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 272 l. c, ii., 306. A noteworthy example occurs in Boiardo's Orlando Inamorato, cc, xxv., xxvi.

Remarks.—It is perhaps unnecessary to give the equations, "Laidly Worm = Loathly Worm = Loathsome Dragon" and "borrowed—changed." On the rowan-tree, see Rhys's Hibbert Lectures. There is certainly something Celtic about the Laidly being and the deliverance kiss, as Mr. Nutt has pointed out, Academy, April 30, 1892; and Miss Weston has shown the connection in her Legend of Sir Gawain, p. 49. Indeed, may not Owein be identical with Gawain?

XXXIV. CAT AND MOUSE

Source.—Halliwell, p. 154.

Parallels.—Scarcely more than a variant of "The Old Woman and her Pig" (No. iv.), which see. It is curious that a very similar "run" is added by Bengali women at the end of every folk-tale they tell (Lal Behari Day, Folk-Tales of Bengal, Pref. ad fin.).

XXXV. THE FISH AND THE RING

Source.—Henderson, l. c. p. 326, from a communication by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. There is a similar legend told of Stepney Church.

Parallels.—"Jonah rings" have been put together by Mr. Clouston in his Popular Tales, i., 398, etc.; the most famous are those of Poly crates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of "Sakuntala," the plot of which turns upon such a ring. "Letters to kill bearer" have been traced from Homer downwards by Prof. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii., 220, and "the substituted letter" by the same authority in ''Occ. m. Or.'', ii., 289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of folk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of "the preordained marriage" in folk-tales in Henderson, l. c.

Remarks.—The tale is the feminine form of the legend of "The Man Born to be King," familiar to us from Mr. Morris's