PREFACE: Previous collections of Irish folk-lore; ignorance of
the language on the part of collectors. Relation between Irish
and Scotch Gaelic tales; the Irish bardic tales; the runs in
Irish and Scotch. Date of Irish versions. Two classes of Irish
stories; native myths. Narrators of the stories. Discouragement
of Irish by schoolmasters, clergy, and politicians. Proper mode
of collecting. System of translation accepted. PAGE, ix-l.
POSTSCRIPT (by Alfred Nutt): Dr. Hyde’s theories discussed;
folk-lore and romance; necessity for romance to conform to
convention; characteristics of folk-fancy; classification of
the products of folk-fancy; myth, saga, Märchen and ballad;
romance and folk-lore among the Gael; folk-conception of the
Universe Page, li-lviii.