Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 14, 1903.djvu/488

 446 Reviews,

superior intelligence ; but the spider, so familiar in West African folk-lore, does not, so far as I remember, occur on the eastern side of the continent. The frequent introduction of the " debble " is probably due to European influence ; perhaps he takes the place of the "goblin " {Chirombo, chitowi, dzinnve), of the Eastern Bantu. The story called " Marry the Devil, there's the Devil to pay," closely resembles a Nyanja one in which the successful wooer is a " were-hyena." The songs referred to above are here also a conspicuous feature (see p. 9). I am not aware whether these two collections have appeared in time to be laid under con- tribution for M. Rene Basset's forthcoming anthology of African stories ;i there are several which might with advantage be included in such a volume.

A. Werner.

Macedonian Folklore. By G. F. Abbott, B.A., Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. los. 6d.

Mr. Abbott is to be congratulated in having rescued from oblivion a portion of the folklore of Greece, so soon destined to perish under the malign influence of what is known as education or civilisation.

Greece, like Russia, is peculiarly rich in ancient lore, and for much the same reason. Turkish misrule has had this good effect, that it has preserved the Greeks untouched by outside influences down to our own day. But the present opportunity cannot last, and we should be proportionately grateful to any one who will help to gather in the harvest before it is too late. Mr. Abbott's method, however, is not altogether good. Particularly in the earlier part of the book, but to some extent throughout, he wastes space by adding comparisons from any books he may happen to be familiar with — from England, Scotland, and Germ.any, from Russia and the Slavonic states, even from Asia. But the work of collecting and the work of comparision are different things, and a useful comparison requires far more knowledge than Mr. Abbott possesses. It is clear that he has not published all his collections ;

' [Just published by the Librairie' Orientale et Atnericahie, Paris, under the title of Contes Populaires de F Afrique. — Ed.]