Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 16, 1905.djvu/122

 lOO Correspondence.

The Elder-Tree.

The following appeared in the Daily Chronicle, i6th Dec, 1904:

" A few days ago a gamekeeper named Albert Povey, in the service of Sir John Burgoyne, of Sutton Park, Bedfordshire, was chasing some fowls from a spinney to the roost, when he tripped up on an elder-bush, a spike of which entered his hand. It is a popular superstition that a wound from the elder is fatal, and it proved so in this case. The wound was promptly dressed, and an operation was performed a few days later at Cambridge Hospital, but he died in that institution yesterday from tetanus."

The actual cause of death was the presence of the tetanus bacteria induced by the dirt on the splinter, which was in a chicken-run.

Albinia Wherry.

Cambridge.

Translation of Maltese Folk-Tales.

I have published two booklets of Folklore and Folktales of the Maltese, in the original tongue. Several people, both here and in England, have asked me to translate them into English. I have no time at my disposal for the purpose. My collection of folk-tales is far from being complete, and whenever I have a little free time, I gather fresh tales in Maltese, for fear of their being lost. I cannot find anyone who will translate them for me. Will some fellow-member of the Folklore Society, acquainted with Maltese, kindly volunteer to do so?

E. Maori, S.J.

The Seminary, Gozo, Malta.