200 REPORTS. 



out in a style at once creditable to the island, and worthy 

 to be regarded as a graceful and fitting tribute to the author's 

 memory. 



I may just remind the members that, while Sir Edgar's 

 work was passing through the press, I purposely refrained 

 from preparing any folk-lore items for publication in our 

 own Transactions. I surmised that the eagerly-expected 

 volume would be a very comprehensive one ; and I did 

 not forget that the available space in our own annual publi- 

 cation is necessarily limited. It would, therefore, have been 

 unwise to occupy room in our Transactions by recounting 

 legends and traditions that were very likely to have been 

 already chronicled by Sir Edgar himself. Consequently, I 

 merely jotted down' for remembrance whatever folk-lore 

 I met with, and awaited a more fitting season for giving it 

 further publicity. By this course I find that I have avoided 

 several repetitions. 



I notice, too, that Miss Carey has been able to make use, 

 either in her notes or appendices, of various stories and 

 experiences that I narrated to her — which she courteously 

 acknowledges — and I am very glad she found them useful. 



Every reader of the book will note its massive substan- 

 tiality, but only those who have had some actual experience 

 of similar work will be able, adequately, to realise the immense 

 amount of self-denying toil — in addition to the necessary 

 talent — which Miss Carey must have expended on her 

 exhaustive and patriotic task. We learn from her editorial 

 preface that Sir Edgar's manuscript, as placed in her hands 

 for transcription, was contained in three manuscript books, 

 closely written on both sides of the paper, and interspersed 

 with innumerable loose leaflets, crammed with notes, additions, 

 corrections and comments. The various legends, customs, 

 traditions, &c, had been jotted down by Sir Edgar, just as 

 he met with them, and without any attempt at order or 

 classification. Miss Carey, however — like an accomplished 

 folk-lorist, as she is — while, on the one hand, literally tran- 

 scribing these notes and copying the manuscript word for 

 word, exactly as she received it, was careful, on the other 

 hand, to properly assort and distribute the matter, placing 

 the different items under their appropriate headings, and 

 altogether arranging the volume with scientific precision, as 

 recommended and followed by the English Folk-lore Society. 

 This, of course, greatly added to the labour, but it also 

 infinitely increased the scientific value of the result, and 

 one is not surprised to learn that Miss Carey devoted the 



