Celtic Folklore Welsh, Vol. 1: And Manx (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Celtic Folklore Welsh, Vol. 1: And Manx

It is a cause of genuine regret to me that I did not commence my inquiries earlier, when I had more Opportunities of pursuing them, especially when I was a village schoolmaster in Anglesey and could have done the folklore Of that island thoroughly; but my education, such as it was, had been Of a nature to discourage all interest in anything that savoured Of heathen lore and superstition. Nor is that all, for the schoolmasters Of my early days took very little trouble to teach their pupils to keep their eyes open or take notice Of what they heard around them; so I grew up without having acquired the habit of Observing anything, except the Sabbath. It is to be hoped that the younger generation Of schoolmasters trained under more auspicious circumstances, when the baleful influence Of Robert Lowe has given way to a more enlightened system of public instruction, will do better, and succeed in fostering in their pupils habits of observation. At all events there is plenty Of work still left to be done by careful Observers and skilful inquirers, as will be seen from the geographical list showing approximately the provenance of the more important contributions to the Kymric folklore in this collection: the counties will be found to figure very unequally. Thus the anglicizing districts have helped me very little, while the more Welsh county of Carnarvon easily takes the lead; but I am inclined to regard the anomalous features Of that list as in a great measure due to accident. In other words, some neighbourhoods have been luckier than others in having produced or attracted men who paid attention to local folklore; and if other counties were to be worked equally with Carnarvonshire, some of them would probably be found.

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