RECORDING OF LOCAL NAMES. 
19 
shall endeavour to secure what still lingers of this mass of old- 
world tradition, and shall receive with gratitude communications 
from those who will note down Provincial Names of Birds and 
Plants and the Folk-lore, perpetually varying, and yet essen- 
tially the same, which has clustered round the animal and vege- 
table kingdom.” 
We reproduce this paragraph from “Our Programme” 
because we feel that the work which it recommends is one 
of the most useful which the Selborne Society can take up. 
Every dweller in the country can take part in it, and the results 
cannot fail to be interesting as well as useful. 
In order to make the collection of local names — of animals, 
birds, insects, plants, fossils, or any natural object — as simple 
and useful as possible, it may be well to say a word or two as to 
the way in which it should be carried out. The limited space at 
our disposal, as compared with the extent of the subject, renders 
brevity essential ; and this will be secured if our contributors 
will record only such names and folk-lore as have been collected 
by themselves, with, of course, any local information tending to 
the explanation of either, but with a careful avoidance of specu- 
lative derivations.* 
What is wanted — whether for names or folk-lore — is an actual 
record of these as they exist. Take an intelligent country child 
for a walk, and ask it the names of the common birds, flowers, 
and insects which cross your path ; note these down and send 
them to the Editors, adding place and date. If any name strikes 
you as especially odd, ask why the object is so called. The usual 
answer will be, “ I don’t know ; ” but occasionally interesting 
information will be elicited. If you obtain confirmation of the 
names from others, note this, especially when a name seems to 
be in general use locally. Spring and early summer are the best 
times for collecting names ; the revival of natural objects after 
their winter sleep attracts more attention than the appearance 
of those which come later. 
Do not trouble to quote books, unless they should be of 
special value as bearing on local dialects. “ Dear old Gerard,” 
who is usually cited at second or third hand, must be avoided ; 
and, above all, the well-known and often inexact quotations, of 
which many volumes of plant and animal lore mainly consist, 
must be entirely boycotted. In our limited space it is important 
to publish only what is worthy of permanent record ; and if the 
work indicated is taken up properly by Selbornians, our pages 
will soon be insufficient to contain the useful information which 
will be sent in. 
* An excellent illustration of the kind of information required is afforded by 
the paper printed on p. 23, which was forwarded after these lines were in type. 
