Chamber's II. consists entirely and solely of these incidents.
LXXIV. KING O' CATS
Source.—I have taken a point here and a point there from the various English versions mentioned in the next section.
I have expanded the names, so as to make a jingle from the Dildrum and Doldrum of Hartland.
Parallels.—Five variants of this quaint legend have been collected in England: (1) Halliwell, Pop. Rhymes, 167, "Molly Dixon"; (2) Choice Notes—Folk-Lore, p. 73, "Colman Grey"; (3) Folk-Lore Journal, ii., 22, "King o' the Cats"; (4) Folk-Lore—England (Gibbings), "Johnny Reed's Cat"; (5) Hartland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Legends, p. 13, "Dildrum Doldrum." Sir F. Palgrave gives a Danish parallel; cf. Halliwell, l.c.
Remarks.—An interesting example of the spread and development of a simple anecdote throughout England. Here again we can scarcely imagine more than a single origin for the tale which is, in its way, as weird and fantastic as E.A. Poe.
LXXV. TAMLANE
Source.—From Scott's Minstrelsy, with touches from the other variants given by Prof. Child in his Eng. and Scotch Ballads, i., 335-58.