Folklore as an Historical Science Part 7

[30] Bingley, _North Wales_, 1814, p. 252.

[31] See my _Folklore Relics of Early Village Life_, 29; Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, i. 97. This case was reported in the newspapers at the time of its occurrence. It came to England from the _London and China Telegraph_, from which the _Newcastle Chronicle_, 9 February, 1889, copied the following statement:--

"The boatmen on the Ganges, near Rajmenal, somehow came to believe that the Government required a hundred thousand human heads as the foundation for a great bridge, and that the Government officers were going about the river in search of heads. A hunting party, consisting of four Europeans, happening to pa.s.s in a boat, were set upon by the one hundred and twenty boatmen, with the cry 'Gulla Katta,' or cut-throats, and only escaped with their lives after the greatest difficulty."

[32] I have worked out this fact in my _Governance of London_, 46-68, 202-229.

[33] See Turner, _Hist. of Anglo-Saxons_, ii. 207-222; _Y Cymmrodor_, xi. 61-101.

[34] A pa.s.sage in William of Malmesbury points to the fact of the Bretons in the time of Athelstan looking upon themselves as exiles from the land of their fathers. Radhod, a prefect of the church at Avranches, writes to King Athelstan as "Rex gloriose exultator ecclesiae ... deprecamur atque humiliter invocamus qui in exulatu et captivitate nostris meritis et peccatis, in Francia commoramur" etc., _De Gestis Regum Anglorum_ (Rolls Ed.), i. 154.

[35] Rhys, _Celtic Folklore_, ii. 466. Sir John Rhys acknowledges his indebtedness to me for lending him my Swaffham notes, but at that time I had not formed the views stated above and Sir John Rhys confessed his difficulty in cla.s.sifying and characterising these stories (p. 456).

[36] In the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, anno 418, and in _Ethelward's Chronicle_, A.D. 418, it is recorded that "those of the Roman race who were left in Britain bury their treasures in pits, thinking that hereafter they might have better fortune, which never was the case."

[37] Buried treasure legends are worth examining carefully, especially with reference to their geographical distribution, with a view of ascertaining how far they follow the direction of the Roman, English, Danish and Norman Conquests. See Henderson, _Folklore of Northern Counties_, 320, for Yorks.h.i.+re examples, and _Folklore Record_, i. 16, for an interesting Suss.e.x example.

The Danish part of Lincoln, near Sleaford, has numerous treasure legends, see Rev. G. Oliver, _Existing Remains of Ancient Britons between Lincoln and Sleaford_, pp. 29 _et seq._

Mr. W. J. Andrew has proved in the _British Numismatic Journal_ (1st ser. i. 9-59) that traditions of buried treasure may be verified a thousand years after the laying down of the h.o.a.rd. This has reference to the famous Cuerdale find of coins. The people of Walton-le-Dale, on the Ribble, had a legend that if you stood on a certain headland and looked up the valley to Ribchester "you would gaze over the greatest treasure that England had ever seen." The farmers tried excavations, and the divining rod is said to have been used.

The tradition was true. In May, 1840, the h.o.a.rd was accidentally found, near Cuerdale Hall, within forty yards of the stream, by men who were repairing the southern bank. A willow tree, still in its prime, was planted to mark the spot. We do not know how much bullion was scattered by the finders, but there was recovered a ma.s.s of ingots, armlets, chains, rings, and so on, amounting to 1000 oz., with over 7000 silver coins. They lay in a crumbling leaden case, within a decomposed chest of wood. There were about 1060 English silver coins, whereof 919 were of the reign of King Alfred. There were 2020 from Northumbrian ecclesiastical mints, and 2534 of King Canute, with 1047 foreign coins, mainly French. The treasure had belonged to the Scandinavian invaders in the host of the Danish Kings of Northumbria, and very many bore the mark of York, the Danish capital. The chest was the treasure-chest of the Danes. The money had been seized in England, 890-897; on French coasts, 897-910; and collected among the Danes of Northumbria about 911. In that year, we know, the Danes raided Mercia, and were followed by the English King and thoroughly defeated. Their treasurer, Osberth, was killed, and it is argued that the Danes fell back by the Roman road, and were trying to cross into Northumbria by the ford at Cuerdale, but that, the ford being dangerous, they were obliged to bury their treasure-chest forty yards on the southern bank of the river.

