Musical Myths and Facts, Volume 1 (of 2) - Carl Engel

					PAGE
A Musical Library					[1]
Elsass-Lothringen					[8]
Music and Ethnology					[23]
Collections of Musical Instruments					[32]
Musical Myths and Folk-lore					[74]
		PAGE		PAGE
	Curious Coincidences	[77]	The Wild Huntsman	[85]
	Hindu Traditions	[79]	The Bold German Baron	[87]
	Celestial Quarrels	[80]	Prophetic Calls of Birds	[89]
	Al-Farabi	[82]	Whistling	[91]
	Trusty Ferdinand	[84]
The Studies of our Great Composers					[94]
Superstitions concerning Bells					[129]
		PAGE		PAGE
	Protective Bell-ringing	[130]	The Church Bells banishing the Mountain Dwarfs
	Significant Sounds of Bells	[131]	The Church Bells banishing the Mountain Dwarfs	[137]
	Baptised Bells	[134]	The Expulsion of Paganism in Sweden
	Inscriptions on Church Bells	[136]	The Expulsion of Paganism in Sweden	[139]
Curiosities in Musical Literature					[141]
The English Instrumentalists					[166]
Musical Fairies and their Kinsfolk					[187]
		PAGE		PAGE
	The Fairies of the Maories	[187]	Linus, the King's Son	[197]
	Adventures in the Highlands	[189]	Necks	[202]
	The Importunate Elves	[191]	The Christian Neck	[204]
	Bad Spirits	[192]	Maurice Connor	[205]
	The Musician and the Dwarfs	[193]	Water Lilies	[206]
	The Little Folks	[195]	Ignis Fatuus	[207]
	Macruimean's Bagpipe	[196]	The Fairy Music of our Composers
	The Gygur Family	[197]	The Fairy Music of our Composers	[208]
Sacred Songs of Christian Sects					[210]

A MUSICAL LIBRARY.

If we cast a retrospective glance at the cultivation of music in England during the last twenty or thirty years, we cannot but be struck with the extraordinary progress which, during this short period, has been made in the diffusion of musical knowledge. The prosperity of England facilitates grand and expensive performances of the best musical works, and is continually drawing the most accomplished artists from all parts of the world to this country. The foreign musicians, in combination with some distinguished native talent, have achieved so much, that there are now, perhaps, more excellent performances of excellent music to be heard in England than in any other country.

Taking these facts into consideration, it appears surprising that England does not yet possess a musical library adequate to the wealth and love for music of the nation. True, there is in the British Museum a musical library, the catalogue of which comprises above one hundred thick folio volumes; but anyone expecting to find in this library the necessary aids to the study of some particular branch of music is almost sure to be disappointed. The plan observed in the construction of the catalogue is the same as that of the new General Catalogue of the Library in the British Museum. The titles of the works are written on slips of thin paper, and fastened, at a considerable distance from each other, down the pages, so that space is reserved for future entries. The musical catalogue contains only two entries upon the one side of a leaf and three upon the other. Each volume has about one hundred and ten leaves. The whole catalogue contains about 60,000 titles of musical compositions and literary works on the subject of music. The British Museum possesses, besides, a collection of musical compositions and treatises in manuscript, of which a small catalogue was printed in the year 1842. It contains about 250 different works, some of which are valuable.