Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/147

. xii. AUG. 15, iocs.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

139

important part of Mr. Henley's labours is accom- plished. As a prelude to the part Mr. Farmer supplies an * In Memoriam ' sketch of his colleague, whose interest in the work, as we know to be the case, is said to have been unabated. The loss that has been experienced will still be felt in the shape of the absence of "final suggestions" and "finishing touches." Mr. Farmer pledges himself to including all Henley's suggestions, either under the few remaining words or in the terminal essay, which had been outlined and discussed between the two editors. In the part before us tail, take, tart, and other words are liberally illustrated. Tawdry is said, in a quotation from Palsgrave, 1530, to be derived from " Seynt Audrie's lace." Next spring should see the completion of the work.

The Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond. Edited by

Sir Ernest Clarke, M.A., F.S.A. (Moring.) A HIGH service is rendered to the antiquary by the publication of this little work, which forms one of the most attractive volumes of the series known as " The King's Classics." The original was edited by Mr. J. Gage Rokewode for the Cam den Society and by Mr. T. Arnold for the Itolls Series. Trans- lations subsequently saw the light when the use made by Carlyle of the 'Chronicle' in his 'Past and Present ' had secured for it a certain amount of popularity. The present edition has undergone so thorough revision that it is virtually a new translation. Another advantage in it is its emi- nently readable and convenient shape, which woos the scholar to perusal. We own to having been induced by this to read the work through, and make for the first time the acquaintance of one who is far more than a mere chronicler. In a few passages quoted by Sir Ernest, Carlyle thus sums up the character of Jocelin: "An ingenious and ingenuous, a cheery - hearted, innocent, yet withal shrewd, noticing, quick-witted man ; and from under his monk's cowl has looked out on the narrow section of the world in a really human

manner The man is of patient, peaceable, loving,

clear-smiling nature ; open for this or that Also

has a pleasant wit and loves a timely joke, though in mild, subdued manner. A learned, grown man, yet with the heart as of a good child." No less helpful is John Richard Green, who, comparing the Abbey of St. Edmundsbury with the great shrines of St. Albans and Glastonbury, says : " One book alone the abbey has given us, and it is worth a thousand chronicles." We know, indeed, no book whatever that pours such a flood of light upon monastic life in the twelfth century, its struggles, ambitions, jealousies, and contests with regal and ecclesiastical power. Sir Ernest has supplied an illuminating preface, telling us exactly what we seek to know, and has appended some valuable notes, including a table of dates in the history of the abbey from 870 to 1903. At a general popularity the work scarcely aims. It should, however, be included in the library of every scholar. To it we are indebted for all we know concerning Abbot Samson, a figure no less interesting and profitable to contemplate than his biographer.

The Doonex of Exmoor. By Edwin John Rawle.

(Burleigh.)

MR. RAWLE, the annalist of Exmodr, has occupied himself in bringing together all that has been written and said concerning the famous Doone family of Exmoor. It is somewhat disappointing

to find that local records are dumb concerning the existence of such a family of outlaws. Sir Ensor Doone, or Doune, the supposed twin brother of "the Bonny Earl of Moray," is stated to be as mythical as Mrs. Harris. On the other hand, Mr. Rawle is disposed to date back the traditions that linger concerning the Doones of Oare and the Badg- worthy Valley to the time of the Danes. His investigations and speculations cannot fail highly to interest many of our readers.

Pages Choisies des Grands Ecrivains. Dickens.

Traduction Nouvelle et Introduction par B. H.

Gausseron. (Paris, Armand Colin.) DICKENS has, of course, been some while familiar in a French form ; the editions on our shelves pub- lished in French by MM. Hachette & Cie. under the direction of P. Lorain are available at the very moderate price of 1 fr. 25. Still we are very glad to have these selections, with an excellent oio- graphical introduction by M. Gausseron, who has an unusually good knowledge of English, and is therefore able to render, with the spirit which does not pay excessive allegiance to the letter, Dickens's easy English, which to foreigners must occasionally be rather a stumbling-block.

It is said that it is " very possible " that Dickens based Skimpole on Leigh Hunt. It is not " very possible," but a fact, as Dickens admitted in a paper in All the Year Sound. " He yielded," he said, " to the temptation of too often making the character speak like his old friend." An apology was needed, is here offered by Dickens, and should be quoted when this question of the caricaturing of friends comes up, instead of the casual conclusions of commentators. M. Gausseron has translated his original in spirited style. Thus Mrs. Lammle asks her spouse if he thought she married him for his beaux yeux. The reference to the chapters might have been given. The selections are usually good, though we should have been glad to see Mr. Swivel- ler as well as Little Nell. The former represents some of the gaiety which is rare, it is to be feared, in our nation. M. Gausseron has made some slips in his names, but that is a common English fault also. People think they know Dickens too well to get his names wrong, and never verify their refer- ences. A few notes at the bottom of the page are necessary. " Batter pudding " and " flirting^' appear to be too English to admit of transportation to another tongue. " Christmas boxes " may well puzzle a Frenchman, for they alarmed an American lady journalist in England not so long ago who knew nothing of their purport.

THE Edinburgh Revieiv for July opens with an excellent article on ' London and its People in the Eighteenth Century,' for which the late Sir Walter Besant's work is the chief text. Sir Walter's book has not, we think, had full justice done to it, for though it has many defects, and may be somewhat too popular in tone to suit the student, there was probably no man of his time who could have carried out the main idea in a more satisfactory way. We need not say that we agree with the writer in con- demning the absence of references, a blot which disfigures so many of the books of our time. The reviewer's remarks on the formalism of the eigh- teenth century are praiseworthy. We know of no period in our history when men and women were so enslaved by ceremonial observances as during the Georgian period, for that unwholesome rigorism