Notes and References.
I have scarcely anything to add to the general account of the collection
of Celtic Fairy Tales which I gave in the predecessor to this volume,
pages 237-42. Since the appearance of that volume in 1891, the
publication of such tales has gone on apace. Mr. Curtin has published in
the New York _Sun_ no less than fifty more Irish fairy tales, one of
which he has been good enough to place at my disposal for the present
volume. Mr. Larminie has published with Mr. E. Stock a volume of _West
Irish Fairy Tales_, of which I have also the privilege of presenting a
specimen. A slight volume of Welsh Fairy Tales, published by Mr. Nutt,
and a few fairy anecdotes contained in the Prize Essay on Welsh
Folk-lore by the Rev. Mr. Evans, sum up Cambria's contribution to our
subject during the past three years. The fifth volume of the _Waifs and
Strays of Celtic Tradition_, just about to appear at the moment of
writing, is the sole addition to Celtic Fairy Tales from the country of
J. F. Campbell. Taken altogether, something like a hundred previously
unpublished tales from Celtdom have been rendered accessible to the
world since I last wrote, a by no means insignificant outcome in three
years. It is at any rate clear, that the only considerable addition to
our folk-lore knowledge in these isles must come from the Gaelic area.
The time of harvest can be but short; may the workers be many, willing,
and capable.