Myths and Legends of Our Own Land (Annotated)

Myths and Legends of Our Own Land is a wide-ranging anthology of American folklore, gathering spectral tales, Indigenous traditions, colonial marvels, Revolutionary memories, and local superstitions from across the United States. Written in a polished late-nineteenth-century prose, the book blends antiquarian curiosity with narrative vigor, presenting legends as part of a national imaginative inheritance. In literary context, it belongs to the post-Romantic movement to discover a distinctively American mythology, comparable in impulse to Irving's legendary sketches and the era's regionalist recovery of place-based memory. Charles M. Skinner (1852–1907), a journalist, editor, and prolific compiler of folklore, was well placed to undertake such a project. His newspaper background sharpened his eye for anecdote, locality, and memorable detail, while his interest in American scenery, history, and popular belief reflects an age eager to define cultural identity beyond European models. Skinner's work preserves stories that might otherwise have remained scattered in oral tradition or local histories. This volume is recommended to readers interested in folklore, American literary history, regional culture, and the formation of national myth. Though modern readers should approach some materials with awareness of their period assumptions, Skinner's collection remains a valuable gateway into the haunted, heroic, and imaginative landscapes of the United States.

This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.

Charles Montgomery Skinner (1852–1907) was an American writer. He published collections of myths, legends and folklore found inside the United States and across the world.