The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-24
BOOK REVIE VS.
Irish Fun and Mysticism

I will give you In marriage and In we'd
lock to the first man that will come
into the house."
The first man that comes is the new
cook. That would never do, and the
king Is sorely tried, for even a king
in Ireland had scruples about breaking
his oath. In the meanwhile the King
of Sorcha comes-the most noble mon
arch Of the isle. but the princess will
have none of him, and the counsellors
hold that the king must keep to his
oath. Finally the dragon comes TO de-
YOUR the princess. The King of Sor-
cha proves to be n tailor disguised in
the clothes of the real king, who has
donned the costume of a cook. The
real king, the first man to enter the
house, beats the dragon. ceases to be
a cook and marries the princess. and
thus the royal father Of the princess
keeps his word.
The ridiculous situation is handled
deftly by Lady Gregory and the whole
effect is delightfully."- amusing. The
spectacle of the dragon poking his
head in the window and asking for
food is enough to send the audience
home laughirg for an hour or two
and even at that the monster was APP
peased with a cocoanut. He learns
where the cocoanuts grow and he
leaves for that land after explaining
that he hates TO eat kings daughters,
adding: Il give you my word there is
nothing in the universe I despise, only
the flesh eaters of Adams race" 1t
is all a charming absurdity but be-
cause 1t Is absurd we like it.
Lady Gregory's marvellous collec-
ton Of narratives. Visions and Be-
liefs in the West Of Ireland (Put-
nam), might be called illustrations of
ancient Celtic philosophy. She has not
gone about her task in the manner of
a cold hearted statistician, but she has
taken her words from the lips of those
folk to whom she spoke. and she has
left their words, potent with Irish
whimsicality, untouched upon her
pages. BY this simple method she has
enhanced the value Of the myths,
fancies, vanities or whatever one may
choose to call the rich harvest reaped
from the people.
All that one has ever wanted to know
about the Sidhe is here laid open to
common knowledge. These fallen
angels" as some Irish call them,
roamed parts of ireland seeking pen
ance for their souls. Those who ex-
perienced the benefit or the curse OF
seeing them have told Lady Gregory
and William Butler Yeats about their
experiences. There is no hint of scott
ing in their telling and there is no
effort to shake off any fear that these
Others" struck deep into the heart.
Simply and directly are reported the
experiences of these good people. Their
absolute faith that bit of wire kept
the harm of the Others" from a black
smith or the fire tongs on the cradle
kept the baby safe in the home is both
impressive and appalling.
In these days, when almost all we
read about Ireland Is murder, blood
shed and oppression, it Is gift of the
gods to find spot where we can re-
vive that longing for belief in faeries.
If any nation on the earth has re-
tanned its folklore and it's faery gold
1t Is this country now being torn
through the agonies of civil war and
internal dissension. Bitterly misun-
derstood by foreigners and horribly
managed by her own children, this
land of Celtic mysticism has but few
spots of comfort and former peace.
These collections that Lady Gregory
has made are not the creatures of her
own fertile imagination, but they are
the genuine outpourings of nations
soul. 1t is the lowly, and as they put
1t themselves, "the common men," who
have seen these spirits and felt their
presence. From the tiny huts and
from the larger cottages have come
these stories that the author has tran
scribed for the less imaginative world.
The tang Of an Irish dawn can be felt
In them and the smoke from the peat
fire would seem to color the less happy
tales with an aroma of tragedy and