Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/567

 Reviews. 503

A. Besant, 1905," is in her bibliography. She refers to oral tradition among Occultists, "but no one will give me docu- mentary evidence" (p. 258). "The fact, however, that a Mystic, not a student of the Grail texts, can, without a moment's hesitation, offer an explanation of the perplexing title, the Fisher Kingj an explanation, moreover, which belongs exclusively to Life Symbolism, is in itself matter for serious consideration' (p. 258). It may be so; but how is one to proceed with the consideration, if one does not know any occultists, and "no one will give me any documentary evidence"?

In another matter Miss Weston appears to fall short of the logical skill which she has shown in her examination of the succes- sive stories. She accompanies her Modena text of Perceval with an attempted reconstruction of the original verse from which, (as most scholars are agreed), the prose is paraphrased. Now, for this work to stand criticism, nothing less than the perfection of philology is required. Miss Weston says that with regard to the verse she has neglected the opinion of M. Bedier, (Preface, p. xi). On p. 16, 1. 16, vius seems to be a misprint for vtiis; but it reappears in the reconstructed rhyme on p. 136, where more than the rhyme seems questionable.

Miss Weston refers to the Dutch Fergmit; why not to the French original? More particularly, the topography of Fergus might have been compared with the very interesting passage dis- cussed by Miss Weston in her first volume where the name "Cothoatre" pretty certainly stands for " Scothoatre," — the Firth of Forth? or Solway, Scottiswath? The Galloway relations of Fergus, and the acquaintance of Perceval with the Forest of Glasgow, need more attention than historians have given to them

so far.

W. P. Ker.

Der Ursprung des Arthursage. By Julius Pokorny, being an offprint of a part of Vol. XXXIX. of the Mitteilutigen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Vienna, 1909. 4to, pp. 89- 119.

I HAVE the pleasure of hailing a new recruit to the small band of Celtic scholars in the person of a young Austrian named Julius