Excerpt from British Folk-Lore, Folk-Songs, and Singing Games
I know of no subject quite so generally useful as folk-lore for home reading and home study. It is so human in its origin and in the philosophy it teaches; it appeals so strongly to characteristics which reside in varying, proportions in all of us; it is so rich in local associations; it tells such a wonderful story of man's past and helps so exactly in the understanding of man's present; it is so pathetic, and in many branches so beautiful, that it is difficult to get rid of its fascinations when once one has begun to understand it. It deals with the legends and traditions of our ancestors, and the beliefs, rites, and customs of our contemporaries. The legends and traditions, whether in the shape of nursery tale or hero story, or of ballad and song, are the product of many generations of faithful narrators who, in the act of transmitting to their successors the tradition which was handed to them, have insensibly and gradually woven it into a magnificent artistic narrative - so artistic that when it has been reduced from tradition to literature it awakens fresh interest and begins a new life in its literary form. The beliefs, rites, and customs recorded by collectors are at once recognized as something apart from modern thought and modern science, and, by their very contrast to these, become a subject of intellectual consideration and inquiry.
There are now many books which deal with these subjects, and the list presented to our readers, though it contains the best examples in various departments, is by no means exhaustive.
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