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PREFACE
The completion of the second volume of my Dictionary has been delayed from several unforeseen circumstances, the most important being the death of my most kind and learned friend the Rev. Dr. Gregor. The loss which folk-lore students as a body sustained by this lamented scholar's death, was in my own case accentuated, not only by many years of kindly communication, but by the very special help which he generously gave me for this collection.
The second volume completes the collection of games on the lines already laid down. It has taken much more space than I originally intended, and I was compelled to add some important variants to the first volume, sent to me during the compilation of the second. -I have explained in the memoir that the two volumes practically contain all that is to be collected, all, that is to say, of real importance.
The memoir seeks to show what important evidence is to be derived from separate study of the Traditional Games of England. That games of all classes are shown to contain evidence of ancient custom and belief is remarkable testimony to the anthropological methods of studying folk-lore, which I have followed. The memoir fills a considerable space, although it contains only the analytical portion of what was to have been a comprehensive study of both the analytical and comparative sides of the questions. Dr. Gregor had kindly promised to help me with the study of foreign |
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