Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/478

 352 NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. detached belfry towers standing in the churchyard, but how a " detached tower standuig in the middle of the town, and a detached chapel standing a little to the south of it," can form part of a church in another part (" the south side") of the town, passes comprehension. The impignoration of the Orkney and Zetland islands, p. 86, may perplex ordinary readers. For their assistance we may be allowed to mention that it means they were "pawned" or given in pledge by the crown of Denmark. What style are we to understand by this description, "The eai'l's palace is late Fii'st-Pointed, verging towards Renaissance, but extremely picturesque." p. 107. We have passed over the account of the Isle of Man, because it does not appear that the architectural remains are sufficient to attract a tourist; they appear to be generally very slight, and the modern buildings beneath criti- cism, always excepting Peel castle and cathedral, of which an excellent account has already been given in this Journal by Mr. Petit, to which in- deed the author very handsomely refers. But he differs from him on the question of the restoration of the cathedral, which he strongly advocates against the opinion of Mr. Petit, who deprecates the attempt, in the spirit alike of an antiquary and a man of common sense, well knowing how completely many fine remains have been destroyed under the name of restoration, which generally means erecting a new building in supposed imitation of the old one, with such improvements as the sujierior taste of the modern architect considers necessary. We cannot say that this work has added much to our stock of informa- tion on the history of architecture, the most novel feature that we have noticed is a particular class of Norman towers, built in stages with a set-off at each stage. " This tower (at Egilsha in the Orkneys) should be taken into consideration with four others, which do not now exist. Three were in Zetland, and were traditionally held to have been built by thi'ee sisters. One of these was S. Laurence, West Burra : one at Ting- well : one at Ireland-head. They, however, no further resembled Egilsha than in their date, and in being also about seventy feet in height. The fourth was that which appears to have stood at Stremoe in Faeroe. This seems a type unknown in England ; for closely as Man, North Wales, Cumberland, and Northumber- land, resemble in their ecclesiology the north- ern isles, they have nothing that is like this, unless, indeed, we may compare with it some churches in the south of Northumberland." p. 110. We cordially agree with the author in the wish he expresses in his preface that Sir Henry Dryden may shortly favour the public with his drawings of the cathedral at S. Magnus, an interesting structure, of which