1 Sketches of the English folklore movement are given in my articles in the Journal of American Folklore, “The First Group of British Folklorists,” LXVIII (1955), 1–8, 333–40; “The Eclipse of Solar Mythology,” LXVIII (1955), 394–416; and “The Great Team of English Folklorists,” LXIV (1951), 1–10.
2 Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of various Countries (London, 1850), p. 298.
3 Keightley, Ibid., p. 281.
4 Edwin Sidney Hartland, The Science of Fairy Tales. An Inquiry into Fairy Mythology (London, 1891), pp. 20–21.
5 Mrs A. E. Bray, The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy (London, 1879), I, p. vii.
6 Robert Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England, First Scries (London, 1865), p. xxiii.
7 Sidney Oldall Addy, Household Tales with Other Traditional Remains (London, Sheffield, 1895), p. xxii
8 The Folk-Lore Society sponsored a series on county folklore from printed sources, but these, while of unquestioned value, did not involve fieldwork (Vols. I-VII, 1893–1914).
9 Katharine Briggs has in preparation an exhaustive dictionary of English folk-narratives, described in her progress report, “Making a Dictionary of Folk-Tales,” Folklore, LXXII (1961), 300–305. Ruth L. Tongue is bringing out a volume of her collections titled Somerset Folklore.
Index of Motifs
(Motif numbers are from Stith Thompson, Motif-Index of Folk Literature [6 vols.; Bloomington, Ind., 1955–58]. [B] after a title indicates a new number assigned by Ernest W. Baughman, A Type and Motif-Index of the Folktales of England and North America [Indiana University Folklore Series, No. 21; The Hague: Mouton and Co., 1965].)
A. MYTHOLOGICAL MOTIFS
A661.0.1.2 Saint Peter as porter of Heaven, 56
A977.1 Giant responsible for certain stones, 30
A977.2 Devil throws stones, 31
B. ANIMALS
B210.1 Person frightened by animals successively replying to his remarks, 84
B211 Animal uses human speech, 85
B251.1.2 Animals speak to one another at Christmas, 13
B470.1 Small fish as helper, 2
B651.1 Marriage to fox in human form, 43
B733.2 Dogs howling ominous of death, 22
C. TABU
C411.1 Tabu: asking for reason of an unusual action, 24
C420.2 Tabu: not to speak about a certain happening, 16
C495.2.2 “We Three,” “For gold,” “That is right”, 70
D. MAGIC
D950.10 Magic apple tree, 14
D1123 Magic ship, 44
D1272 Magic circle, 9
D1273.1.3 Seven as a magic number, 17
D1273.1.5 Twelve as a magic number, 19
D1278.1 Magic churchyard mould 24, 55
D1318.5.2 Corpse bleeds when murderer touches it, 46
D1470.1 Magic wishing object causes wishes to be fulfilled, 7
D1810.8.3.2 Dream warns of danger which will happen in near future, 28
D1821.3.6 Magic sight by looking through keyhole, 2
D1825.4.4 Magic power to see lost things, 16
D2072.0.2.2.1 Person charged with keeping birds from crops confines them in barn, 35
D2122.5 Journey with magic speed by saint, 35
