Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/76

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. v. JAN. 20, 1912.

and " a number of these had distinct marks of wattling at the back, which showed that the plaster was about one inch thick, and was smoothed to a perfectly flat surface before being painted." An interesting account of the temple at Lydney, which was dedicated to a British god, is given in the chapter on shrines and other religious buildings ; while a plan of the Christian church at Silchester, with a conjectural restora- tion, is to be found on p. 251.

Mr. Ward devotes his final chapters to details of construction. Roman nails and roofing-tiles are described and represented. It appears that the " hook-and-eye " hinge, now used for field-gates and outhouse doors, was frequently applied to domestic purposes. The window-glass of early type found on Roman sites has a greenish-blue tinge. It was cast in rectangular slabs. Another variety resembles the glass still to be seen in old cottage windows. Iron, cross-shaped objects, held the glass in place. They are perforated at the centre, and were probably fastened to the intersection of the window-bars in such a way that each point of the cross kept one corner of a pane in position, the other corners being held in the same way by other crosses.
 * uch as have been found at Silchester, possibly

Medieval Story, by Prof. William Witherle Lawrence, is sent to us by Mr. Prowde, as agent for the Columbia University Press. It consists of eight lectures delivered last year on literature from ' Beowulf ' to ' The Canterbury Tales.' which serves to illustrate " the development of social ideals in the history of the English people." No acquaintance with mediaeval literature is taken for granted ; in fact, this is another of those contributions towards encouraging the culture of the general public now growing frequent. It is an excellent contribution, too, in which the average reader should find it easy to be interested. Prof. Lawrence finds some illustration or simili- tude from the life of to-day for each of his chapters. Thus in his Introduction he speaks of the demand of the principality of Monaco for a constitution in 1910, a demand foreshadowed many years ago by the late Sir Charles Dilke in his" brilliant fragment of fiction, ' The Pall of Prince Plorestan of Monaco.' The Arthurian cycle to which two chapters are devoted is aristocratic, but the ' History of Reynard the Fox,' and ' The Ballads of Robin Hood,' whom modern research has put outside the realm of history, show the democratic spirit. ' The Canterbury Tales ' exhibit " all classes meeting on common ground for the first time since the Norman Conquest."

The meaning of these stories, their significance as a key to the current ideas of the nation this it is the Professor's aim to convey without going into discussions of origins, genuineness, &c., which are complicated enough to weary even the average cultivated reader with a good will to learn.

In early story-telling, as the Professor remarks, the teller is of little account, the telling is the thing, and it is important in this age of "per- sonalia " and excessive twaddle about authors to realize this difference. Mark Twain's ' Yankee at the Court of King Arthur ' is shown to be misleading, as he mistakes the true spirit of the romances he caricatures. ' The Legend of the Holy Grail ' is introduced by a reference to the

success of the Salvation Army, and ' Reynard the Fox ' by another to Maeterlinck's fantasy of ' The Blue Bird.' We also hear in this section of the '.Tatakas,' the ' Just-So Stories,' and Uncle Remus. The science of comparative literature has produced a host of valuable but unreadable data. The pages before us are particularly happy in suggesting instruction without boredom. There is, too, at the end a list of ' Suggestions for Supplementary Reading,' a feature on which we always think it well to insist. Some of the books are noted in American editions, but the reader of average intelligence should have no difficulty in tracing them on this side of the Atlantic. The confusing habit of renaming novels when they cross from England to America, or vice versa, does not extend to works of learning. Two essential and delightful books for further study are easy to obtain, Prof. W. P. Ker's ' Epic and Romance ' and ' The Dark Ages.'

WE are glad to have The Cambridge University Calendar for the Year l'Jll-12, published by Messrs. Deighton & Bell in Cambridge and Messrs. G. Bell & Sons in London, it forms a compact and easily understandable guide to the various colleges, triposes, prizes, and the, many embodi- ments of intellectual activity connected with the University. In these days academic preten- sions are subject to incessant attack and criti- cism. Sometimes the critics are experts on the subject, but more often they fail from mere ignorance to convince the 'Varsity man of their right to say anything. The same remarks apply more strongly to the press as a whole, which abounds in ludicrous errors concerning details of academic life. Every newspaper office should have this ' Calendar ' among its books of reference, and use it, when there is time.

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