English Fairy Tales - Penn State University

English Fairy TalesXXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE.Source.—American Journal of Folk-Lore, ii. 60.Parallels.—The lover visiting his spouse in guise of a bird, isa frequent motif in folk-tales.Parallels.—Another variant is given in the same Journal, p.277, where reference is also made to a version “The GingerbreadBoy,” in St. Nicholas, May 1875. Chambers gives twoversions of the same story, under the title “The WeeBunnock,” the first of which is one of the most dramaticand humorous of folk-tales. Unfortunately, the Scotticismsare so frequent as to render the droll practically untranslatable.“The Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow” in Uncle Remus is similarto that of Johnny-Cake.XXX. MR. MIACCA.Source.—From memory of Mrs. B. Abrahams, who heard itfrom her mother some x years ago (more than 40). I havetransposed the two incidents, as in her version Tommy Grimeswas a clever carver and carried about with him a carven leg.This seemed to me to exceed the limits of vraisemblance evenfor a folk-tale.XXIX. EARL MAR’S DAUGHTER.Source.—From the ballad of the same name as given in Mr.Allingham’s Ballad Book: it is clearly a fairy tale and not aballad proper.Parallels.—Getting out of an ogre’s clutches by playing onthe simplicity of his wife, occurs in “Molly Whuppie” (No.xxii.), and its similars. In the Grimms’ “Hansel and Grethel,”Hansel pokes out a stick instead of his finger that the witchmay not think him fat enough for the table.Remarks.—Mr. Miacca seems to have played the double rôle162