r collected and written in
books. It is the popular and social character of these stories that is
so important; they are records of customs and habits long forgotten,
but once common in the daily life of the people. In them the past is
potent with life, and for this reason they claim the most careful and
patient study. I speak of the most familiar stories that we have
regarded as foolish fables. Nowhere else can we gain so clear and
vivid a picture of the childhood of civilisation, when women were the
transmitters of inheritance and the guardians of property.

Let me try to prove this. I have before me a collection of these
folk-stories, gathered from many countries. Now, the most popular
story (whose theme occurs again and again, the details varied in the
different renderings) is concerned with the gaining of a princess as a
bride by a wooer, usually of humble birth. This lover to obtain his
wife achieves some mighty deed of valour, or performs tasks set for
him by the parents of the bride; he thus inherits the kingdom through
the daughter of the king. Hans, faring forth to seek his luck; the
Dummling in the Golden Goose story; the miller's son, who gained his
bride by the wit of his cat, and Aladdin with his magic lamp are
well-known examples of this story. The Scottish and Irish legends are
particularly rich in examples of these hero lovers. Assipattle, the
dirty ash-lad, who wins the fair Gemdelovely and then reigns with her
as queen and king, is one of the most interesting. Similar stories may
be found in the folk-lore of every country. Ash-lad figures in many of
the Norwegian tales. There is a charming version in the Lapp story of
the "Silk Weaver and her husband," where we read, "Once upon a time a
poor lad wooed a princess and the girl wanted to marry him, but the
Emperor was against the match. Nevertheless she took him at last and
they were wed together."[244]

[244] K. Pearson, _The Truth about Woman_, p. 70 _note_.

This "fairy theory" of marriage is really the maternal or _beenah_
form: such a marriage as was made by Jacob and is still common among
all maternal peoples. The inheritance passes through the daughters;
the suitors gain their position by some deed of valour or by service
done for the bride's family; sometimes it is the mother who sets the
task, more often it is the father, while, in some cases, the girl
herself imposes the conditions of marriage. It is possible to trace a
development in th