Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/651

 ii. DEC. si, 1904.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

539

The spelling Witeham (for the former) in Domesday Book suffices. The medial -e-, as in many other examples, regularly repre- sents an A.-S. -an, so that wite means A.-S. witan, gen. of wita, a "wit" or counsellor, also used as a proper name ; whence Witham means " Wita's home," as I have said already. The spelling Witteham merely means that the i is short, as is the fact.

The welcome note on guiih in Old Welsh (ante, p. 466) shows quite clearly that (as I expected) it has nothing whatever to do with Witham. It was meant to explain the name of the Isle of Wight, which it entirely fails to do. WALTER W. SKEAT.

With reference to the letter of MR. J. COLES concerning Witham, may I state that in my younger days, being a great walker (with map in pocket), I asked a countryman if I was on the right road for Wrotham ? He failed to understand me, and at last said, "Oh! aye! Rootam, you mane, sir." I thanked him, and walked on.

EDWARD P. WOLFERSTAN.

National Liberal Club.

GOVERNOR STEPHENSON OF BENGAL (10 th S. ii. 348, 437, 492). Some time during the eighteenth century a person of this name, a native of Keswick, Cumberland, went to India, and after a successful career returned to Keswick, where he built a large house, still (I think) standing. This house was always known as " Governor's House." Per- haps this is the person inquired about.

MISTLETOE.

O'NEILL SEAL (10 th S. ii. 287). Your cor- respondent may possibly find a clue by a reference to the Kilkenny Archceological Journal, 1858-9, p. 38, where, according to Dr. Joyce's ' History of Ireland,' Owen Koe O'Neill's signet, with coat of arms, is figured.

ALEX. LEEPER.

Trinity College, University of Melbourne.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &o. La Bretagne. Par Gustave Geoffrey. (Hachette

& Cie.)

Ix the latest annual Messrs. Hachette quit the domain of Art for that of Nature. In place of 'L'Enfant' and other subjects of recent gift- books, they now present us with a rhapsody concerning Brittany, written by a son of the soil, and inspired by a patriotic appreciation of its beauties. Superb photographs, attaining the latest degree of excellence in what may now claim to be art, illustrate a volume of singular attractions, and recall to the traveller spots of inexhaustible picturesqueness and interest. To the journeying

Englishman Brittany is as well known as it is to- the average Frenchman, and there are few of us who are not familiar with its rugged hills, its fertile valleys, its rock-bound coasts, its archaeological and architectural remains. Without possessing great ecclesiastical monuments such as grace the adjacent districts of Normandy and Anjou, it is surprisingly rich in beautiful churches, ancient chapels, cal- varies, and the like. In no other part of France does religion seem to enter so closely into the life of the people, and nowhere else is there the same sense of dream and reverie. For the lover of Celtic remains its menhirs and dolmens are of unparalleled interest. A representation of the superb ' Menhirs du Moulin' at Quiberon constitutes an admirable frontispiece to the volume. To the English traveller portions of Brittany have a striking resemblance to England, due in a great measure to the hedgerows, which, if they ever existed in other parts of France,, have principally disappeared. Englishmen ordi- narily enter the country through the superb portal of St. Malo, with its quickly receding tide, and their first excursion is likely enough to be up the river Ranee from Dinard to the grey walls and towers of Dinan, picturesque still, though, as in many another feudal city, the moats and fosses have been filled up and converted into boulevards. With the Frenchman, and notably with the Parisian,, it is different. He reaches Brittany from the east by Vitre, upon the Vilaine a smiling little town, with a superb chateau, all towers and pignons on the route from Paris or Le Mans to Rennes. Thence we are conducted to Northern Brittany,, extending to St. Malo and La Manche. It is im- possible to follow M. Geoffrey through his interest- ing volume, most of which leads us over familiar ground. His book is written with much discretion and some animation. The iniquities of the Revo- lution in places such as Nantes are glided over, and the book seems to us the product of a confirmed republican. When opportunities for dealing with the atrocities of Gilles de Rais, one of the supposed origins of Bluebeard, are afforded, they are all but neglected. Reading carefully the volume, and comparing its statements with our own recollections, now remote, and with the descriptions of Jules Janin, now almost antiquated, we feel as if a portion of the charm of Brittany were being lost, like the language. A propos of that, a well-to-do Breton proprietor near Vannes told us, half a century ago, that his father knew Breton and no French, that he himself knew French and Breton, and that his son knew French and no Breton. The chief charm of the book lies in the illustrations, which are matchless. Whether we contemplate long stretches of sea with the solitary and almost inaccessible phare, the moorland with its druidical monuments, the cathedrals, chateaux, stretches of pastoral scenery, the black mountains, or peasant costume, the effect is equally delightful. In typographical and bibliographic details the work is no less attractive, and a pleasanter souvenir and a handsomer present is not to be hoped.

The Complete Poetical Work* of Shelley. Edited,

with Textual Notes, by Thomas Hutchinson,

M.A. (Oxford, Clarendon Press.)

IF we are disposed to call this an ideal edition of

Shelley it is because, in view of the demand upon

shelf-room involved in elaborate editions of the

poets, we are disposed to favour editions in one

volume. We have owned from its first appearance