yield an abundant harvest. Ireland, again, is a field which is as yet only imperfectly occupied. But the Folklore Survey of Co. Clare, for which we are indebted to Mr. T. J. Westropp, proves, if proof were needed, that we have as yet barely scratched the surface. We may expect valuable contributions from the local committee which has recently been established. The same may be said of many parts of England, particularly the southern counties.
If Mr. W. Y. Evans Wentz[1] has failed to see a fairy, his zeal in collecting the experiences of more favoured observers is highly commendable; and during the past year the work of Mrs. Leather in Herefordshire, Miss J. B. Partridge in the Cotswolds, Miss Moutray Read in Hampshire, and Mr. T. W. Thompson among the English gipsies has provided a store of fresh material. In view of the importance of the study of the folk-drama, it is much to be regretted that the large collections made by the Society still remain unpublished. But the approaching issue of Miss Burne's Handbook, and the volume of County Folklore for Fife and Clackmannan, will mark an important advance. In the immediate future our energies will be concentrated on the new edition of Brand's Observations on Popular Antiquities, which will classify much information at present inaccessible, and will form an encyclopædia of British folklore. We are much indebted to Miss Burne and to Mrs. Banks for organizing a body of workers now engaged in collecting material. It may be hoped that, from the ranks of the younger men and women now engaged upon this task, a body of working members may be created, ready to take the places of the veterans who lag superfluous on the stage.
Though it may tend to promote continuity in our work, I conceive that the custom of re-electing your President for a second term of office is in some ways unfortunate. In his first annual address he is tempted to unburden his soul, to
- ↑ The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, 1911.
