Fairies -- Great Britain; Folklore -- Great Britain; Great Britain -- Antiquities; Picts; Scotland -- Antiquities
been many "Brians."
To give this subject the special attention which it deserves would,
however, swell these introductory notes to an intolerable size; and,
indeed, their purpose is rather to show what the euhemeristic theory is
than what it is not; that is to say, the euhemeristic theory as applied
to the traditions relating to dwarf races.
In the work to which I have referred, the opinions enunciated by
Professor Nilsson and Mr. J.F. Campbell, together with other
developments which suggested themselves to me, were duly set forth, and
were received, as was to be expected, with every form of comment, from
complete approval to entire dissent. Among the adverse criticisms, some
arose from a misapprehension of the case, while others were due to the
critic's imperfect acquaintance with the subject he professed to
discuss. But besides these, there were of course the legitimate
objections which can always be urged in matters of a debateable
character, where there is no positive evidence on either side. With
regard to such I can at least echo the words of one of the most eminent
and most courteous of my opponents, M. Charles Ploix, and say for
euhemerism what he says for naturalism:--"Tant que la théorie sur
laquelle il s'appuie n'aura pas été démontrée fausse par des arguments
décisifs, et surtout tant qu'elle n'aura pas été remplacée par une
hypothèse plus certaine, il pourra continuer à s'affirmer."[6]
It ought to be mentioned that the following paper was written for the
Folk-Lore Society, at one of whose meetings (in February 1892) it was
subsequently read. As, however, the Council of that Society ultimately
decided that the paper was unsuited for publication in a journal devoted
to the study of folk-lore, it now appears in a separate form. One
advantage to be derived from this is that the illustrations which
accompanied the lecture, and which are of much importance in enabling
one to understand the argument, can also be reproduced at the same time.
It may be added that, while the theme is capable of much
amplification,[7] have preferred to print the paper as it was written
for the occasion referred to. It states, concisely enough, the leading
points of the argument.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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