FOLKLORE AS AN HISTORICAL SCIENCE
BY GEORGE LAURENCE GOMME
WITH TWENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON
First Published in 1908
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. HISTORY AND FOLKLORE pages 1-122
INTRODUCTORY pages 1-13
HISTORY AND LOCAL AND PERSONAL TRADITIONS 13-46
HISTORY AND FOLK-TALES 46-84
TRADITIONAL LAW 84-100
MYTHOLOGY AND TRADITION 100-110
HISTORIANS AND TRADITION 110-120
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS 123-179
TRADITIONAL MATERIAL 123-129
MYTH, FOLK-TALE, AND LEGEND 129-153
CUSTOM, BELIEF, AND RITE 154-179
III. PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 180-207
IV. ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 208-302
PRIMITIVE INFLUENCES 211-238
EARLIEST TYPES OF SOCIAL EXISTENCE 238-261
AUSTRALIAN TOTEM SOCIETY TESTED BY THE EVIDENCE 262-274
TOTEM SURVIVALS IN BRITAIN 274-296
SYNOPSIS OF CULTURE-STRUCTURE OF SEMANGS OF MALAY PENINSULA 297-302
V. SOCIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 303-319
VI. EUROPEAN CONDITIONS 320-337
VII. ETHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 338-366
INDEX 367-371
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE 1. PEDLAR'S SEAT, SWAFFHAM CHURCH, NORFOLK. Frontispiece
2. CARVED WOODEN FIGURE OF THE PEDLAR IN SWAFFHAM CHURCH 8
3. CARVED WOODEN FIGURE OF THE PEDLAR'S DOG IN SWAFFHAM CHURCH 8
Nos. 1-3 are taken from photographs, and show how the story of the Pedlar of Swaffham has been interpreted in carving. The costume of the Pedlar is noticeable.
4. THE PEDLAR OF LAMBETH AND HIS DOG, FIGURED IN THE WINDOW (NOW DESTROYED) OF LAMBETH CHURCH (from Allen's History of Lambeth) 20
5. THE PEDLAR OF LAMBETH AND HIS DOG AS DRAWN IN 1786 FOR DUCAREL'S History of Lambeth 22
Nos. 4 and 5 illustrate the traces of the Pedlar legend in Lambeth, and the costume of the Pedlar, though later than that shown in the Swaffham carving, exhibits analogous features which are of interest to the argument.
6. PLAN OF THE SITE OF THE "HEAVEN'S WALLS" AT LITLINGTON, NEAR ROYSTON, CAMBRIDGESHIRE (reprinted from Archaeologia) 43
7. SKETCH OF LITLINGTON FIELD (reprinted from Archaeologia) 44
Nos. 6 and 7 show the site and general appearance of this interesting relic of the Roman occupation of Britain.
8. STONE MONUMENTS ERECTED AS MEMORIALS IN A KASYA VILLAGE (reprinted from Asiatic Researches) 55
9. STONE SEATS AT A KASYA VILLAGE (reprinted from Asiatic Researches) 55
10. VIEW IN THE KASYA HILLS, SHOWING STONE MEMORIALS (reprinted from Asiatic Researches) 56
No. 8 shows the practice among the primitive hill-tribes of India of erecting memorials in stone to tribal heroes, and No. 9 is a curious illustration of the stones used as seats by tribesmen at their tribal assemblies. No. 10 is a general view of the site occupied by these stone monuments.
11. THE AULD CA-KNOWE: CALLING THE BURGESS ROLL AT HAWICK (reprinted from Craig and Laing's Hawick Tradition) 98
12. THE HAWICK MOAT AT SUNRISE (reprinted from Craig and Laing) 99
The tribal gathering is well illustrated by No. 11, and the moat hill is shown in No. 12.
13. ONE OF FIVE STONE CIRCLES IN THE FIELDS OPPOSITE THE GLEBE OF NYMPHSFIELD (reprinted from Sir William Wilde's Lough Corrib) 101
14. CARN-AN-CHLUITHE TO COMMEMORATE THE DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE YOUTHS OF THE DANANNS (reprinted from Wilde) 102
15. THE CAIRN OF BALLYMAGIBBON, NEAR THE ROAD PASSING FROM CONG TO CROSS (reprinted from Wilde) 102
Nos. 13-15 are selected from Sir William Wilde's admirable account of the great conflict on the field of Moytura. They serve to show that the fight was an historical event.
16. ALTAR DEDICATED TO THE FIELD DEITIES OF BRITAIN, FOUND AT CASTLE HILL ON THE WALL OF ANTONINUS PIUS 105
It is important to remember that the Romans recognised the gods of the conquered people, and this is one of the most important archaeological proofs of the fact.
17. ROMAN SCULPTURED STONE FOUND AT ARNIEBOG, CUMBERNAULD, DUMBARTONSHIRE, SHOWING A NAKED BRITON AS A CAPTIVE 112
To the evidence derived from classical writers as to the nakedness of some of the inhabitants of early Britain, it is possible to add the evidence of the memorial stone. This example is reproduced from Sir Arthur Mitchell's Past in the Present, and there is at least one other example.
18. REPRESENTATION OF AN IRISH CHIEFTAIN SEATED AT DINNER (from Derrick's The Image of Ireland, by kind permission of Messrs. A. & E. Black) 183
This is reproduced from the very excellent reprint (1883) of this remarkable book, published originally in 1581. The whole book is historically valuable as showing the undeveloped nature of Irish culture. The flesh was boiled in the hide, the fire is lighted in the open camp, and the entire rudeness of the scene depicts the people "whose usages I behelde after the fashion there sette downe."
19. LONG MEG AND HER DAUGHTERS (from a photograph by Messrs. Frith) 193
20. STONE CIRCLES ON STANTON MOOR (from Archaeologia) 193
Nos. 19 and 20 are illustrations of two of the lesser-known circles about which the people hold such curious beliefs.
21. CHINESE REPRESENTATION OF PYGMIES GOING ABOUT ARM-IN-ARM FOR MUTUAL PROTECTION (from Moseley's Notes by a Naturalist on H.M.S. Challenger, by permission of Mr. John Murray) 242
22. SEMANG OF KUALA KENERING, ULU PERAK (from Skeat and Blagden's Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan) 242
23. NEGRITO TYPE: SEMANG OF PERAK (from the same) 243
24. SEMANG OF KEDAH HAVING A MEAL (from the same) 244
25. TREE HUT, ULU BATU, ABOUT TWELVE MILES FROM KUALA LUMPUR, SELANGOR (from the same) 298
The old-world traditions and the scientific observation of pygmy people are illustrated in No. 21 and Nos. 22-25 respectively. Though much has been written about the Pygmies, Messrs. Skeat and Blagden's account of the Semang people is by far the most thorough and important.
26. RITE OF BAPTISM ON THE FONT AT DARENTH, KENT (from Romilly Allen's Early Christian Symbolism) 324
The crude paganism on the sculptured stone is confirmatory of the pagan elements preserved in custom, and this illustration from Kent, one of the earliest centres of Christianity in Britain, is singularly interesting from this point of view.
27 and 28. TWO SCENES FROM THE ANGLO-SAXON LIFE OF ST. GUTHLAC BY FELIX OF CROWLAND, DEPICTING THE ATTACK OF THE DEMONS 351, 352
These two plates belong to a series of eight which illustrate the life of the saint. They are less primitive in form than the story which they illustrate. By contrast with the remaining six, however, which are purely ecclesiastical in character, they show how this early episode kept its place among the events of the saint's life.