"The stories that the fairies toldI learnt in English lanes of old,Where honeysuckle, wreathing high,Twined with the wild rose towards the sky,Or where pink-tinged anemonesGrew thousand starred beneath the trees.I saw them, too, in London town,But sly and cautious, glancing down,Where in the grass the crocus growAnd ladies ride in Rotten Row,St James's Park's a garden meetFor tiny babes and fairy feet.But since I came to Germany,The good folk oftener talk to me;I find them in their native homeWhen through the forest depths I roam,When through the trees blue mountains shine,The heart of fairyland is mine."

Margaret Gatty (née Scott, 3 June 1809 - 4 October 1873) was an English children's author and writer on marine biology. Some of her writings argue against Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. Among her other books are Parables from Nature, Worlds not Realized, Proverbs Illustrated, and Aunt Judy's Tales. She also conducted Aunt Judy's Magazine, a family publication written by various members of Margaret's large family. This book was originally printed in 1851. To My Children These tales are most affectionately dedicated. They were written in hours of sickness but are intended to be read by the healthy and joyous young: and to illustrate some favourite and long cherished convictions. Margaret Gatty. Ecclesfield Vicarage, 27th March 1851.

Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 - 30 January 1916) was an Australian folklorist, translator, literary critic, social scientist, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Jacobs was born in Sydney to a Jewish family. His work went on to popularize some of the world's best known versions of English fairy tales including "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Goldilocks and the three bears", "The Three Little Pigs", "Jack the Giant Killer" and "The History of Tom Thumb". He published his English fairy tale collections: English Fairy Tales in 1890 and More English Fairy Tales in 1893 but also went on after and in between both books to publish fairy tales collected from continental Europe as well as Jewish, Celtic and Indian fairytales.

Dear Little Friends:I want to introduce the farmyard people to you, and to have you call upon them and become better acquainted as soon as you can. Some of them are working for us, and we surely should know them. Perhaps, too, some of us are working for them, since that is the way in this delightful world of ours, and one of the happiest parts of life is helping and being helped.Your friend,Clara Dillingham Pierson.

I have to express my indebtedness first of all to the executors of Henrietta MacOubrey, George Borrow's stepdaughter, who kindly placed Borrow's letters and manuscripts at my disposal. To the survivor of these executors, a lady who resides in an English provincial town, I would particularly wish to render fullest acknowledgment did she not desire to escape all publicity and forbid me to give her name in print. I am indebted to Sir William Robertson Nicoll without whose kindly and active intervention I should never have taken active steps to obtain the material to which this biography owes its principal value.