4 1 2 Reviews.
Then we enter on his version of Ellis's " Brand," cut down to some 2 20 pages of large type by the omission oi everything which Mr. Knowlson believes to be either obsolete or irrelevant. We thus have 76 pages, or about half the present number of Folk-lore (allowing for difference of type), allotted to Days and Seasons, 14 to Marriage, one to Christening, 76 to Divination and Omens, (here Mr, Knowlson practically parts company with Brand), and 42 to Miscellaneous Superstitions and Customs ; hardly an adequate presentation of the wealth of existing folklore in Great Britain ! A page and a half quoted from Douce's Illustrations of Shakespeare suffices for Morris- dancing ; the Mummers' Play and the Wren-Hunt are not so much as mentioned. Hay and corn harvests apparently are never gathered in the British Isles, and no one ever dies or is buried. The fact is that Mr. Knowlson's real object is to discuss and account for, without too rigorously condemning, the fashionable superstitions of a certain section of society in the present day, such as concern May weddings, mascots, palmistry, and the like ; together with the common fancies about spilling salt, sitting down thirteen at table, and so on, — (he omits walking under a ladder, saluting the new moon, and many others equally common), — and a few pretty customs like Tissington well-dressing, which may attract the attention of tourists. His explanations, thanks to the authorities he has consulted, are much better than were the speculations of the old-fashioned antiquaries on these subjects. But they are very prolix, and do not rise above the "popular" level, and the book as a whole adds nothing to our knowledge beyond a few fresh instances of well-known superstitions, and two short accounts of those connected with the theatre (p. 225), and with card-playing (p. 233), which do appear to include some items hitherto unrecorded.
Charlotte S. Burne.
