Popular tales of the West Highlands : orally collected . ventures is to obtain thehand of a lady, and so a whole system of popular talesis founded on a stepmothers dislike for her step-children. The manner of telling the story agreesclosely with the manner of telling Gaelic stories ; manyof the names could be explained by GaeHc—for example,Lychlin is surely Lochlann ; ]\Iil du, Maol dhu ; Kilh-wich, son of the king of Kellydon, is surely Gil mliuic,the swine lad; and the Welsh word has the samemeaning, for the kings son was so called because hewas hidden in a swines ban-ow. The whole principle
Popular tales of the West Highlands : orally collected . ventures is to obtain thehand of a lady, and so a whole system of popular talesis founded on a stepmothers dislike for her step-children. The manner of telling the story agreesclosely with the manner of telling Gaelic stories ; manyof the names could be explained by GaeHc—for example,Lychlin is surely Lochlann ; ]\Iil du, Maol dhu ; Kilh-wich, son of the king of Kellydon, is surely Gil mliuic,the swine lad; and the Welsh word has the samemeaning, for the kings son was so called because hewas hidden in a swines ban-ow. The whole principle of the story is popular, in thatthe hero rises to a palace from a stye. The first thing he asks from King Arthur, when hegets to court, is to have his hair cut, and though thisis said to have been an ancient ceremony, I am inclinedto think it is nothing but the common incident in allpopular tales, which the following sketch from nature, BRITISH TRADITIOXS. 283 made on the Tana river, on the Eussian hank, in 1850,may save me from explaining in And he laid his head on her lap, and she dressed his hair. Here is a quotation from the J^orse tale of SoriaMoria Castle. De satte sig da der, og da de havde siddet en stundsagde den yngste Prindsessen : Yeg faaer vel lyskedig lidt jeg Halvor, ya Halvor lugde hovodet i hendeshavn, saa lyskede hun ham, og det varede ikke lasngeforend Halvor sov ; etc. (page 153, Xorske folkeeventyr. 1852). In the list of Arthurs warriors, too, there are manyold famihar friends, the gifted men of Fortunio, whoappear in many languages, and who have counterpartsin Gaelic, see voh i., p. 250. In another story, BolagamMor, I have Luraga Luath, nimble shanks, who 284 BRITISH TRADITIONS. catches deer by speed. Clarsxeachd Mhaith, whohears the grass grow. Toix Chruaidh, who is foundclearing a field of stones by sitting on them. CuimseDiREACH, the marksman who is found with a gun at hiseye aiming at a bird in Eirinn; and Bolagam MorGreat Gulp, who is foun
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