60 The Washer of the Ford THE WASHER OF THE FORD In an article in Modern Language Notes for June 19 18, 1 Prof. G. G. King expresses "the gravest doubt" of the Gaelic origin of certain of the Fiona Macleod writings of William Sharp. Having met the Sin-Eater, the Dark Star, and a supernatural washer- woman in essays on the folk-lore of northwestern Spain, Prof. King suspects that it is such readings as these that William Sharp has Gaelicized and is passing off as Celtic. Prof. King even men- tions Thomas Chatterton as a parallel case. But Chatterton and Macpherson presented themselves as translators. They invited judgment on their works as genuine "antiques." William Sharp makes no such claim. He must be judged as an artist, not as an antiquarian. He does not assert that what he depicts is exclusively Celtic, or even typically so. 2 He explains that he has interpenetrated Gaelic tradition with his own sentiment and made it serve as a medium for the expression of his personal view of life. To one familiar with Celtic literature this is so obviously true as to need no comment. The Gaelic associa- tions of the Fiona Macleod writings are so numerous that it would require an extensive study to point them out. 2 Within the limits of the present article we can do so only to a limited extent. We have therefore chosen to examine the Gaelic tradition of the Washer of the Ford and to compare it with the figure in Fiona Macleod's legendary morality of that title. 1 XXXIII, 354. 2 Fiona Macleod, The Sin Eater, The Washer of the Ford, etc. New York, 1913, p. 8. 3 In an unpublished study by Mr. Mac E. Leach, University of Illinois, A.M. 1917, the following writings of Fiona Macleod are referred to definite written sources. (References are to pages in the Bibliography of Irish Philology and Literature by R. I. Best, published by the National Library of Ireland.) The House of Usna, based on Longes mac nUsnig, B 92; The Immortal Hour, based on Tochmarc Elaine, B. 84; The Laughter of Peter kin, based on Aided Chlainne Lir, B. 82, Aided Chlainne Tuirenn, B 82-3, Longes mac nUsnig B. 92. The following writings involve characters familiar in Celtic tradition: The Sad Queen (Scathach), cf. Foglaim Chonculaind, B 91; The Laughter of Scatliach the Queen, cf. ibid.; Harping of Cravetheen (Cormac), cf. Togail Bruidne Da Ckoca,
B 98, 99. Mr. Leach's work is incomplete.
