ese stories. We can see the growth of purchase-marriage
in the service demanded by the parents of the bride, this taking the
place of the earlier custom of the bridegroom proving his fitness by
some test of strength. Again, those stories in which the arrangement
of the marriage remains with the mother or with the girl, and not with
the father, must be regarded as the older versions. This change
appears also in the conditions of inheritance; in some cases the
kingdom passes at once with the bride, in others the half of the
kingdom is the marriage portion, while in the later stories the full
authority to rule comes only after the death of the king. But always
sooner or later the daughter of the king conveys the kingdom to her
husband. The sons of the king do not inherit; they are of much less
importance than the daughters; they are sent forth to seek their own
fortunes. This is the law where the inheritance passes through the
daughter.

This law of female inheritance must at one time have been universal.
We are brought, indeed, constantly back to that opinion--so amply
evidenced by these folk-relics. In the old West country ballad "The
Golden Vanity" or "The Lowland's Low," the boy who saves the ship from
the Spanish pirate galleon is promised as a reward "silver and gold,
with the skipper's pretty little daughter who lives upon the shore."
Similarly in the well-known folksong "The Farmer's Boy," the lad who
comes weary and lame to the farmer's door, seeking work, eventually
marries the farmer's daughter and inherits the farm. Again, Dick
Whittington, the poor country lad, who faithfully serves his master in
London, marries his employer's daughter. This theme is very frequently
found in ballads, romances, and dramas; in all cases the way to
fortune for the lover is through marriage--the daughter carries the
inheritance.

Let us take Assipattle of the Scottish legend as a type of these hero
wooers. He is represented always as the youngest son, held in contempt
by his brothers, and merely tolerated by his parents. He lies in the
ashes, from which he gains his name. Some emergency arises; a great
danger threatens the land or, more often, a princess has to be
delivered from a position of peril. Assipattle executes the deed, when
his brothers and all others have failed; he frees the land or rescues
the king's daughter, and is covered with honour. He marries the
princess and inherits the kingdom. Assipattle always begins in t