Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/102

78 it does a variety of facts in a small compass. Among the subjects discussed are the value of sounds in blessings and incantations, the value of words and of the exact order and repetition of words, the value and importance of alphabetical and other characters, and of sacred texts spoken and written. The larger part of the discussion is reserved for the magical use of names and the various superstitions annexed to them. The learned author is cautious in generalisation, and his work may be heartily commended to students as a storehouse of authorities.

It may be mentioned that a similar subject is treated of by Professor Dr. Singer in an article entitled "Die Wirksamkeit der Besegnungen" in a recent number of the Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde. Starting from the earlier chapters on "The Life-Token" in Mr. Hartland's Legend of Perseus, vol. ii., he insists on the name as an integral part of the individual person or thing, and passes on to consider the shadow or reflection as the soul, and the development thence of mimetic magic. The Swiss Folklore Society bids fair to render good service to the study of traditional lore.

has in this volume gathered from various printed and oral sources, and annotated with care, the popular stories of Upper Brittany relating to saints and sacred places and objects. The book thus affords a view of the general attitude of the French-speaking Bretons towards religious superstitions which have not received the final seal of ecclesiastical approval. Rocks and megaliths bearing the impress of a holy foot, wonder-working springs, images credited with miraculous powers, and other commonplaces of tradition, of course abound. And these are illustrated by notices of pilgrimages and other practices now or recently observed. Many of the legends, however, are of special interest, such as those of Saint Bridget's Ducks (a modern Daphne-legend) and of the local boy-saint Jugon. It is interesting to find the incident of Brer Rabbit nibbling up the butter attributed to Breton saints, with Saint Fiacre playing the part of the unfortunate Brer Possum, and the workmen whom the three saints employed to build their chapel playing Brer Rabbit. As M. Sébillot points out, the episode was one of the tricks of Reynard the Fox.