Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland
Francesca Wilde
- Many
- of
- the
- Irish
- legends,
- superstitions,
- and
- ancient
- charms
- now
- collected
- were
- obtained
- chiefly
- from
- oral
- communications
- made
- by
- the
- peasantry
- themselves,
- either
- in
- Irish
- or
- in
- the
- Irish-English
- which
- preserves
- so
- much
- of
- the
- expressive
- idiom
- of
- the
- antique
- tongue.
- These
- narrations
- were
- taken
- down
- by
- competent
- persons
- skilled
- in
- both
- languages,
- and
- as
- far
- as
- possible
- in
- the
- very
- words
- of
- the
- narrator;
- so
- that
- much
- of
- the
- primitive
- simplicity
- of
- the
- style
- has
- been
- retained,
- while
- the
- legends
- have
- a
- peculiar
- and
- special
- value
- as
- coming
- direct
- from
- the
- national heart.
