T. Crofton Croker

Thomas Crofton Crocker (January 15, 1798 - August 8, 1854) was an Irish antiquarian best known for his “Fairytale Legends and Traditions of Southern Ireland” (1825-1828), who also showed considerable interest in Irish song and music. Although the “Fairy Tale Legends” was supposedly a collection of short stories that Crocker collected on his trip, he lost his manuscript and the work had to be reconstructed with the help of friends. He did not satisfactorily acknowledge his duty in the assessment of Thomas Caitley, who publicly voiced his complaint and soon published his competing work. Other employees generally allowed Crocker to take out a loan, especially William Maginn, although after his death his relatives insisted that Maginn was the one who wrote four or more stories. Crocker recalled ten stories in his third edition (1834), and after his death, a fourth edition (1859) appeared, preceded by memoirs written by his son. William Butler Yates, who attributed a number of short stories for his anthology, described Crocker as an ascendant Anglo-Irish class and criticized Crocker for comic distortions of the Irish tradition, an assessment repeated by other Irish critics. Bridget McCarthy wrote a biographical article in which she carefully explores Crocker's habit of publishing other people's works under her own name. Crocker's advocates are Justin McCarthy and Neil S. Haltin.