has overworked it notably in his study of the
werewolf question. But the whole subject Of
transformations, which includes We're wolves,
swan-madcns. enchantments. etc, is full of OBJ
scuritics and we are inclined to think that these
are unlikely 10 be cleared away until q stronger
current Of research is directed TO the source Of
these stories--which is. undoubtedly, the Orient.
The reader of Mr. Curtins tales must often be
forcbv reminded OF the Thousand and One
Nights: and of the elder Scandinavian and many
Of the Teutonic myths. the same may be said.
Transformation is an Oriental characteristics, II
will be rcmcmbercd and the East has for ages
been the one country in the world in which the
cult of induced hallucination has heen system
atically and professionally followed. Reuss, IN
his "Sarcellcric some years ago. threw on: n
cew TO this problem in his examination Of the
element Of reality subsistin2 in tie medieval
wtchcraft, and particularly in the reports Of the
"Sabbat made by 50 many thousands of accused
and often sclf-accuscd-persons Reuss wa
perhaps the first to put his finger upon the me
diaeval prevalence of narcotics. and to suggest
the instrumentality of these drugs in the crea
ton of those grotcsque and fantastic vision
which. accepted literally both by victims and IN
uuistors, set so many fires burning all over
Europe.
In the following up Of this clew it is quite
possible that very interesting and clarifying
results may be obtained. and it is in Easter
countries that the discoveries will have TO be
prosecuted. There. too TO DE sought. als'
in the interest of folklore. lights upor
another branch of the same general subject; that
L.