Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/506

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. in. MAY 27, 1905.

larity. Her affection for her royal mistress and for the young princesses is so genuine, and in her case so well merited, that we cease to think of her book as an instance of flunkeydom in excelsis. Mr. Dobson's notes remain invaluable, and the work, which in certain quarters has provoked un- generous comment, is in its way unsurpassable. So much of the information as we have tested and the period covered is to us, as to others, fairly familiar is useful and impeccable. A propos of Mrs. Wells, the actress, concerning whose proceedings (pp. 102 et seq.) a strange story is told, it might be worth while saying that at that time (1792) she was called Sumbel ; that she had been mad, and was a drunkard. Once more the illustrations constitute an attractive feature. There are reproduced por- traits of Elizabeth Montagu after Sir Joshua, of Sir Joshua by himself, and of M. D'Arblay from an original crayon drawing ; eight views of spots of interest mentioned in the work, including Camilla Cottage, a singularly unattractive edifice erected by D'Arblay for his bride, and named after one of her works ; a map of Mickleham and its environs, and two facsimiles. The completion of the ' Diary' may now speedily be anticipated.

The Magic of the Horseshoe : with other Folk-lore Notes. By Robert Means Lawrence, M.D. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.)

THERE are few superstitions so widespread as those concerning the horseshoe, and few which have been more keenly discussed in pur own pages, and in all compilations occupied with popular beliefs. Almost alone among faiths that in the good fortune attaching to the horseshoe has begot a kind of reactionary or burlesque folk-lore, and the North- Country peasant will say of himself, with bitter irony, " Lucky devil, lost a shilling and found a horseshoe ! " At the seventh annual meeting of the American Folk-lore Society, held at Philadelphia, 28 December, 1895, Dr. Lawrence read a paper on ' Horseshoe Magic,' an abstract of which appeared in the society's Journal for the following year. This he has since expanded into the present volume. Almost half the work is occupied with horseshoe magic, the remainder being distributed under such headings as 'Fortune and Luck,' 'Folk-lore of Com- mon Salt,' 'Omens of Sneezing,' ' Days of Good and Evil Omen,' ' Superstitious Dealings with Animals,' and 'Luck of Odd Numbers.' Wide enough is the range accepted by the author, and within his self-imposed limits he finds room for much curious and interest- ing information, as well as for some matters that tend, perhaps rather superfluously, to edification. A propos of the luck of numbers, we are thus told that the belief in the sinister and portentous character of the number thirteen is incompatible with a deep and abiding Christian faith. In con- nexion with the belief in odd numbers, it may be mentioned that there is a world which believes in the virtue of even numbers. This is less numerous, doubtless, but not wholly negligible. No pretence is put forward that the work is definite and final. It represents, however, systematic and sustained research, and may be commended to our readers, and notably to those who have taken part in the discus- sion on horseshoe magic scarcely yet closed in our columns. Processes for hardening the feet of horses and mules are mentioned in Xenophon, but the occasional use of iron horseshoes can scarcely be traced further back than the fourth century of our ra. To those who seek prosaic and practical ex-

planations of folk-lore may be commended the old German saying (quoted p. 6), " A nail preserves a country," since the nail holds the horseshoe which protects the horse which carries the knight who holds the castle which protects the country. We soon get upon the subject of horns, on which Mr. Elworthy is the chief authority. Horns lead us to the crescent moon, and so to the prayers and songs of " Sidonian virgins," and over almost the entire domain of primitive culture. It is, indeed, quite impossible that we should follow Dr. Lawrence in his interesting and profitable quest, and we must content our- selves with once more commending his book to the perusal of our readers.

A Life of William Shakespeare. By Sidney Lee.

With Portraits and Facsimiles. Fifth Edition.

(Smith & Elder.)

SEVEN" years after its first appearance in volume form, Dr. Lee's life of Shakespeare has passed into a fifth edition, establishing thus its right to rank as a classic and to pass as the most generally ac- cepted and authoritative memoir of the poet that has seen the light. In the fifth edition some few cor- rections have been made and some new information has been supplied. Chaps, xviii. and xix. witness the most important additions, the former presenting much that is fresh concerning Shakespeare's hand- writing, and the latter furnishing for the first time a precise estimate of the number of copies extant of the First Folio. Further explanation of the circumstances in which Shakespeare's plays were published in his lifetime is to be found, and details are given concerning the careers and characters of the printers and publishers. Much recent Shakespearian comment and exegesis ob- tains mention. None of the alterations that have been made affects the original scheme of the work, nor has the writer seen fit to modify the conclusions at which he has arrived on crucial points. A reproduction of the Droeshout portrait forms the frontispiece, and a second is given of the Devonshire bust in the Garrick CluH. Lord Southampton's portrait from Welbeck Abbey appears opposite p. 149. The facsimiles include, presumably for the first time, the contemporary and most interesting inscription in Jaggard's pre- sentation copy of the First Folio. This new and handsome edition cannot but add to the popu- larity of an important and eminent work.

Pocket Dictionary of the English and French Lan- guayes. By J. E. Wessely. Re-written, improved, and greatly enlarged by Edward Latham. (Rout- ledge & Sons.)

A PRETTY, portable, well-printed, and, as we can say from experience, serviceable little volume is this. For ordinary purposes it is all that is neces- sary. If we ask why books of the class should not be written up to date and enriched with a little slang so soon as that rises into literature, we are not disparaging the present work, since what we say applies to dictionaries of tenfold its importance. Thrice within the present week we have come in serious literature upon the word fetard, yet no dictionary we possess stoops to chronicle it. Slang is, of course, a very fluctuating thing. It would be wise, however, to take some note of its variation. Demi - mondaine is a word of constant occur- rence which is not given. Under grisette we find only the same word, grisette, which is in-