Hello, and welcome to the November 2021 Folklore & Fiction dispatch. In this edition, I'll be exploring ATU 450 "Little Brother and Little Sister." Let's begin with a Child Ballad for which there is no associated tune, titled "The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea." Please note that there are spelling variations in Francis James Child's original text, and there is a line missing as well, which I have preserved below. [ . . . ]
This is a Folklore & Fiction dispatch excerpt. To read the full dispatch, create a free account or log in to your existing account for access to the archives.
Dr. Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran holds hold B.A. in Celtic Studies from the University of Toronto, an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Maine, and a PhD in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is also an author, poet, and musician under the name C.S. MacCath. Her long-running Folklore & Fiction Project integrates these passions with a focus on folklore scholarship aimed at storytellers, and she brings a deep appreciation of animism, ecology, and folkloristics to her own storytelling. You can find her online at csmaccath.com, folkloreandfiction.com, and linktr.ee/csmaccath.
© 2025 Dr. Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran. All rights reserved unless Creative Commons licensing is specifically applied. To read the full "Copyright Statement and Usage Guide," visit https://csmaccath.com/copyright.