In the introduction, Alfred Graves, father of the poet Robert Graves gives respectful credits to the art in the telling, and care in collecting, of all of the contributors to this book. He selected the tales in this collection for their fidelity to the Irish originals. Dating back to the time of St Patrick, and passed on by word of mouth to the present day, these stories lyrically evoke the spirit of Ireland. One finds tales of a weaver who is full of blarney. He's lucky at disposing of dragons, but his luck runs out when he marries the princess. In another story enchanted pudding makes a wedding couple, the clergy of different churches, and the whole town, go ridiculously mad. In an exotic, lush poem by Alfred Tennyson, a man sails from one strange island to another seeking vengeance for his father's death, and finally learns the secret to steer his course wisely. King Conn The Hundred Slayer, unable to stop the burning of Tara every Samhain, receives help from a stranger. These stories have stirred the hearts and imaginations of the Irish from their very roots when Greeks made their way to Ireland centuries before the time of Christ.