! CHANGES !

I have two major changes for my blog.

First --

For five years, during the sesquicentennial of the U.S. Civil War, I posted a separate blog about Michigan's "Fighting Fifth" Infantry, giving newspaper articles about the regiment at the pace they originally appeared in the Detroit newspapers.  The sesquicentennial has ended and I have decided to transfer those articles to my main blog.  Those pages now can be found using the blog sidebar.

Change usually brings both good and bad or, at the least, mixed results.  This has been true as I transferred the old blog.  The usual blog format puts the most recent article posted first, with older articles further down.  Transferring the blog let me put articles in the order they appeared.  I also now take a separate page for each year.  Chronological order is so much more sensible than reverse chronological order when dealing with history!  At the same time my use of Google's free Blogger software produced some of those other results.  It's free other than my time!  It's also almost WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), avoiding html coding on my part.  The problem is some of my original decisions, like the use of this color font, proved difficult to change.  Equally frustrating quirks of the Blogger process made problems, for example spacing and fonts are different than I chose on the original blog.  I took the format as far as I could, but it may mislead the reader into not realizing there is more to come.  Just know each page has an entire year and keep going.  Additionally my main blog has so many search labels it was impossible to add the many labels specific to the former blog.  Those topics, however, are listed right underneath the newspaper article title and date, before the actual article.

Are the actual articles all I would like?  OF COURSE NOT!  To begin with, the original microfilm process recording those newspapers of over 150 years ago had flaws.  Added to that, I used the index Helen Ellis made, during the centennial 51 years ago, of the Burton Historical Collection newspapers in her Michigan in the Civil War, but, I saw different edition times because the Library of Michigan microfilmed newspaper collection gave me the ability to use a flash drive in my own recording.  That meant two different libraries with two different editions.  At times the newspapers didn't publish the same thing in both morning and evening editions.  As if that wasn't confusing and frustrating enough, trips to Lansing gathering the material had to be limited.  Add in my own learning curve on collection and reproduction to correct microfilm flaws.  I apologize.  This process from original microfilming to final reproduction here couldn't be as complete nor as perfect as I wish.

But as they say in "infomercials", That's not all!

My second change --

I love offering the segment I call Keeping the Public in Public Domain.  As of this time, I've posted 135 public domain stories, complete with appropriate background information I prowl to find.  

In addition, at the end I've posted a link promoting Dr. Yoel Perez's online database, Yashpeh, the International Folktales Collection.  I still will include it because it offers probably the most ambitious online listing of public domain international folklore, and also presents online the 6 volume Stith Thompson's Motif Index.  But when I say "That's not all!" I have decided to add to it.  I'm a long-time fan and promoter of the email list, 

now hosted by the National Storytelling Network at http://storynet.org/storytell.html but it dates back to 1995.  Recently it had a discussion of Online Story Sources.

Aside from my mentioning in the list discussion the Keeping the Public in Public Domain segment and Yashpeh, several other sites were mentioned by other list members.  I'd like those sites to be known by other story loving readers.  My sidebar's already jam-packed with the Civil War pages and all my many article labels, so I don't want to post my recommendations there, but will make the Keeping the Public in Public Domain ending include the other major sites, along with a suggestion for finding sites no longer active.  That way if a site has links that are no longer valid, you probably can still find by using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, an excellent resource.  

The International Folktales Collection

Just learned from a reader that the link to Yashpeh, the International Folktales Collection of Public Domain stories from Yoel Perez has changed its email address without having a forwarding service.  The link, starting with this week's story about "The Seal-Catcher's Adventure", has been changed.  My apologies for any inconvenience.  It's a great site jam-packed with Public Domain stories.  Our approaches to what we post may differ, but supplement each other as I try to give background information whenever I can find it.

Curtin - Four-Leafed Shamrock - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

Why won't Ireland ever be known for Rock Bands?

Because they're better known for Shamrocks.

March is not just Dr. Seuss's birthday month and Reading Month, it's also a time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and Ireland's contributions such as the Blarney Stone and telling blarney!

Today and in the next post enjoy some Irish folktales with a wee Michigan connection starting with, born in Detroit, Jeremiah Curtin.  A major 19th century collector of Irish folktales, Curtin's focus really was on other aspects of folklore and travels.

Appropriate to the opening Sham-joke, here is his story of the importance of The Four-Leafed Shamrock

My mother used to walk through my yard and find four-leafed clovers.  I wonder if they tried to keep enchantment and devilment from me?  My partner in the children's room back at Mount Clemens Public Library, Marge Kinzy, always had a pot of shamrocks, although I never saw any with four leaves.

This story came from Curtin's Tales of the Fairies and of the Ghost World.  The widest listing of his other works online can be found at the Online Books Page and shows the variety of his work.

Now before I close with my standard comments about Keeping the Public in Public Domain, I want to note an online database of International Folktales,

Yashpheh (Jasper), is a labor of love by fellow storyteller, Dr. Yoel Perez, in Haifa, Israel.  He, too, wants to Keep the Public in Public Domain and storytelling.
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This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories. 

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my normal monthly posting of a research project here.  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my monthly postings as often as I can manage it.