Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs. By the Countess Evelyn
Martinengo-Cesaresco. (George Redway.)—The essays in this volume, though here and there verging on the tedious, afford, on the whole, pleasant and instructive reading. The subject, apparently one of the most simple, is not without its difficulties, and while it cannot be held that those have altogether been surmounted, it is only fair to say that the essays, as a rule, are a valuable and welcome contribution to the science of folk-lore. The authoress has evidently left no stone unturned in her search for materials ; some of her essays bear witness to a close acquaintance with the life and habits and feelings of those classes, in both city and hamlet, among whom alone folk-poetry is found ; and all ahaw traces of wide reading in general literature, as well as in the special branch mom intimately connected with her subject. The folk-poetry dealt with is chiefly that of Southern Europe, separate essays being devoted to Venetian, Sicilian, Calabria'', and Provençal songs; but the leading characteristics of folk-poetry generally receive careful and thoughtful treatment, and, indeed, some of the essays on these are among the beet in the book.
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