Miss Mary Mac is an interesting book to read because one can't help but think of similar rhymes from his or her own childhood repertoire. And, I discovered quite by accident, young children particularly enjoy being read to from it. Finally, though, it is nothing more than a slim volume of collectanea primarily from Vermont, but also from other parts of New England and southeastern Canada, which, aside from entertainment, constitutes its main value to folklorists.

The introductory essay is general and unsatisfactory -- though perhaps sufficient for non-specialists. It pretends to offer an analytic overview of the material, but talks down to the reader when, for instance, it gives the definition of "jargon." I find it difficult to believe that any reader would not know the meaning of that term. And I was puzzled by the penultimate paragraph, in which he seems to believe that children's lore can only be passed on if children don't have to work. How does he think it survived the nineteenth century, I wonder? Does he think folklore is a leisure-class phenomenon?

The books ends with a rudimentary, but functional, essay on collecting, though I'm somewhat put off by the tone of it. For instance, the cautionary note that "Bawdy lore is, in fact, a legitimate category of children's lore . . ." seems rather patronizing and unnecessary.

Hastings provides no real analysis of the 378 pieces of material, though he does briefly identify sources and indicate variants; occasionally, too, he notes such oddities as the incorporation of new material into traditional forms. He writes, "Although folklore is traditional, comic strip characters and real life people sometimes become integral parts of rhymes" (p. ;14). Sometimes? However, he puts the individual items in neither an historical nor a performance nor a psychological context, thus severely limiting the work's utility. Again, though, he obviously recognizes the importance of doing so: "To truly appreciate children's folk material," he says, "one must hear it in use among a group of lively youngsters. Watching how their chanting governs the quick, often ritualized body motions and gestures that are the focus of a game, brings home to us how differently children see the world" (pp. 16-17).

The book's contents are also somewhat of a puzzle. While Hastings makes it evident that his collecting, which was done between 1970 and 1972, was systematic, he doesn't account for why he includes only the four kinds of rhymes (jump-rope, counting-out and everyday rhymes, and tongue-twisters). One can only believe that he had no particular reason.

I truly enjoyed reading the book, but seriously question its utility. Such a work can have value to collectors from other regions only if it contains sufficient performance and informant data that one can make comparisons and interpretations. Because Miss Mary Mac lacks that apparatus, though, I can see little value to it -- except entertainment (and folklorists need fun, too!). I would think it might be appropriate for public, elementary and personal libraries, but I can't recommend it to scholars of folklore.

Jim V