They were unable to cross, were cooped up in a bend of the stream, and were all put to the sword. Mr. Lang discussed this from the folklore point of view in the _Morning Post_, 2nd November, 1906, and concludes that "granting that none who knew the site of the deposit escaped, the theory marches well, and quite accounts for the presence of the h.o.a.rd where it was found. The Danish rearguard defending the line of the Darwen would know that their treasure was hurried forward and probably concealed, but would not know the exact spot."

Another good example is recorded in the _Antiquary_, xiv. 228. Further Henderson notes that the Borderers of England and Scotland entrusted their buried treasure to the brownie (_Folklore of Northern Counties_, 248). This is exactly the same idea which exists throughout India.

"Hidden treasures are under the special guardians.h.i.+p of supernatural beings. The Singhalese, however, divide the charge between demons and cobra capellas. Various charms are resorted to by those who wish to gain the treasures. A puja is sufficient with the cobras, but the demons require a sacrifice. Blood of a human being is the most important, but the Kappowas have hitherto confined themselves to a sacrifice of a white c.o.c.k, combining its blood with their own, drawn by a slight puncture in the hand or foot. A Tamil, however, has resorted to human sacrifice as instanced by a case reported in the _Ceylon Times_."--_Indian Antiquary_, 1873. ii. p. 125.

[38] Morris, _Heimskringla_, ii. 13.

[39] Laing's _Heimskringla_, ii. 260.

[40] Rhys, _The Arthurian Legend_, 7. Squire, in his recent _Mythology of the British Islands_, states the case for "the mythological coming of Arthur" in cap. xxi. of his book.

[41] As, for instance, in the case of Taliesin and Ossian, see Squire, _Mythology of the British Islands_, 318; Rhys, _Celtic Mythology_, 551; Nutt's Notes to _Mabinogion_.

I suppose the most ancient example of the duplication process is that of Dion Ca.s.sius (iii. 5), who suggests an earlier Romulus and Remus in order to account for the early occupation of the Palatine Hill at Rome.

Middleton's _Anc. Rome_, 45.

[42] It is interesting to find that, with independent investigation, Mr. Bury explains on the lines I adopt the traditional part of the life of St. Patrick. See his _Life of St. Patrick_, p. 111.

[43] Freeman, _Hist. Norm. Conq._, iv. 467.

[44] Wright, _Essays_, i. 244, notes this point; see also Freeman, _Hist. Norm. Conq._, iv. 828, and the preface to my edition of Macfarlane's _Camp of Refuge_ (Historical Novels Series), where I have discussed this subject at length.

[45] _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, iii. 52.

[46] Russell, _Kett's Rebellion_, p. 6.

[47] Kemble's _Horae Ferales_, 108.

[48] Perhaps the most interesting example in a minor way comes from Shrewsbury. In the Abbey Church, forming part of a font, is the upper stone of a cross (supposed to have been the Weeping Cross) which was discovered at St. Giles's churchyard. It had been immemorially fixed in the ditch bank, and all traces of its origin were quite lost, except that an old lady, who was born in 1724, remembered having seen in her youth, persons kneeling before this stone and praying. The transmission of the tradition through very nearly three centuries proved correct, for on its being loosened by the frosts of a severe winter, it fell, and its religious distinction became immediately apparent from the sculpture with which it was adorned.--_Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal_, 5th October, 1889.

[49] _Gent. Mag. Lib. Popular Superst.i.tions_, 121. The importance of this tradition may be tested by reference to my book on the _Governance of London_, 96-98.

