Fians, Fairies and Picts by David MacRitchie
page 13 of 72 (18%)
page 13 of 72 (18%)
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the realistic doctrine, and so also does a work of (in my opinion) less
equal merit, "The Pedigree of the Devil,"[12] by Mr. Frederic T. Hall. In Mr. R.G. Haliburton's "Dwarfs of Mount Atlas: with notes as to Dwarfs and Dwarf Worship,"[13] and also in his "Further Notes"[14] on that subject, the same idea is prominent. All of these writers, with the exception of Sir Thomas Browne (and excluding Dr. Tylor in so far as regards some of his deductions), refer practically, though in varying degrees, to the question discussed by Tyson; and in this respect I must also cite my recent work on "The Aïnos" (pp. 51-66). Of other writers who have not probed quite so deeply, and who possibly may not recognise the necessity for so doing, but who are realists nevertheless, the following may be mentioned: M. Paul Monceaux, who, in the _Revue Historique_ of October 1891, deals with the African dwarfs of ancient and modern writers;[15] Professor Henri van Elven, the main theme of whose forthcoming work, _Les Nains préhistoriques de l'Europe Occidentale_, formed the subject of a paper recently read by him before the _Société d'Archéologie de Bruxelles;_ and MM. Grandgagnage and De Reul, cited by Mr. C. Carter Blake, F.G.S., in connection with the _Nutons_ of the Belgian bone-caves;[16] as also another writer of the Low Countries, Van den Bergh ("xxx. and 313"), whom Mr. J. Dirks quotes at p. 15 of his _Heidens of Egyptiërs_, Utrecht, 1850. In Mr. W.G. Black's charming book on Heligoland,[17] one passage (p. 72) recognises that a certain Sylt tradition "is evidently one of those valuable legends which illuminate dark pages of history. It clearly bears testimony to the same small race having inhabited Friesland in times which we trace in the caves of the Neolithic age, and of which the Esquimaux are the only survivors." For many of the kindred traditions in that locality, one cannot do better than refer to Mr. Christian Jensen's _Zwergsagen aus Nordfriesland_, contributed to the _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_ (Berlin, Heft 4, 1892). |
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