ot always
traceable, that it sometimes goes so far back as to defy recognition,
that it sometimes relates to events which have no place in the
after-history of peoples who have taken a position on the earth's
surface, and which, in the prehistory stage, belong to humanity rather
than to peoples. Folklore, too, is governed by its own laws and rules
which are not the laws and rules of history. These concessions,
however, do not mean the introduction of the term "impossible" to our
studies. They mean rather a plea for the steady and systematic study
of our material, on the ground that it has much to yield to the
historian of man, and to the historians of races, of peoples, of
nations, and of countries.

[Illustration: CARVED WOODEN FIGURES IN SWAFFHAM CHURCH, NORFOLK]

We cannot, however, show that this is so without facing many
difficulties created for the most part by folklorists themselves. In
the first place it is necessary to overtake some of the earlier
conclusions of the great masters of our science. The first rush, after
the discovery of the mine, led to the vortex created by the school
of comparative mythologists, who limited their comparison to the myths
of Aryan-speaking people, who absolutely ignored the evidence of
custom, rite, and belief, and who could see nothing beyond
interpretations of the sun, dawn, and sky gods in the parallel stories
they were the first to discover and value. We need not ignore all this
work, nor need we be ungrateful to the pioneers who executed it. It
was necessary that their view should be stated, and it is satisfactory
that it was stated at a time early in the existence of our science,
because it is possible to clear it all away, or as much of it as is
necessary, without undue interference with the material of which it is
composed.

The school of comparative mythologists did not, however, entirely
control the early progress of the study of folklore. There was always
a school who believed in the foundation of myth being derived from the
facts of life. Thus Dr. Tylor, in a remarkable study of historical
traditions and myths of observation,[9] long ago noted that many of
the traditions current among mankind were historical in origin.
Writing nearly forty years ago, he had to submit to the influence,
then at its height, of Adalbert Kuhn and Max Mueller, and he conceded
that there were many traditions which were fictional myths. I think
this concession must now be much more narrowl