Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/363

 10 s. XIL OCT. 9, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

299

NOTES ON BOOKS, &o.

A Cotteswold Shrine.- being a Contribution to the History of Hailes, county Gloucester, Manor, Parish, and Abbey. By Welbore St. Clair Baddeley. (Gloucester, John Bellows ; London, Kegan Paul & Co.)

MR. BADDELEY is known for his skill and enthusiasm as an archaeologist both in England and Italy. Not so long ago he was telling the world about the grove of Furrina and the lost galleys of Lake Nemi. Now he has returned to his own country, and produced an admirable monograph on the history of Hailes, a complete and finished piece of work, embellished with excellent illustrations of old-time matters, including a liberal supply of maps, plans, and pedigrees. The pictures of the Abbey show how beautiful a place it was. It is suprising to find how much can be realized from the ruins remaining, and the comparison of other Cistercian foundations, by a skilful judge of monastic life and practice like our author. All his conclusions are fortified by refer- ences to the best authorities, and he has an inge- nious speculation as to Brother John "Cementariuf<," the architect of the building. Can he have been the man " who worked for King Henry at his Castles in Gloucester and at Guilford, and who presently became, and long remained, ' Cementarius Kegis ' at Westminster Abbey (1249-60), at which latter date he died, as both the Liberate and Close Rolls show"?

The Shrine of the Holy Blood, which gave Hailes much of its fame, received the sacred relic as long ago as 1270, and its base was actually uncovered by Mr. Baddeley and his companions in the excavations of 1899-1900. Later, as the history, which vividly follows the course of years, shows, the Blood was taken from its receptacle and scrutinized for its composition by a race of ecclesiastics who abhorred all shrines and their worship.

The influence of Hailes was widespread, and many are the points of interest followed up here- of heraldry, genealogy, and local history. Field- names preserve, as usual, the veracious tradition which is apt to be scouted by an age overburdened with bodks, and a field west of the ruins records in its title of "Tobacco-piece" the cultivation of the weed by an enterprising citizen of London, in spite of the known opposition of King James. The cultivation continued till 1675. All this is worked out with skill and knowledge by the author, and is but one instance of his patient and successful re- search in matters concerning the Abbey.

Our sole regret respecting the monograph is that only a limited number of readers can see it, as there are but 350 copies to be had. It will serve at least, as a model book of its kind, and will, we hope, do something to combat that ignorance of the early monastic life of England which is so common to-day, and largely, no doubt, due to the careless repetition of second-rate matter.

Giles and Phineas Fletcher. Edited by F. S. Boas. Vol.11. (Cambridge, University Press.) THIS second volume completes a scholarly edition of the two Fletchers which is a distinct addition to the by-ways of English letters. An Appendix contains ' Brittain's Ida,' published in 1628, which Mr. Boas, following Grosart, assigns

without doubt to Phineas Fletcher, giving his reasons in the Preface.

That curious poem ' The Purple Island ' is the chief feature of the present instalment, and it appeared with the bulk of the poems here printed in a fine quarto due to the University Printers at Cambridge of 1633. In the same year the same press issued ' De Literis Antiquae Brittanise ' by Giles Fletcher the elder, and ' Sylva Poetica T by Phineas. Phineas has a way of repeating passages from his own works in a new setting, and Mr. Boas regards echoes of his imagery and phraseology in ' Brittain's Ida' as decisive in favour of his authorship.

The Muse of Phineas is too inclined to lengthy exposition to please the present day. We like him best where he is obviously concerned to show personal feeling. Some of his Latin poems are distinctly elegant, and we imagine that he was a keen student of Martial. Nothing, however, of his in this volume is so effective as Quarles's verses ' To my deare Friend, the Spencer of this Age,' which appear with a host of commendations from other admirers.

We congratulate Mr. Boas on his successful completion of what has evidently been a labour of love.

IN The Fortnightly Review Mr. Garvin skilfully touches on topics of the day, prominence being given to the fluctuations at the poll of Socialism and Labour and the much-discussed Budget. Mr. Burton J. Hendrick contributes an able sketch of the late Mr. Harriman, with a summary of the gigantic railway operations which were undertaken and successfully carried through by him. In ' Money and Brains in Politics ' Mr. Bauman seriously discounts from the outset any good effect which might be produced through his efforts, by his assertion that "the Conservatives believe in money, and the Liberals believe in brains." What- ever we may think of the advisability or utility of presenting ' Macbeth ' in the Abbey of Saint- Wandrille, it was at least an interesting experi- ment. Madame Leblanc-Maeterlinck in her article, ably translated by Mr. A. T. de Mattos, gives a romantic account, replete with artistic zeal, of the dawn in her mind of the idea, and its consumma- tion. In ' Baby Navies : the Colonies' Plunge/ Mr. Archibald Hurd surveys the general naval situation with a strong bias against the forma- tion by the colonies of navies acting as inde- pendent units. A not particularly interesting contribution is that of Mr. Francis Gribble on 'Chateaubriand's Last Love.' Mr. Bram Stoker discourses eloquently and feelingly on the "Dead- head" and its many varieties, a subject of which few can have had greater experience. Mr. Douglas's appreciation of Benedetto Croce is spoilt by the inflated metaphor which he indulges in, and his admiration of his subject generally leads him into extravagant diction. In Beaumarchais and the Musicians ' Mr. Ernest Newman asserts that Mozart is a most overrated musician, his reason being that his setting of * Le Nozze di Figaro ' is not according to Mr. Newman's conception as to how it should have been done. We do not think that many musicians will agree with Mr. Newman in this ; in any case, whether it is an accurate reflection of Beau- marchais's ideas or not, it is probable that Mozart wrote just what was in him, using the libretto as a necessary medium for the expression of his art, without any particular scruples as to the author's