Harry's slippers, the wolf, or any other of the occult diseases the folk tell you that their friends are suffering from. What malady could be likened to, or symbolized by, a little white dog? Well, what place does the actual little white dog hold in the economy of English agricultural life? I say nothing about French country life, because I have no acquaintance with it; but in an old-fashioned English farmhouse the only creature that is not kept for profit is the little white dog. There are no pet animals, no tame rabbits, white mice, or canaries,—no sporting-dogs, because there is (or was) no sport. The sheep-dog, if there is one, and the big house-dog tied up in the yard both have their uses and duties. They "earn their living," as the people say. Only the little white terrier has no duties or responsibilities, and may play about all day long at his own sweet will. What he typifies is idleness. He is a "lazy dog," and the man who has "got" him is the one who has been infected by his laziness. This is sufficiently shown by the parallel expression given by the country informant in explanation,—"the Lawrence has got him,"—"Lazy Lawrence," the personification of the idle fellow.
(Even since these lines were written, a country-woman incidentally said to me, a propos of a license for a pet dog,—"It's waste of money, ma'am, for 'e don't earn 'is living." This casual remark in itself shows the point of view from which the "little dog" is regarded.)
I cannot put the whole matter better than it has been put by Mr. Gomme:[1]—"Similarity in form does not necessarily imply similarity in origin. It does not mean similarity in motive. Customs and rites which are alike in practice can be shown to have originated from quite different causes, to express quite different motives, and cannot, therefore, be held to belong to a common class, the elements of which are comparable." In evidence of this he adduces the custom of the inheritance of the youngest
- ↑ Folklore as an Historical Science, p. 171.
