SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS— H. 373 



Afternoon. 



Rev. Dr. E. O. James. — Folklore and archceohgy in north-west Spain and 

 Portugal. 

 Certain legends of the Santiago type connected with pilgrimage centres 

 in North-West Spain and Portugal collected during recent visits to the 

 district are discussed in relation to their archaeological setting. In Galicia 

 and the adjoining region south of the Minho falling in Portugal, there 

 is evidence of important ancient settlements, connected in many cases with 

 mining operations and megalithic monuments, having had a continuous 

 occupation from the early periods of the Bronze Age to Christian times. 

 Around these centres a sacred tradition has collected, the analysis of which 

 throws some light on the anthropological and historical causes which gave 

 rise to the sites and have made them places of pilgrimage throughout the 

 ages. The development illustrates how a tradition may be raised to new 

 activity by the impact of extraneous cultural influences and so acquire 

 a new functional value. 



Rev. Canon J. A. M.^cCvhl.ocn.— Were fairies an actual race of men? 



Were fairies ghosts of an earlier race ? They are connected with burial- 

 mounds, and parallels exist between fairies and ghosts. On the whole, 

 they are distinct in origin, though the Brownie (house-fairy) may be an 

 exception. Were fairies an actual race transmuted — Neolithic rnen, Picts, 

 or an earlier pygmy folk ? Pygmies in tradition and fact. Their likeness 

 to fairies. Folk-tales about dwarfs and, to a less extent, about fairies suggest 

 an actual people. Examples — dislike of a higher civilisation ; migration 

 legends ; underground dwellings ; dislike of iron ; stone weapons and 

 r3.iri£s 



Some traits of dwarfs and fairies suggest an early race. Others are 

 animistic in origin. Even where groups of elfin beings (Polynesian, 

 Melanesian, African) seem to be transmuted human folk, they have non- 

 human traits. An early pygmy race cannot be the sole cause of belief in 

 fairies. Traits of elfin beings are also those of supernatural groups with 

 no human ancestry. 



The fairy creed suggests animistic or pre-animistic ideas attached now 

 to groups of imaginary beings, now to races viewed traditionally. Man 

 regards the beings of his belief as like himself. There has been interaction 

 between animistic beliefs in imaginary beings and traditions of earlier 

 races regarded more and more from an animistic point of view. 



Mr. I. C. Peate. — Welsh folk culture. 



Welsh culture is essentially a peasant culture, and is based to a large 

 extent upon love of craftsmanship. The craftsmen have always been 

 considered the pillars of the rural society, and their craft is a tradition 

 handed down from father to son through countless generations. A case 

 in point is that of the wood-turners, who still produce wooden utensils of 

 designs strongly reminiscent of prehistoric prototypes from, e.g., the Swiss 

 lake shore dwellings. In the same way, the Welsh quilters work upon 

 patterns which revert to medieval times, if not earlier, while many of the 

 customs associated with carpentry, etc., are almost certainly of pre-Christian 

 origin and may be compared with similar practices in Brittany. The same 

 emphasis upon craftsmanship is to be noticed in the spiritual life of the 

 people. Poetry has been looked upon as primarily a craft practised by a 



