Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/881

* FOLKESTONE. 783 FOLKLORE. Dover (Map: England, 11 5). K is an ancient town, with Roman, Saxon, and Norman remai and is buill on uneven ground at the fool 01 a range of liills, the oldesl part :i [ley crossed bj a fine rai iadt Its ex tension and improvemenl date from the opening of t he Soni ii Eastei d Ra il n aj. the e tabli hmenl oi a daily steamer service with Boulogne, and the enlargement of the harbor. Ii has importanl fishing interests and a considerable shipping trade the average total value of its imports and exports for the five yeai ending in t! exceed mg £16^000,000, or $80,000,000, annually. 1 i stone lias a promenade pier. aemeni pavilion and pleasure gardens, museum, and Erei lil i try, and is a favorite sea bathing n ort. The pa church, renovated and restored, was the P ;> Church of Saint Eanswith, built in 1095. A monument to Sir William Harvej (q.v.), disoo erer of the circulation of the bl I. : i lien in 1578, was elected in 1881. Population, in 1891, 24,000; in 1901, 30,694. FOLKLORE. The learning of the uncultured ; a branch of study that relates to traditional be liefs, old-time customs, usages, oi observances preserved generally among the common ] pie, and collects legends, myths, tale-, folk songs and superstitions for the purpose of record and emu parison. Oral tradition and unwritten prai are important elements in matters of folklore, and a certain amount of obsoleteness or - leseence is characteristic of the subjects thai come under consideration, for the learning of to- day becomes the lore of to-morrow, so that a full knowledge of the folklore of everj na tion of the world would be synonymous with the history of human thought. The word 'folklore' as a designation is comparatively modern: it was first suggested by W. J. Thorns, in an article in The AtliencBum, August 22, 1846, as a connota tion for what is often called popular antiquities. With regard to its antiquity, folklore studies date back as far as antiquarians themselves. The ancient Hindus, in their Itihasa legends of the Vcdas, and the Sanskrit myths and sagas of the PurSttas (q.v.), recognized the fact, if not the form, of the study: and Herodotus and I. ivy were not blind to certain historic and traditional features in stories and observances among the common people which we to-day would chronicle as elements of folklore. lint as a serious branch of investigation the study is comparatively re- cent. Yet we can recognize it distinctly, in spirit at least, as early as the opening of the eighteenth century. One of the first books of the kind to which we may point in England is Aubrey's Miscellanies, published in 1696. This contained much folklore material, as the work had chapters on day-fatality, omens, dreams, corpse candles, second sight, and kindred sub- jects; but the author himself was much given to superstition, and he attached especial promi nence to that phase of thought in the hook. The first real work on the general subject of folklore was an octavo volume by the Rev. Henry Bourne, Aniiquitates Vulgares; or, The Intiquities of the Common People I Newcastle. 1725). It con- sists largely of an account of popular custom- connected with the feasts of the Church. Addi- son, the essavist. also gave sonic attention inci- dentally to subjects in the line of folklore; but a marked step in advance was made when Brand's at Newcastle in 1777. and becami a tandard work that has often been repu nd re In i ,i i man} . I lerder and • o pioneers in i he waj of fi II si udies, and wen del killin, Mnnnhurdl. . Schwartz, and Wei hold ; for -i nut ific m ight into i he I at m race-, i be Freni h point to the na oi Ballard and Moncrif, Spain to Fernan Cabal Icro and Maehado y Alvarez. Italy to |i ami other-, a- interested in so i hat to daj o en count ry in I id ing Greece, has some laborers in tl incut .in i regulai joui aa i ad bj le- nt publications connected with folklore topic* In A rica especia M.> then ha bi en im n a ing inten I i an hes into I he popular and 1 1. i i.m.il know ledge of i he folk, because oi I i epl iona 1 qpport anil tes for -t udy inL' t he n i i i mi crude mass oi pi iinit ive idi and notions cxistin the Indian tl or preserved bj th negro populat ion So « ide spread throughout the world is the interest in folklore thai I here i- hardly i d or un- eivilized race thai has nol received direct or indirect attenl ion f) < er in the field. Associations for the studj of folklore, like ; - English foil. hue Society, founded in 1878, I, societ} for the studj oi popular tradi- tions, with it's Revue des tradition popula (Paris, L886— I, the American folklore Society, led in 1888, and many others. These have helped largely to lift folklore studies out of the mere ant iquarian stage, and to ke them a iiahle auxiliary in anthn ; and etbnoli C8 I ma I i".il mils. As a branch ol research, folklore i- exti comprehensive in its -cop, Some idea oi its hreadlh may he gathered from the following schc of group- and subgroupings ol topi,- ar- ranged by the London Societj of Folklore in its [hook. The outline is as follows: I 1,1 i- 1MB -i ci c-ll I l<e I Superstitious belie! and practice 2. Superstitions connected with great natural ol 3. Tree b nd plant supi 4. Annual superstitions. 5. Goblindom. 6. Witchcraft. 7. Li hcraft. 8. Ma;, i, a ml divination. g Beliefs relating to future life. in. Superstitions generally. Traditional o-stoms 11. Festival customs 12. Ceremonial cusi 13 Haines. 14. Local customs. Traditional n ■ ■ 15. n,i .Irolls: fables and apolog i 16. Mi Mi- relating to creation, deluge, tire, and a - ami folk-songs. is. place legends and traditions FOLK-S.IM 19. Jingles, nursery rhymes, riddles, etc. 20. Proverbs. 21. Nicknames, pla i hemes of folklore i losmic phen in their appearances and disappearances, their movement- and associat ii and meteorological phenomena: ! ' phic fea-