472 Reviews.
stantially the same views, should have toiled at this immense material from the first commencement, is a piece of good fortune for later research ; and one can scarcely imagine that the work could possibly have been accomplished better than it has been by them.
These are the thoughts which force themselves upon us, now that the English folk-ballads lie before us, not merely in the great ten-volume edition, which costs many pounds, but also in the new abridged edition, which is sold remarkably cheap. Here each number in the collection is represented by one or more versions, with a very short introduction which gives the result of the detailed investigation. In this shape the English folk-ballads are easily accessible ; and to readers in the North this group of poetry certainly seems that which in its whole range of ideas — and to some extent also in its individual themes — stands nearest to our own ballad-poetry.
Axel Olrik (in Danske Stiidier, 1907. Translated by A. F. Major.)
Books for Revteiu should be addressed to The Editor of Folk-Lore,
c/o David Nutt, 57-59 Long Acre, London.
