Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/115

Rh the facts connected with the collection and record of these, and all other, items of folk-lore, and that the more remarkable, the more unusual, the phenomenon recorded, the more careful must the collector be, not only to record it accurately, but also to preserve and present to the world every possible means of verification. When Mr. Campbell, Dr. Pitré, M. Luzel, or M. Sébillot obtains a folk-tale, he sets down when, where, to whom and by whom it was told, the age, occupation, and culture of the teller, and so far as is possible similar particulars concerning the person from whom the teller professes to have heard it; and the two former collectors give all their important stories in the language or dialect in which they were told, with a view to preserving the very words uttered. It is thus open to anyone who desires, and is able to do so, to verify the phenomena for himself This course inspires confidence; and since it is not the method adopted by Dr. Veckenstedt, and since, moreover, he admits a certain amount of literary manipulation, he must not be surprised or offended at doubts concerning his alleged discoveries. He has done nothing in seven years to remove those doubts, and they have grown into charges. Unless he hasten fully and completely to answer the charges, they will stiffen into certainties, which will not only overwhelm Dr. Veckenstedt, but (a much greater thing) be in danger of throwing discredit upon the science of folk-lore itself.

The long list of books at the head of this paper shows that, during the twelve or eighteen months ended in December last, the business of folk-tale collection and publication went briskly on. The collections may be divided into four classes, namely:—

I. Stories for the first time taken down from oral tradition, consisting of Nos. 2, 6, 10, 16, 23, and 24 of the list.

II. Stories all previously on record, consisting of Nos, 1, 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, and 25.

III. Stories, some of which are taken down for the first