New Britain herald., 1915-01-21

They all turned upon him with ani- 1 mostly and fought and drove him 1 away.
 ''I told you before that Ireland has 1 a long memory she laughed. The 1 wren boys wno come to our doors on l St. Stephens day. the day after l Christmas, are celebrating an event { that took place a thousand years ago.
 when the Danes invaded Ireland. The
 Irish had crept up one morning on l the sleeping Danes. and were about ! to make an attack when tiny wren, i picking some crumbs that had fallen
 on a drum awoko the Danes and they l drove the Irish back. Ever since thon 1 the mummers in each district kill a wren on St. Stephens day and carry 1 it about from house to house, singing songs about it."
 Only a Little Boy Was CuTcd. But this year no wren was killed, all | though a small boy in the German helmet was badly cuffed "It was with difficulty that I could persuade him to come back and have q piece of barn brack." Lady Gregory concluded.
 But it was not to speak of the war tEat she had made her trip to America this year
 She would prefer to tell her Irish folk tales and what her people say or the invisible world about us and it's mysterious habitants.
 TO the folk of Ireland it is very real this world unseen. at which most people scOf, and there is not q dweller on the bogs and rocks Of Erin but i knows first hand some tales about the little people" and the dead who came back. Even Lady Gregory halfway relieves in them
 study Of Unseen Has Gained Dignity. Years ago when I began collect ing these tales l had no idea of pub fishing them. I thought people would say 1t was just Irish superstition" she admitted. But in the last years so much has been done by the Psychcal Lesearch society in England. and by investigators in America and other countries, that the study of the unseen :s no longer Irresponsible talk about ~hCsts and it has gained as much dignity as any other scientific study
 The interesting thing is that these
 
 the same conclusions as Irish coun- try people. Investigators have declared that there are two orders of invisible beings, some who have never lived in
 this world and some who are shades
 tr the dead
 Our people tell one in the same way
 that there are two classes. Sensitive
 to the presence of the dead, they have
 known the revenant' and the others
 who have not lived on earth. called
 sometimes fallen angels sometimes
 fairies sometimes old gods, "sidne"
 (shee.) In many other ways it is found
 that the wise and learned are corrobo- rating the beliefs of the dweler on bog
 and mountain.
 "I did not begin to study with any
 theory. I was attracted to these stories of the unseen world by the
 simplicity and beauty of their phrase
 ology. These tales wilA be published
 next autumn.'
 Recording Folklore WOman's Work.
 Lady Gregory, who has made a
 study of the folklore of all countries.
 relieves that taking down folk stories
 l.; essentially womans work. "It
 requires patience, which is one of l S 1 m emory, which one gains in working. ] I always urge young people who come ! to Ireland to collect folklore to col l lect in America. history of the Civil war in America from the memory and ] lips of people would be of great in 1 terest Plutarch. you know, made use 1 of folklore in his writings 1 Lady Gregory, herself. has made use l of Irish folklore in her plays. In tho 1 last act of one of her well known 1 plays the dead bride of a man who l is falsely accused of murdering her comes to the court room and reveals herself to q blind beggar who tells i what he has seen. The man. of course. is acquitted and the real mur- | derer Is brought to justice. Tn Ireland. where every one knows some one who has talked with the dead or has been tricked by the little people, such a happening might take place easily enough. And Lady Gregory, who looks very prac- i ticol. with her strong, red-cheeked face and white hair, will quite con- vince you that 1t Is all true.