Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/147

 9* s. ii. AUG. 13, '98.] NOTES AND QUERIES*

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of Scotland, except the lieutenant and six others> who are greatly hated. We wish we knew who the six were. By Schismatics are meant conformists, who went to church to avoid fines ; but who were believed to be at heart Catholic. On the other hand, we are told that the counties of Cambridge, Huntingdon, and Suffolk are full of heretics. The report is, on the whole, favourable to the idea that if a Spanish army had landed there would have been a general rising. We none of us can tell what, under other circumstances, might have come to pass, but our opinion is that the spy who com- municated the information was, in many instances, deluded by fanatics or interested persons.

Pembrokeshire Antiquities. (Solva, Williams.) THE editor of the Pembroke County Guardian has for some time devoted a part of his space to antiquarian notes and correspondence relating to the county. He has condensed some of this into a pleasant and useful volume, and holds out to his readers the hope that, if no financial loss be incurred, a volume of the same kind may appear annually. Such books discharge two useful functions, they preserve the memory of facts of which, but for their intervention, all traces would be lost, and they stimulate readera to make researches which otherwise might never have been undertaken. For example, there is a correspondence on holy wells which is in itself interesting, but its chief merit consists in the suggestion, which seems likely to be followed, that a complete list of these interesting objects should be compiled, so far as they exist in Pembrokeshire. Wells are, perhaps, as a writer here remarks, " the oldest religious symbols we possess." We therefore should not let what is called civilization efface the rites connected with them from our memory. If the wells of this county be catalogued within a reasonable time, it will, we believe, be the only shire in the island, except Cornwall, which possesses any list of the sort that comes near to being exhaustive. We would remark, however, that all old wells with names attached should be noted, not those only which are known to have had religious or folk-lore beliefs clinging to them. Many wells that yet exist bear highly curious names, often very difficult of interpretation, others, now lost or forgotten, are recorded as boundary- marks in old charters and surveys.

Several eminent Wslsh scholars have contributed to the work. Prof. Rhys has given two papers on the Celtic inscriptions of the county and another on the ancient names of Haverford. Mr. Lawes discourses on Ogam stones, and there are several folk-lore articles worthy of attention. Mr. Ferrar Fenton's account of Baal's House Dog is curious as furnishing a late instance of the master-spirit of evil, or one of his agents, appearing under the semblance of a black dog. Is this creature a parallel of the English Barghest? Mr. J. Phillips draws attention to two seemingly unrecorded proceedings for heresy in the reign of Henry VII. Both the incriminated persons abjured and were let off easily. The Spectator. Edited by George A. Aitken.

Vol. VIII. (Nimmo.)

THE present volume, the eighth, of this handsome, admirably printed, and scholarly edition of the Spectator the most attractive and serviceable yet printed completes the work. The portrait it sup-

g'ies is of Zachary Pearce, the scholarly Bishop oi ochester, who contributed to the Spectator two papers, both included in the concluding volume.

The vignette is an admirably executed view of Hunger-ford Stairs. In addition to the dedication and preliminary matter and the concluding numbers, the volume contains, in the shape of appendices, (1) the unpublished letters addressed to the Spectator, (2) .ation of the mottoes, (4) corrigenda, and (5) general .ndex to the eight volumes. These have abundant in- terest, the last-named being, of course, indispensable. The index to Chalmers's edition of 'The British Essayists ' is a work the student of eighteenth-cen- tury literature is bound to have at his hand. The present index, which naturally excludes the Tatler, Rambler, and other works, is, so far as it extends, more ample. Particularly serviceable is the list of pseudonyms. We congratulate the publisher and the editor on the termination of a useful task, and we commend to the public this eminently desirable edition of our English masterpiece.
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PERHAPS because it is holiday time though the reason seems more than a little idle there are few articles of literary interest or importance in the August reviews and magazines. Mr. William Archer, none the less, in the Fortnightly, introduces us, under the title 'A Shropshire Poet,' to Mr. A. E. Housman, a writer of marked originality of thought and power of expression, with whom we hope to form a closer acquaintance. In dealing with ' The Two Byrons ' Mr. Walter Sichel points to a good many slips and oversights in Mr. Henley's edition of Byron. Mr. William Sharp deals in a spirit of high appreciation with Edward Burne- Jpnes, and includes many agreeable personal remi- niscences. It is something of a surprise to hear that Burne-Jones thought of devoting himself to litera- ture, but met with faint encouragement from Rossetti and absolute dissuasion from Morris. Mr. Malcolm Morris, writing on ' The Prevention of Consumption,' has much to say of high interest, and supplies some startling advice. The number is excellent. In the Nineteenth Century the most spirited articles are controversial. Not at all suited to our columns is Mr. W. H. Mallock's answer to Mr. Herbert Spencer. It is, however, a sufficiently vigorous piece of writing, which may be commended to those interested in the subject of sociology. It is a good specimen, moreover, of the manner in which a literary or philosophical discussion ought to be conducted. Not less vigorous than Mr. Mallock is Dr. Josiah Oldfield in answering Sir Henry Thompson on the subject of vegetarianism. Miss Gertrude Tuckwell gives a harrowing description of the sufferings of the women engaged in the Potteries, and shows how little in the way of remedial legislation has yet been accomplished. Mrs. Hugh Bell puts in a readable and important ' Plea for the Better Teaching of Manners.' Mr. F. Wedmore depicts, in a few bright pages, ' The Theatrical Position ' ; the Warden of Merton deals with ' The University of Oxford in 1898 ' ; and Miss Elizabeth L. Banks gives a startling account of 'American "Yellow Journalism."' incidents of the war just ending and descriptions of the newly-acquired American possessions constitute the bulk of the Century, which gives some striking pictures of recent feats. ' The Seven Wonders of the World ' is, however, still continued, supplying an account of the statue of Zeus, at Olympia, with an imaginary design of the goa, gigantic in size, seated, and receiving oblation and homage. Continued, also, is the