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Folktales of England

If wonder tales are not abundant in England, other kinds of folktales thrive: local traditions, historical legends, humorous anecdotes. Many of the favorite tales which English-speaking peoples carry with them from childhood come from a long tradition—stories as familiar to Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Spenser, and their many contemporaries as they are to us.

"This is a fine, homely feast, immediately intelligble. . . ."—Times Educational Supplement

". . . should be of special concern to Americans since many of the tales are parallel to or the source of our own folk stories."—Choice

"This is entertainment, to be sure, but is also part of man’s attempts to comprehend his world."—Quartet

"Folktales of England is by all odds the most satisfactory general collection of folktales to come out of England since the advent of modern collection and classification techniques."—Ernest W. Baughman, Journal of American Folklore

208 pages | 5.25 x 8 | © 1968

Folktales of the World

Folklore and Mythology

Table of Contents

I. Wonder Tales
1. The Small-Tooth Dog
2. The Green Lady
3. Tom Tit Tot
4. Mossycoat
5. Little Rosy
6. The Man Who Wouldn’t Go Out at Night
II. Legends
Encounters with Unnatural Beings
7. Fairy Merchandise
8. Goblin Combe
9. The Fairy Follower
10. Pixy Fair
11. The Fairy Midwife
12. The Green Mist
13. The Apple-Tree Man
14. Tibb’s Cat and the Apple-Tree Man
15. The Man in the Wilderness
16. The Old Man at the White House
17. Why the Donkey is Safe
18. The Hunted Soul
19. The Sea Morgan and the Conger Eels
Curses and Ghosts
20. Tarr Ball and the Farmer
21. The Four-Eyed Cat
22. The Witch’s Purse
23. The Gipsy’s Curse
24. The Open Grave
25. Annie Luker’s Ghost
26. The Son Murdered by His Parents
27. Company on the Road
28. Room for One More
Giants
29. The Giant of Grabbist and the "Dorcas Jane"
30. The Giant of Grabbist and Hawkridge Church
31. The Giant of Grabbist and the Whitstones
32. The Giant of Grabbist and the Stones of Battlegore
Saints
33. St. Wulfric and the Greedy Boy
34. The Devil and St. Dunstan
35. St. Adelme
36. St. Aloys and the Lame Nag
Historical and Quasi-Historical Traditions
37. St. David’s Flood
38. The Legend of Gold Hill
39. The Grey Goose Feathers
40. Swayne’s Leaps
41. The Lost Bride
42. The Thievish Sexton
43. Mr. Fox’s Courtship
44. Drake’s Cannon Ball
45. Marshall’s Elm
46. Jack White’s Gibbet
Modern Legends
47. The Foreign Hotel
48. The Stolen Corpse
49. The Half-Cup of Tea
50. The Five-Pound Note
III. Jocular Tales
Devils and Spirits

51. The Curious Cat
52. The Last Man Hanged
53. Dolly and the Duke
54. Summat Queer on Batch
55. A Cure for a Witch
Heaven, Hell, and Parsons
56. A Paddock in Heaven
57. The Two Chaps who went to Heaven
58. The Three Premiers who went to Heaven
59. The Parsons’ Meeting
60. The Churchyard
61. The Parson and the Parrot
62. The Man that stole the Parson’s Sheep
Tales about Children
63. The Two Little Scotch Boys
64. Father, I Think
65. King Edward and the Salad
66. The Rich Man’s Two Sons
67. The First Banana
"Rhozzums" (Short Humorous Tales, often about Local Characters)
68. The Farmer and the "Parson"
69. The Irishman’s Hat
70. The Three Foreigners
71. The Deaf Man and the Pig Trough
72. The Borrowdale Cuckoo
73. Growing the Church
Husband and Wife
74. The Jamming Pan
75. The Contrary Wife
76. Knife or Scissors
77. The Farmer and His Wife and the Mirror
78. The Three Obedient Husbands
79. The Lazy Wife
Master and Man
80. The Lad Who Was Never Hungry
81. Take a Pinch of Salt With It
82. Old Charley Creed
83. The Hungry Mowers
Shaggy Dogs
84. The Farmer and His Ox
85. The Two Elephants
86. The Horse Who Played Cricket
87. The Pious Lion
88. The Tortoise’s Picnic
Tall Tales and Absurdities
89. The Dog and the Hares
90. The Man Who Bounced
91. Mark Twain in the Fens
92. The Endless Tale
Glossary
Bibliography
Index of Motifs
Index of Tale Types
General Index

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