English Fairy Tales

English Fairy Tales
Altogether it seems not improbable that in such a tale as
“Childe Rowland” we have an idealised picture of a “mar-
riage by capture” of one of the diminutive non-Aryan dwell-
ers of the green hills with an Aryan maiden, and her re-
capture by her brothers. It is otherwise difficult to account
for such a circumstantial description of the interior of these
mounds, and especially of such a detail as the terrace culti-
vation on them. At the same time it must not be thought
that Mr. MacRitchie’s views explain all fairy tales, or that his
identifications of Finns = Fenians = Fairies = Sidhe = “Pechs”
= Picts, will necessarily be accepted. His interesting book, so
far as it goes, seems to throw light on tales about mermaids
(Finnish women in their “kayaks,”) and trolls, but not nec-
essarily, on fairy tales in general. Thus, in the present vol-
ume, besides “Childe Rowland,” there is only “Tom Tit Tot”
in his hollow, the green hill in “Kate Crackernuts,” the “Cauld
Lad of Hilton,” and perhaps the “Fairy Ointment,” that are
affected by his views.
Finally, there are a couple of words in the narrative that
deserve a couple of words of explanation: “Widershins” is
probably, as Mr. Batten suggests, analogous to the German
“wider Schein,” against the appearance of the sun, “counter-
clockwise” as the mathematicians say—i.e., W., S., E., N.,
instead of with the sun and the hands of a clock; why it
should have an unspelling influence is hard to say. “Bogle” is
a provincial word for “spectre,” and is analogous to the Welsh
bwg, “goblin,” and to the English insect of similar name,
and still more curiously to the Russian “Bog,” God, after
which so many Russian rivers are named. I may add that
“Burd” is etymologically the same as “bride” and is frequently
used in the early romances for “Lady.”

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Joseph Jacobs