" All this helps to give the colloquial and familiar air to the
English fairy-tale not to mention the dialectal and archaic words and
phrases which occur in them.
But their very familiarity and colloquialism make them remarkably
effective with English-speaking little ones. The rhythmical phrases
stick in their memories; they can remember the exact phraseology of the
English tales much better, I find, than that of the Grimms' tales, or
even of the Celtic stories. They certainly have the quality of coming
home to English children. Perhaps this may be partly due to the fact
that a larger proportion of the tales are of native manufacture. If the
researches contained in my Notes are to be trusted only i.-ix., xi.,
xvii., xxii., xxv., xxvi., xxvii., xliv., l., liv., lv., lviii., lxi.,
lxii., lxv., lxvii., lxxviii., lxxxiv., lxxxvii. were imported; nearly
all the remaining sixty are home produce, and have their roots in the
hearts of the English people which naturally respond to them.
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