Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/654

 540 NOTES AND QUERIES. date for Easter has been introduced into the House of Lords. We cannot but think that these steps are premature. In a period of confusion and upheaval such as we are going through, a new endeavour, a fresh disturbance, seems mischievous if it is not of actual necessity. And it cannot be pretended that the anomalies of the Calendar re- semble those which required intervention in the days of Julius Caesar and Gregory XIII. The prin- cipal Governments have their hands full ; they will surely be ill-advised for the time being to meddle with an institution which works, if not perfectly, yet tolerably and with irregularites to which everyone is accustomed to say nothing of its wide international extension. Again, for the Legislature of any one country to pass measures regulating the year without reference to other countries would prove a futile proceeding ; we are not, therefore, impressed very happily by such steps as have been taken ; and cannot agree with Mr. Philip in considering the problem urgent. Academic discussion must, however, precede altera- tions, if and when these take place, and to such discussion Mr. Philip's book is an ingenious, in- teresting and enthusiastic contribution. With the Cornwall Territorials on the Western Front. Compiled by E. C. Matthews. (Cam- bridge, W. P. Spalding. 1 5s. net.) W E have here the history of what was done by the Fifth Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light In- fantry in the Great War. This battalion was one of the twelve out of the whole British Army men- tioned by itself in dispatches, and Cornish by name was Cornish likewise in composition. They went to France in May, 1916. They were at Laventie, then on the Somme, and in the ad- vance on the Hindenburg Line in the winter and spring of 1916-17 ; at Arras, in the battles of Ypres and in the battle of Cambrai in the later months of 1 9 1 7. In 1 9 1 8 they were at the battle of St. Quentin, at the actions at the Somme crossings, and at Merville, the Foret de Nieppe and Estaires. Pioneers, they came in for hard- ship, losses and glory in about equal proportions. Mr. Matthews writes with a soldierly brevity. He throws his account into an almost epistolary form choosing details, sketching in backgrounds and the scope of movements, portraying persons and inserting anecdotes much as a letter-writer does who wishes both to give his correspondent plenty of information and also to spare his feel- ings. Many of the illustrations are very inter- esting. The Cornwall Territorials should welcome this book. The Provinces of Ireland : I. Ulster ; II. Munster. Edited by George Fletcher. (Cambridge Uni- versity Press. 6s. 6cZ. net each.) THESE are good specimens of new popular topo- graphical work. Well printed, carefully illus- trated, provided with maps and put together upon a sensible and comprehensive plan, they offer a good groundwork of information on the physical features, antiquities, history, administra- tion and industrial life of these provinces. De- signed in the first instance for use in secondary schools, they are well worth reading by any one who knows less than he would wish about Ireland but is not prepared to embark on an extensive study of the subject. The Journal of the Society of Army Historical Research amply sustains in its second number the standard of the first. It is satisfactory, too though not astonishing to learn that the mem- bership of the Society has increased, since the end of last August, to 227. The first article is the report of the Battle of Entzheim sent to Monmouth by Feversham, which has lain all this while un- published among the State Papers (Domestic), and has been altogether overlooked as a source for the biography of Marlborough. It is a lengthy and awkwardly written narrative, but full of detail and vivid. Captain C. T. Atkinson pro- vides full notes on the topography of the battle and on the regiments and persons concerned, and brings out in his introduction two important points of interest, viz., Feversham's silence as to the Royal Scots, which would lead to the almost certain inference that they were absent from this engagement contrary to the accepted tradition and the doings of George Hamilton, by whose death in action two years later it would seem that a rival to Marlborough himself was removed. There follows an excellent article on Highland Military Dress by Captain Mackay Scobie. Colonel Leslie continues his interesting ' Old Printed Army Lists.' A note of the exact date and ]:>ro- venance of the lists here given, following the title, would have been of assistance to the reader. Sir Charles Oman relates very effectively the story of a duel fought at Armagh in 1807 by two officers of the Royal North British Fusiliers, after which the survivor was tried on a simple charge of murder and executed the first case of the kind. Colonel Macdonald gives us the first instalment of a de- tailed and most instructive study of Medieval Artillery. Mr. Baldry finishes his list of Regi- mental Nicknames. The Print-Collector's Quarterly for December deals with Dutch woodcuts (1480-1500) (Dr. M. J. Schretlen), the work of William Strang (Mr. Laurence Binyon), the history of soft- ground etching and aquatint (Mr. A. M. Hind), and the etchings of Jacquemart (Mr. L. R. Metcalfe). These make a good number, though the text of the first article is occasionally rather trivial and careless. The illustrations, as usual, are delightful. JJottce* to EDITORIAL communications should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries ' " Adver- tisements and Business Letters to "The Pub- lishers " at the Office, Printing House Square, London, E.G. 4 ; corrected proofs to The Editor, ' N, & Q.,' Printing House Square, London, ^.C.4. ALL communications intended for insertion in our columns should bear the name and address of the sender not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately. WHEN sending a letter to be forwarded to another contributor correspondents are requested to put in the top left-hand corner of the envelope the number of the page of ' N. & Q.' to which the letter refers.