Blair Collection > Popular tales of the West Highlands > Volume 1

1 INTRODUCTION.
Eastern tale tellers knew what Haroun al Raschid
must have snifered when he put on the fisherman's
clothes, and Mr. Lane has not scrupled to follow the
original Arabic.
If the people of the West Highlands have added
book stories to their traditions, they have selected
those only which were taken from peasants like them-
selves in other countries, and they have stripped off aR
that was foreign to their own manners. The people
have but taken back their own.
Besides books accessible to all English readers, I
find similar stories in books beyond the reach of the
people. I have pointed out in the notes all that were
within my reach, and came under my notice ; but this
part of the subject is a study, and requires time to
acquire knowledge which I do not possess.
Such, then, is the evidence which bears on the
immediate origin of the stories. I believe them to be
pure traditions, very little affected by modern books,
and, if at all, only by those which are avowedly taken
from popular tales. A trip of five days in the Isle of
Man in April 1860 has but confirmed this opinion.
That island, in spite of its numerous rulers, is still
peculiarly Celtic. It has belonged to Norwegians. Eng-
lish, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish have fought for it. It
has a Law Court with a Norwegian name held on a
mound ; half the names in the island are Norse, such as
Laxey (Salmon isthmus), Langness, Snafell ; but these
names are not understood by the people who live at
tlie places. Peel has a descriptive Gaelic name, which
means island port ; a Salmon is Braddan, not Lax ; and
of the poorer classes living in the mountain farms, and
on the points and distant corners of the island, there
are stiU many who can hardly speak anything but
Manks. Their hair is dark ; the sound of their voices,