Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry [Paperback]

W. B. Yeats (Editor), William Butler Yeats (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

If you are a stranger, you will not readily get ghost and fairy legends, even in a western village. You must go adroitly to work, and make friends with the children, and the old men, with those who have not felt the pressure of mere daylight existence, and those with whom it is growing less, and will have altogether taken itself off one of these days. The old women are most learned, but will not so readily be got to talk, for the fairies are very secretive, and much resent being talked of; and are there not many stories of old women who were nearly pinched into their graves or numbed with fairy blasts?

At sea, when the nets are out and the pipes are lit, then will some ancient hoarder of tales become loquacious, telling his histories to the tune of the creaking of the boats. Holy-eve night, too, is a great time, and in old days many tales were to be heard at wakes. But the priest have set their faces against wakes.

In the Parochial Survey of Ireland it is recorded how the storytellers used to gather together of an evening, and if any had a different version from the others, they would all recite theirs and vote, and the man who had varied would have to abide by their verdict. In this way stories have been handed down with such accuracy, that the long tale of Dierdre was, in the earlier decades of this century, told almost word for word, as in the very ancient MSS. in the Royal Dublin Society. . . .

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Butler Yeats, June 13, 1865 - January 28, 1939 born and educated in Dublin, an Irish poet and dramatist. Beginning in his youth, he studied poetry and from an early age was intrigued by both Irish legends and the occult. Yeats is known as one of the foremost figures of 20th Century literature. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Aegypan (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598186566
• ISBN-13: 978-1598186567
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,409,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent collection, January 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (Paperback)

This is an excellent collection. All sorts of creatures and strange happenings are described, and a good number of the stories are told in the dialect of the person who the story was gotten from (Yeats & his friends traveled around Ireland collecting stories from the people they met - recording the oral traditions, if you will.)

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even a mere mortal can wander in Yeats' Celtic Twilight...., July 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (Paperback)

These stories that Yeats collected are as deeply moving as his poetry. You have the feeling that this collection is a part of the deep well that Yeats' created his earlier 'Celtic Twilight' poetry from. These stories are faery tales, but there is an element of realism to them for, as you read, you doubt not the truth of the tales, and immediately want to escape to Ireland and dance on the hills with the fey folk. Read this in the winter by the fire with a copy of Yeats' early poetry and prepare for a twilight wandering amongst shadowy woods, quiet country roads and green green hills. This is one of those books which you hold up to your heart upon completion, and sigh deeply from the experience of reading it - more of a journey than the act of turning pages and interpreting words...

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating look at the tradition of folklore in Ireland., July 9, 2004

By 

Monika "equestrienne_23" (Davis, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (Paperback)

In this delightful volume, first published in 1892, William Butler Yeats has collected all manner of Irish folklore (mostly short stories, with a few poems) from a wide variety sources. He has divided the works into categories as follows: the "Trooping Fairies" (fairies, changelings, and the "merrow" or mermaids); the "Solitary Fairies" (the lepracaun, the pooka - an animal spirit, and the banshee); "Ghosts"; "Witches & Fairy Doctors"; "T'yeer-na-n-Oge" or "Tir-na-n-Og" (a legendary island said to appear and disappear); "Saints & Priests"; "The Devil"; "Giants"; and "Kings / Queens / Princesses / Earls / Robbers." Yeats introduces each section with background information on the creature the stories in that category will concern. He also includes numerous footnotes of interest, making this book a valuable resource for anyone seeking to learn about the tradition of Irish folklore.

While I have given this anthology a five-star rating based on it's value as a source of information on Irish mythology, it would probably be worth only four stars for entertainment value alone. Some of the stories are very short and/or don't have much of a point, and are less interesting. These tend to serve more as testimony to the nature of a particular mythical being rather than being an actual story with a plot and message for the reader. Nevertheless, the book as a whole offers a very comprehensive look at just what defines Irish folk culture. The stories that do have a point sometimes take the form of "how things came to be this way" tales, or provide a moral lesson, etc. Many of the stories are rather dark, as that tends to be the nature of lore from this region, but there are also some lighthearted and cheerful pieces.

Despite the book having been compiled more than one hundred years ago, most of the stories are quite easy to read. Yeats makes things even more simple for the reader by making footnotes where old Irish words or phrases are used, giving us their meaning. However, there are a few stories that have been left in a more archaic form, which is distracting and a bit harder to decipher. Take, for example, the following excerpt:

". . . the minit he puts his knife into the fish, there was a murtherin' screech, that you'd the life id lave you if you hurd it, and away jumps the throut out av the fryin'-pan into the middle o' the flure; and an the spot where it fell, up riz a lovely lady - the beautifullest crathur that eyes ever seen, dressed in white, and a band o' goold in her hair, and a sthrame o' blood runnin' down her arm."

One of the things I enjoy most about literature is finding connections with other works I've read, and "Irish Fairy & Folk Tales" does not disappoint in this regard. Many of the pieces are derivations of other, more common fairy tales. For instance, "Smallhead and the King's Sons" (Ghosts) incorporates some elements from both "Cinderella" and "Hansel and Gretel," while "The Giant's Stairs" (Giants) has some similarities to the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." There are more connections like this. On the whole I found this book to be very enjoyable, and also a valuable read from a literary / academic standpoint. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone interesting in the history of Irish culture, the study of fairy tales and folklore, or both.