A curious story of a magic horse is still told in Lincolnshire, which I heard the other day in Boston. This is verbatim. "Near Lincoln is a place called Biard's Leap; near there an old witch lived in a cave, who enticed people in and eat them. One day a man offered to go and kill her. He had his choice of a dozen horses, so he took them all to a pond, where he threw a stone into the water, and then led the horses to have a drink, and the one which lifted its head first he chose. It was blind. He got on its back, and, taking his sword, set off. When he got to the cave's mouth, he shouted to the witch to come out.

cried the witch. She then rushed out, and jumping on to the horse stuck her claws into its rump, which made it jump over thirty feet (the so-called Biard's leap). The man struck behind him with his sword, which entered the old woman's left breast, and killed her."

The legend is given in a curious little tract, entitled "The existing remains of the Ancient Britons within a small district lying between Lincoln and Sleaford, by the Rev. G. Oliver, D.D. London, 1846." The man of the above version is replaced by a knight, who "cast a large stone into the lake, accompanied by a secret petition to the gods, that the chosen steed might raise his head from the water;" Biard rises, and they go to meet the witch, who has her left breast cut off by the first blow of the knight's sword; the second blow she evades by springing on to Biard's flank, where she fixes her talons, so that the horse took a series of prodigious leaps, three of which are at least sixty yards asunder, and are still marked by the impressions of his feet. The witch died from her wound, and was buried under a huge stone at the cross roads, and a stake driven through her body. Gubernatis, i. p. 338. Cf. Notes to Prince MirkÓ.

Page 160. Obstructions placed in the way of the witch or giant who follows.

Cf. Finnish, "Awaimetoin Wakka" (the Keyless Chest), S. ja T. i. p. 151, and "Oriiksi muutettu poika" (the enchanted horse), ib. p. 142. Lapp. "Jaetten og Veslegutten." Friis, p. 49, and "Jaetten og Drengen hans," ib. p. 58. Rink, Eskimo Tales, "A tale about Two Girls," and "Giviok." NaakÉ, Slavonic Tales, "The wonderful hair," and "Ivan Kruchina." Legends of the Wigwam, "Exploits of Grasshopper," p. 61. Old Deccan Days, "Truth's Triumph," p. 63. Portuguese Folk Tales, F. L. S. 1882, "The Maid and the Negress," and "St. Peter's Goddaughter." Ralston, Russian Folk-Tales, "Marya Morevna," p. 95: "the Baba Yaga," p. 141, and "the Witch and the Sun's Sister," p. 173. Dasent, Norse Tales, "The Mastermaid," p. 91; "Farmer Weathersky," p. 334, and "The Widow's Son," p. 363. Grimm, vol. i. "The Water Nix." Geldart, Greek Tales, "Starbright and Birdie," "The Golden Casket," p. 123, and "The Scab Pate," p. 164. Vernaleken, "The Two Sisters," p. 157. Pentamerone, "The Flea," and "Petrosinella." Records of the Past, vol. ii. "Tale of the Two Brothers," p. 142. Gubernatis, vol. i. pp. 166, 175. Folk-Lore Journal, 1883, "The Three Sisters and ItrÌmobÉ," p. 235. A Malagasky tale. Ananci Stories, ib. p. 286. Irish Folk-Tales, ib. p. 323. Ibid. 1884. "Prince Unexpected," p. 15, a Polish tale, and "IsÌlakÒlona," ib. p. 31, a Malagasy tale.