To the memory of those truly cultured and unselfish men, the poet-scribes and hedge-schoolmasters of the last century and the beginning of this—men who may well be called the last of the Milesians—I dedicate this effort to preserve even a scrap of that native lore which in their day they loved so passionately, and for the preservation of which they worked so nobly, but in vain.
CONTENTS.
| Preface: Previous collections of Irish folk-lore; ignorance of the language on the part of collectors. Relation between Irish and Scotch Gaelic tales; the Irish bardic tales; the runs in Irish and Scotch. Date of Irish versions. Two classes of Irish stories; native myths. Narrators of the stories. Discouragement of Irish by schoolmasters, clergy, and politicians. Proper mode of collecting. System of translation accepted. | [Page, ix-l.] | |
| Postscript (by Alfred Nutt): Dr. Hyde’s theories discussed; folk-lore and romance; necessity for romance to conform to convention; characteristics of folk-fancy; classification of the products of folk-fancy; myth, saga, Märchen and ballad; romance and folk-lore among the Gael; folk-conception of the Universe | [Page, li-lviii.] | |
| Tales. | ||
| I. | The Tailor and the Three Beasts | [2-14] |
| II. | Bran | [14-18] |
| III. | The King of Ireland’s Son | [18-46] |
| IV. | The Alp-Luachra | [46-72] |
| V. | Paudyeen O’Kelly and the Weasel | [72-90] |
| VI. | Leeam O’Rooney’s Burial | [90-103] |
| VII. | Guleesh na Guss Dhu | [104-128] |
| VIII. | The Well of D’Yerree-in-Dowan | [129-141] |
| IX. | The Court of Crinnawn | [142-148] |
| X. | Neil O’Carree | [148-153] |
| XI. | Trunk-without-Head | [154-161] |
| XII. | The Hags of the Long Teeth | [161-166] |
| XIII. | William of the Tree | [167-169] |
| XIV. | The Old Crow and the Young Crow | [169] |
| XV. | Riddles | [170-172] |
| Where the Stories came from | [173-174] | |
| Notes | [175-195] | |
| Notes on the Irish Text | [197-200] | |
| Index of Incidents | [201-203] | |