The publication of the present work has been attended by circumstances
of pathetic interest. It is to be feared that it will be the last
literary testament of its author, who, before the whole was completed,
was stricken by a severe stroke of paralysis, which has incapacitated
him from holding a pen in his hand. He must, therefore, claim the
indulgence of the critics and the public in this third series of
Cornish tales.
The whole subject of folk-lore, however, is at this moment of such
general interest, that still it is hoped that this little addition to
the stores now being gathered from every nation under heaven, may be
acceptable to the literary world. The publication of Melusine, a
periodical solely devoted to folk-lore subjects, at Paris, was followed
in England by the formation of the Folk-lore Society in 1878, which
promises to take an important position among the learned societies of
the English nation, and whose publications have already reached the
third volume. The valuable collections of this society have doubtless
done much to systematize the work already done, and to encourage the
labours of collectors of folk-lore throughout the world.