[50] _Archaeologia_, xxvi. 369-370. One could give many additional examples from all parts of the country, and undoubtedly they are worth collecting. I cannot refrain from quoting the following, as it is from an out-of-the-way source. At Seagry, in Wilts, is an ancient farm, one field of which was known as "Peter's Orchard." The author of a local history records the following: "It has been handed down from generation to generation that in a field on this farm a church was built on the site of an ancient heathen burial ground. In order to test the accuracy of this tradition, in the autumn of 1882 I had excavations made on the spot, which I will now describe. The field contains about ten acres, and presents a very singular appearance. In removing the sods, about two feet from the surface we discovered extensive stone foundations, extending for a considerable distance over the field. From the charred appearance of the stones they had evidently suffered from fire, thus supporting the tradition of some of the oldest inhabitants that the ancient church had been destroyed by fire. On continuing the search we found, about two feet below these foundations, a quant.i.ty of early British pottery, the remains of broken urns, some charred bones, and heads of small spears. The following is an extract from a letter which I have received from a gentleman, whose family have been connected with this parish for over two hundred years, and who has given me great a.s.sistance. He says: My father was born at Startley in 1784, and remained there until about 1840. Both he and my grandfather were deeply imbued with old folklore. I well remember them constantly speaking of the firm belief handed down to them of the heathen burial places at Seagry, and of the supposed ruins of a church and some religious house at Seagry. I think the discoveries made (on the very spot mentioned by tradition) in August, 1882, are abundant proof that after the lapse of more than nine centuries actual verification of the carefully transmitted tradition has at last been found."--_Bath Herald_, 1st September, 1883. If references to other examples were needed I should like to note Sir William Wilde's ill.u.s.tration as to "how far the legend, the fairy tale, the local tradition, or the popular superst.i.tion may have been derived from absolute historic fact."--_Lough Corrib_, 121, 123.

[51] _Echoes from the Counties_ (1880), p. 30.

[52] Grierson, _The Silent Trade_ (1903).

[53] Pearson's _Chances of Death_, ii. 90. The reader should consult Dr. Pearson's entire study on this subject, chapters ix. and x., which may be compared with Mr. MacCulloch's _Childhood of Fiction_, 5-15, and more particularly with Mr. Hartland's _Science of Fairy Tales_.

[54] In 1881 I read a paper before the Folklore Society on "Some Incidents in the story of the Three Noodles by means of reference to facts," _Folklore Record_, iv. 211, and in 1883 I published in the _Antiquary_, two papers on "Notes on Incidents in Folk-tales," based upon the same idea.

[55] Introduction, p. lxix.

[56] Introduction, p. lxxvii.

[57] Page 12.

[58] _Ibid._, p. 26.

[59] _Ibid._, p. 5.

[60] _Tales of the Highlands_, i. p. 251.

[61] Kennedy, _loc. cit._, p. 77.

[62] _Ibid._, p. 90.

[63] See Beda, _Hist. Ecclesia_, lib. i. cap. 25.

[64] See vol. i. p. 253.

[65] Miss Frere's _Old Deccan Days_, p. 279.

[66] aelian, _Var. Hist._, lib. xiii. cap. x.x.xiii.

[67] _Folklore Record_, vol. iv. p. 57.

[68] _Asiatic Researches_, xvii. p. 502.

[69] _Folklore Record_, vol. iii. p. 284.

[70] Campbell's _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, i. 308.

[71] Joyce, _Old Celtic Romances_, 38, 75, 153, 177, 270. In the _Silva Gadelica_, by Mr. Standish O'Grady, the a.s.sembly is described sitting in a circle, vol. ii. p. 159, and Tara is also described, vol. ii. 264, 358, 360, 384.

[72] Miss c.o.x's admirable study and a.n.a.lysis of the Cinderella group of stories includes the Catskin variants, which number seventy-seven.--_Cinderella_, pp. 53-79.