Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/317

 12 S. VIII. MARCH 26, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. THE O' FLAHERTY FAMILY : KINGS OF CONNATJGHT (12 S. viii. 188). The Note on this family reminds me of a Mr. O' Flaherty whom I "knew in Liverpool in the early nineties. He claimed to be lineal repre- sentative of Sir Morogh O'Flahertie, who, he maintained, was created Baron O'Flahertie by Queen Elizabeth. I do not know whether he is still alive it is about twenty - seven, or eight, years since I saw him but if he is he might be able to clear up some of the points raised by your correspondent. He had a great mass of papers relating to the family. I have a note that a William Wilson of Clare, co. Suffolk, migrated to co. Donegal, and took over from Sir Henry Bocwra, an estate of 2,000 acres in that county in 1610. William Wilson had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, John, was created a baronet in 1629. His youngest son, Andrew, married in 1640, Elizabeth, dau. of Sir Henry Docwra, and had a daughter, Anne an heiress to whom Sir William Anderson, Kt., was appointed guardian in July, 1644. Is it possible that the Wilson, Barrister-at-Law, and land agent to Lord Londonderry, was a descendant of this William Wilson ? JAMES SETON-ANDERSON. 39 Carlisle Road, Hove, Sussex. " A HOGARTH MINIATURE FRAME " (12 S. viii. 210). "Hogarth" is a pattern name applied to a type of frame, obtainable from any framemaker. It is generally made in black and gilt, and, in appearance, is very similar to the " Bartolozzi " so similar, in fact, that, in the provinces, particularly in Birmingham, the terms are frequently reversed. Although William Hogarth was not generally known as a painter of miniatures, an example ascribed to him was contained in the well-known Wellesley collection, recently dispersed at Sotheby's. BEATRICE BOYCE. AUTHOR WANTED. (12 S. viii. 212.) 1. The lines : For in the voice of birds the scent of flowers, The evening silence and the falling dew, Through every throbbing pulse of nature's powers I'll speak to you. ' occur in the threnody of Lieut. Eric Wilkinson (killed in action, October, 1917), entitled To My People, before the Great Offensive,' published in ' Soldier Poets ; Songs of the Fighting Men,' by Erskine Macdonald. JOHN LIVESEY. Stories and Ballads of the Far East. Translated' from the Norse (Icelandic and Faroese) by N. Kershaw. (Cambridge University Press,. 8s. Qd. net.) THE Sagas which form Part I. of this interesting and instructive volume are taken from the Fornaldar-sogur Northrlanda, " Stories," that is,, " of Ancient Times about the Northern Countries."^ The texts date from the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, and they were edited by Rafn in 1829-30 and by Asmundarson in 1886-91. They are not, either in historical or literary value, equal to the great Icelandic sagas. Their source- is found rather in old poems than in living tradi- tion, and the story-teller makes no difficulty about confusing history and mythology, dates,, tribes and personages all in a medley together.. This is exemplified most strikingly in the finest of these Sagas, that of Hervor and Heithoek, where we begin with mythology and insensibly find ourselves in the midst of a great battle- between the Goths and the Huns. The descrip- tion of the battle, and then- the character and exploits of the maiden Hervor raise this Saga to a higher rank than the rest. Hervor is un- known save here and in the Faroese ballad also included in this volume. Her dialogue at the barrows, amid the flaming death-fires and the ghosts with her dead father the berserk Angantyr- where she wrings from him by her insistence the terrible sword Tyrfing would not be easily sur- passed in grimness, horror and an eery delicacy of imagination. The Saga also includes, besides- a wealth of minor incident, the riddles of Gestum- blindi, some of which yield wit, and many of which furnish pretty observations of nature. The very heterogeneity of the Sagas they are chiefly in prose but have intercalated long^ passages of verse, which are to be considered remnants of the original form of the story this very heterogeneity illustrates the conservatism of tradition. The whole may be a patchwork,, but such individual pieces as have come down have rigidly retained their character. The Faroese ballads which form Part II. are in English new. Ole Worm in the early seven- teenth century took down five of them which have since been lost ; it is Svabo, working at the end of the eighteenth century, whom we have to thank for the first collection. He spent the last years of his life in the Faroe Islands and this labour was his principal occupation. His collec- tion remains still unpublished in the Royal! Library at Copenhagen, but it has effectively inspired later enthusiasts whose activity has; culminated in Hammershaimb's collection, and! in the great Corpus Carmimim Faeroensium in- sixteen volumes by Grundtvig and Bloch which comprises every known Faroese ballad with all! its variants, and also still awaits publication. For folk-lorists the Faroese ballads have- several points of peculiar interest. In the first place the making of them has not yet died out ; any exciting adventure or unusual exploit will inspire 'some one or other to make a ballad which will then take its place in the great collection along with the ancient composi- tions of the forefathers of the race. Next,, the