Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/128

 120

NOTES AND QUERIES.

x. AUG. 9. MOB.

who dwell in cities when they might live in the country, and condemns the mingling with the " well millinered and tailored herd," and yet seems unaware that there is another view which is as de- fensible as that he adopts. In the Nineteenth Cen- tury Mr. Walter Frewen Lord undertakes the defence of his bigoted utterances concerning ' Monna Vanna.' He tells us, whether in explanation or apology, that he is a provincial, and spends a good deal of the year at Newcastle. His provenance does not seem to have much to do with the matter, and we must leave the Tynesider to declare how far a residence in Newcastle constitutes an apology for ignorance, bad .taste, and presumption. Mr. ^Hamilton Fyfe deals with the blunder of the licenser, of plays from another point of view. An essay on ' The Folk - lore of Horseshoes and Horse - shoeing,' by the late Dr. George Fleming, will have remarkable interest for our readers. Horseshoe folk - lore is more or less familiar to every resident in the country. The mediaeval legends concerning St. Eloy will be new to most, and are very interesting. Concerning the luck supposed to be involved in finding a horseshoe we will only add to what is given a form of com- plaint concerning bad fortune current in the West Hiding : " Lucky devil, lost a shilling and found a horsesnoe ! ' is the wail of a man discontented with or derisive of the awards of Fate. Sir Robert Hunter writes on ' The Reconstruction of Hainault Forest.' Hove slowly wisdom and foresight reach us is shown in the fact that the land it is now sought to reclaim was only disafforested half a century Ago. In ' Old Masters and Modern Critics ' Mr. Charles L. Eastlake describes the futility of much of what is called " art criticism." ' The Last Resting- Place of our Angevin Kings,' by Mr. Cecil Hallett, describes the vicissitudes that have befallen the royal tombs at Fontevrault. Mr. George D. Abraham depicts in the Pall Mall ' The Most Difficult Climbs in Britain.' To one who is himself no climber these seem to be sufficiently appalling to satisfy the wildest aspirations after danger. The Great Gable, Cader Idris, Snowdpn, and Glencoe appear to be the spots of extreme difficulty. Mr. Howard Cunnington's 'Our Forgotten An- cestors ' deals with the question of flint implements and the method of using them. Special attention is paid to the weapons, &c., found in the plateau gravels, which are, supposedly, of earlier date than those of the valley gravels. 'Marconi's Ambition,' by Mr. P. McGrath, is, of course, the linking together by wireless telegraphy of the component parts of Greater Britain. 'Nature Study in Lon- don ' describes the holiday pursuits of entomologists. 'In Tierra del Fuegan Waters,' by Mr. W. S Bar- clay, is admirably illustrated. Other papers of interest are ' The Centenary of Alexandre Dumas,' ' First Impressions of Parliament,' and ' The Round Table.' ' Lapland in Summer,' contributed to the Cornhill, shows great familiarity with the subject, and depicts very vividly a life which is likely before long to be a thing of the past. What is said con- cerning the mosquito seems to us exaggerated, but our experiences do not extend to Lapland proper. 'Four Tarpauling Captains' describes the heroic adventures of Sir Christopher Myngs, Clowdisley Shovell, John Narborough, and John Benbow, all of them Norfolk men. The use of the term " tar- paulin " to characterize genuine sailors seems out of date so far as the general public is concerned. The record of the venality of our commanders in

Stuart days is appalling. That of heroism is, fortu- nately, not less remarkable. 'A Page from the Past ' consists of selections from the pages of Jane Porter, the author of ' Scottish Chiefs. It gives pleasant sketches of Charles Kemble, with whom Miss Porter seems to have been in love, Thomas Campbell, John Braham, Sir Sidney Smith, and other celebrities. The cricketers' classic is ' The Young Cricketers' Tutor ' of John Nyren. ' Pro- vincial Letters,' viii., from St. Albans, brings up the Shakespeare-Bacon question, which it treats with what seems intended to be banter. 'Guernsey Folk-lore' in the Gentleman's is interesting. Many of the fairy stories told have elements of novelty. 4 A Last Century [but one] Tourist ' is John Humf rey, barrister-at-law, of Killerrig, County Carlow. ' The Strange Story of Viscountess Beaconsfield,' by Mr. James Sykes, is an elaborate and very careful sum- ming-up of all that is known concerning the origin and character of that lady, who is presented to us under many aspects. Mr. Charles L. Eastlake sup- plies to Longman's, from family papers, an account of ' St. Sebastian after the Siege of 1813.' 'A Sussex Marsh,' by Mr. H. A. Bryden, is good in its way. There is, however, more than a little incon- sistency in the writer, who, after saying, concern- ing the snowy spoonbill, that a specimen was " shot, I regret to say, a few years since," calmly informs us that he himself shot equally rare visitors to our shores. Not an attractive creature is the self-styled " naturalist." In ' At the Sign of the Ship' Mr. Lang begins with studies in natural history, then turns to the more familiar subjects of ethnology and totems. The midsummer number of the Idler is wholly occupied with fiction, most of it dealing with adventure. The Playgoer has a good picture of Mr. Tree as Falstaff.

10

We must call upecial attention to the following notices :

ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately.

To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- munication " Duplicate."

E. L. ("Though lost to sight," &c.). Your second supposition concerning Linley is correct.

NOTICK.

Editorial communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries'" Adver- tisements and Business Letters to " The Pub- lisher "at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C.

We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print ; and to this rule we can make no exception.