Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 7, 1896.djvu/46

 36 which record is made therein) represents only a small part of that which is due to its influence. For it has given impetus to the formation of other Societies, and to the study of folklore in manifold directions. Much of what is done even within the limits of the British Isles lies beyond our power to grapple with, or never comes within our ken. I refer to the material collected by the numerous local societies—Naturalist Field Clubs, Archaeological Societies of the several counties, and other kindred bodies—whose names do not always connote their wide range of inquiry. Large masses of provincial folklore lie hidden in the transactions of these societies, and how to reach and utilise this is a matter worth our special consideration. Among publications of the year, which we may regard as more or less foster-children of our Society, reference should be made to Miss Roalfe Cox's compendious, scholarly, and attractive Introduction to Folklore, and to Mr. Nutt's valuable and learned "Essay upon the Irish Vision of the Happy Otherworld" in Professor Kuno Meyer's Voyage of Bran, son of Febal. Of that essay only the first part has yet appeared, and perhaps the wider range of data for comparison which is promised in the second part may further enhance the value of what has been already published. But what we have is practically complete in itself, and Mr. Nutt's discussion of the relation of the Celtic idea of Elysium to that found in Christian, classic, and Oriental mythology—all within the so-called "Aryan" group—is pregnant with instruction; while the dependence of Christian conceptions upon those of classic Paganism is well indicated. In this connection I am glad to see that Mr. Nutt calls attention to an admirable paper on the Orphic origin of the legend of the "Descent into Hell" by Mr. Percy Gardner in the Contemporary Review of March last. I hope that in the near future we may have in our hands the second and concluding volume of Mrs. Gomme's Traditional Games of the British Isles, the general plan and execution of which