[Footnote 1: See "The Science of Folk Tales and the Problem of Diffusion" in _Transactions of the International Folk-Lore Congress_, 1891. Mr. Lang has honoured me with a rejoinder, which I regard as a palinode, in his Preface to Miss Roalfe Cox's volume of variants of _Cinderella_ (Folk-Lore Society, 1892).] Contents THE PIED PIPER OF FRANCHVILLE HEREAFTERTHIS THE GOLDEN BALL MY OWN SELF THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY YALLERY BROWN THREE FEATHERS SIR GAMMER VANS TOM HICKATHRIFT THE HEDLEY KOW GOBBORN SEER LAWKAMERCYME TATTERCOATS THE WEE BANNOCK JOHNNY GLOKE COAT O' CLAY THE THREE COWS THE BLINDED GIANT SCRAPEFOOT THE PEDLAR OF SWAFFHAM THE OLD WITCH THE THREE WISHES THE BURIED MOON A SON OF ADAM THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD THE HOBYAHS A POTTLE O' BRAINS THE KING OF ENGLAND AND HIS THREE SONS KING JOHN AND THE ABBOT OF CANTERBURY RUSHEN COATIE THE KING 'O THE CATS TAMLANE THE STARS IN THE SKY NEWS! PUDDOCK, MOUSIE AND RATTON THE LITTLE BULL-CALF THE WEE, WEE MANNIE HABETROT AND SCANTLIE MAB OLD MOTHER WIGGLE-WAGGLE CATSKIN STUPID'S CRIES THE LAMBTON WORM THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM THE PRINCESS OF CANTERBURY * * * * * NOTES AND REFERENCES Full Page Illustrations TAMLANE THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY TATTERCOATS THE OLD WITCH THE CASTLE OF MELVALES THE LITTLE BULL-CALF THE LAMBTON WORM WARNING TO CHILDREN MORE ENGLISH FAIRY TALES The Pied Piper Newtown, or Franchville, as 't was called of old, is a sleepy little town, as you all may know, upon the Solent shore. Sleepy as it is now, it was once noisy enough, and what made the noise was--rats. The place was so infested with them as to be scarce worth living in. There wasn't a barn or a corn-rick, a store-room or a cupboard, but they ate their way into it. Not a cheese but they gnawed it hollow, not a sugar puncheon but they cleared out. Why the very mead and beer in the barrels was not safe from them. They'd gnaw a hole in the top of the tun, and down would go one master rat's tail, and when he brought it up round would crowd all the friends and cousins, and each would have a suck at the tail. Had they stopped here it might have been borne. But the squeaking and shrieking, the hurrying and scurrying, so that you could neither hear yourself speak nor get a wink of good honest sleep the live-long night! Not to mention that, Mamma must needs sit up, and keep watch and ward over baby's cradle, or there'd have been a big ugly rat running across the poor little fellow's face, and doing who knows what mischief.