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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. II. SEPT. 3, '98.

been seen in the north of England since the Re- formation.

In May, 1672, a strange tale conies from Pem- broke. On the llth of the month so it is gravely affirmed two great clouds appeared, and out of them issued many ships, some with their sails spread and with ensigns flying. There were also visible "six or seven ketches and several boats, and the men apparently to be seen in them." Was this a mirage or is it a mere fable? If it be the former there must, one would think, be some account of it elsewhere.

Church Ministry and Sacraments. By Norman

Macleod, D.D. (A. & C. Black.) MUCH condensed information clearly put is to be found in this last addition to the useful little series of "Guild Text-Books." Dr. Macleod, of course, writes from the Presbyterian standpoint, but in a temperate and catholic spirit. It is strange to note how the ' Directory for Public Worship,' more sacerdotal than the sacerdptalists, refuses to re- cognize the validity of baptism when performed by a lay person (p. 66).

CasselFs Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland. . PartLX.

THIS useful compilation, the gradual appearance of which we have carefully followed, is now completed, the present part containing the prefatory matter to the sixth volume, including keys, sectional maps, and a definition of terms. The illustrations to the concluding number comprise the cathedrals of Worcester and York, a representation of the Wrekin, and views of Wolverhampton, Wood- bridge, Woodstock, Woolwich, Worthing, Yar- mouth, and other places. The completed work forms an excellent and a trustworthy book of reference.

THE first article in the current number of Folk- Lore deals with the wooing of Penelope. In it Mr. Crooke shows how the author of the story as we know it worked up old materials, "as Shak- speare did when he combined old folk-tales and scraps of some ancient chronicle into a ' Hamlet' or a 'Lear.'" " The Homeric poems, like the Vedas and the Indian epics," he says, "are in no sense primi- tive." They contain many survivals of early custom which "we may regard either as cases of pseudo- archaism, where the poet of a polished age strives to reproduce the colour of an earlier time, or, with more probability, we may consider them fragments of the more ancient folk-tradition which the poet used." An analysis of the story of Penelope shows how greatly indebted Homer was to old legends and rites, which he modified and adapted to the feeling and knowledge of his age without disguising them oeyond recognition. Another paper on the ceremonies observed at betrothal ana marriage by moderately well-off Mohammedans of the farmer class in and about the district near Ghazi, in the Punjab, is full of curious details, which can only have been collected at the expense of untiring patience and close observation.

THE number of Melusine for May and June com- mences with a series of popular prayers and magic formulas from the Pyrenees, gathered by M. Came- lat. The second article, which is from the pen of the editor, relates teethe Breton belief that God reserves terrible pu7* J hments for women who, through fear of the pains of maternity, refuse to

enter on wedded life, or who, though accepting marriage, use occult remedies for the purpose of rendering themselves for ever childless.

IN the Intermddiaire, too, folk-lore and popular custom occupy a foremost place, but other subjects of more general interest are also given adequate space. The issue for 10 July contains, among other historical gleanings, several notes on the second wife of Danton, who was only twenty years of age when the tribune was torn from her by night and conducted before the revolutionary court which sent him to the scaffold. The number for 30 July supplies some very useful information on French printing-houses in 1490 and earlier. The names of the typographes given in it ought to be of service to bibliographers on both sides the English Channel.

A QUAINTLY amusing volume is promised for immediate issue, at a popular price, by the Leaden- hall Press, entitled ' Pages and Pictures from Forgotten Children's Books.' The compiler, Mr. Andrew Tuer, has drawn his material chiefly from his own valuable collection of these curious and scarce little books, which date from the closing years of last century to the late thirties in this. There are to be numerous excerpts and upwards of four hundred illustrations, facsimiled from the originals.

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J. W. P. ("Men of Kent and Kentish Men"). See 'N. & Q.,' 8 th S, viii. 467, 512.

W. B. (" Mezzanine Floor "). The expression was in use at least half a century ago, probably earlier.

A YORKSHIREMAN (" Pedigree"). Consult a baronetage or write to the baronet himself. He is still alive. We do not give pedigrees of living men.

CORRIGENDA. P. 164, col. 2, 1. 16, for "10th" read 9th. P. 165, col. 2, 1. 17, for "Smith" read South.

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