Reviezvs. 205
of the chapters into the shape of imaginary narrative or quasi- dramatic sketches : a sort of sugar-coating for " the general reader " of the pill of folklore. Such too is the softening down of the catastrophe of the sequel to Tom Tit Tot. This sequel is really an independent story, not belonging to the cycle of Rum- pelstilzchen, but equally well known on the Continent of Europe. The true catastrophe as told in Suffolk is less fit perhaps for the parlour than Mrs. Thomas's version ; but then it did not originate in the parlour. It ought nevertheless to be preserved, and there- fore I venture to give it to the readers of Folk-Lore. The story is the same up to the introduction of the gipsy-confederate into the party. She has put a dozen rotten eggs in her pocket. She sits down and "jiffeys and jiffeys" until they are broken. The lords and ladies all freely accuse each other " o' stinkin' like a fummard ; till there was sech a te-dew that the King he said : ' I'll ha' te know hew 'tis is a-stinkin' like that.' So he made 'em set down all round. Then the gipsy-woman she got up an' said : ' 'Tis me as stinks.' ' A-well, yew naster pug, git hoom and woish yerself, and doon't yew come hare ne moore,' says he. ' Woishin' oon't dew it,' says she. ' When I were a gal, I were a great spinner, an' I span an' span, till my twatlin' thrids was broke ; an' what's moore, if yar wife spins like I, she'll stink like I.' An' soo the King he says : ' Look yew hare, me dare, an' listen what I sa' te yew. If ivver I see yew with a spindle agin in yar hands, yar hid'U goo off.' An' tha's all."
Mrs. Thomas may indeed be congratulated on having preserved with great ingenuity in the version she has given the spirit and outline of the story. If it is not as it stands the lore of the folk, we must not forget that we are indebted to her for two of the best English folktales that have been preserved, "Tom Tit Tot" and " Cap o' Rushes," both very properly included here. Excellent they are, and excellently told. Her sister, Miss Fison, has done good service also in recording in the pages that follow them som.e of the superstitions, charms, customs, riddles, and sayings of the county. More than "a pretty custom" is that of giving a bunch of immortelles to a girl when betrothed. It must be given by a married friend, and its destination is to be given by the maiden to her lover, who will preserve her love as long as he keeps the flowers. Here, in a particularly beautiful form, is the old pledge of fidelity which appears almost all over the world.
