Page:West Irish folk-tales and romances - William Larminie.djvu/288

 256 Page 115. “The Servant of Poverty.” This curious story, with its prosaic details, is chiefly remarkable for the variant it contains of the Cymbeline legend. A version much wilder than this is found in Campbell's “The Chest.” The tale is thus seen to belong to the three kingdoms. A parallel to the opening incident of the betrothal of two children born at the same time will be found in the story of “The Wicked Greek Girl,” given in Latin in “Silva Gadelica.” Mr. O'Grady says it is not an Irish story.

Page 121. “Collegian.” This is the word in the original, and seems to mean “a swell.” The three sayings about bridge, house, and nag, also occur in Campbell's “Baillie Lunnain.”

Page 125. “Covered the money"—i.e., with her hand: accepted it.

Page 139. “The Son of the King of Prussia.” Perhaps the most remarkable thing in this story is the name. I think if the tale had been written down twenty-five years ago, the name would not have occurred. I believe it to be not older than 1870. In that year Prussia was intensely unpopular in Ireland, owing to the sympathy felt for France; and some one, perhaps M'Grale himself, took this method of showing his dislike for the former country by substituting this name for some other previously borne by the coward.

Page 149. “Crooked-mouth” is simply “Camp-bell,” the order of adjective and noun—Beeăl-qam—being reversed.

Page 152. “Bird-Serpent”–unique, I think.

Page 155. “Beauty of the World.” There is nothing new except in some of the details in this story; but the compact energy of the style is surely remarkable as coming from an unlettered peasant of eighty. Part of the story corresponds with the King of Ireland's son (Hyde's Collection). There is also a parallel in Curtin. With regard to the red, white, and black incident, it is worth noting that all primitive ideas of beauty depend on colour alone.

Page 156. “The red-haired young man” ought perhaps to be “the strong young man,” in accordance with Mr. O'Grady's view.

Pages 160 and 164. “Part of milk and part of blood.” The full meaning is “one-third of milk, one-third of blood, and one-third of urine.”