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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. m. APRIL >,

In the Glasgow Herald he began the strictures which he has now issued in a separate form. Vul- nerable enough, according to what we hear, is Jamieson, though as of those born the wrong side of the Tweed we are not prepared to enter, like a new Hal o' the Wynd, in a quarrel which is none of ours. Mr. Montgomerie-Fleming is modest, however, claims no very intimate acquaintance with pure Scotch, and does not seek to revise or correct the dictionary with which he deals. Many of his suggestions seem to us, who have some knowledge of North - Country dialect, quite unoppugnable. Under 'Fluffy' our author objects to the defini- tion "applied to any powdery substance that can be easily put in motion or blown away ; as to ashes, hair-powder, meal, &c." We have always held with Mr. Montgomerie-Fleming that woolliness is an indispensable element in fluffiness, and should use the term of a woolly puppy. It seems also to us that "who lifts to ride" is the ordinary substi- tution of /for long s, and that it should be "who lists to ride." Yet once more, Madge is surely an abridgment of Margaret, not of Magdalen, as Jamie- son states. On the other hand, when Mr. Mont- gomerie-Fleming speaks of " corncraik" as a purely Scotch word, we never heard in the West Riding the bird, the landrail, called by any other name. The book will be read with amusement as well as profit by others than philologists. Mr. Mont- gomerie- Fleming's prefatory note is principally occupied with a commendation of the 'Hist.Eng. Diet.' and the ' Dialect Dictionary,' to both of which he urges a subscription. He shows how little absolute outlay is involved in supporting these fine national undertakings. In those appeals he has our warmest sympathy.

Wigan : an Historical Sketch, with a Note of its Free Public Library. By Henry Tennyson Folkard, F.S.A. (Wigan, Strowger & Son.) THREE hundred copies of this little book have been printed for presentation, but we gather that it is not issued for sale. We are sorry lor this, for, small as the volume is, it contains much that is useful. Wigan may fitly be called an "ancient and loyal" town, for it was a borough by prescription before its incorporation by the third Henry, and it adhered with uncompromising devotion to the cause of Charles I. Wigan, like many another old corpora- tion, has not a coat of arms, in the strict sense of the term, but its corporation seal, which we gather dates from the beginning of the seventeenth cen- tury, is used instead thereof. We wish the descrip- tion of the Free Library had been fuller than it is. The town possesses a reference library of great value, which surpasses in size and character those of many towns with a far greater population.

Register of Old Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral, 1810-1897. Compiled by E. E. Dorling. (Alex- ander & Shepheard.)

MR. DORLING is the master of the Choristers' School at Salisbury, and has taken much pains in compiling this book. The whole catalogue consists of but forty-three pages, but the labour spent in gathering up the facts must have been out of all proportion to its size. No one knows better than Mr. Dorling that the information contained under not a few of the names is very imperfect. He draws pointed attention to the fact, and urgently requests further information, which we trust will be given by all those who are in a position so to do. School regis-

ters are important as helps to biography and genea- logy. At the present day, when so many Englishmen are to be found in prominent positions in every part of the world, it is more than ever needful that lists such as this should be complete and accurate.

When the Choristers' School at Shrewsbury was founded has not, so far as we know, been demon- strated, though, as church-song does not in most cases come by instinct, we may reasonably assume that it is about as old as the cathedral itself. The compiler gives in the appendix nineteen names of choristers who flourished in the fifteenth century and a few others of the reign of Charles II., but we gather that no proper list exists earlier than 1810; From that time it seems to be complete.

The oak panels of the schoolroom have recently been cleaned, and under thick layers of paint many initials and full names have been found. Mr. Dor- ling has very wisely given a list of these in the freface. The oldest one with a date is " H. W 723."

MESSRS. BAGSTER & Co. have issued, at the price of a shilling, a new edition of Handel's Messiah, which is a typographical marvel, being clearly printed and legible to the oldest sight.

MR. RALPH THOMAS has reprinted from 13, Clif- ford's Inn, Some Words in 'A New English Dic- tionary on Historical Principles,'' most, if not all, of which are already in our pages familiar to our readers. He also supplies a list of his own works.

MR. HENRY FROAVDE announces that the first volumes of the ' British Anthologies,' edited by Prof. Edward Arber, will be ready early next month. These are the volumes including the poems of Shakspeare, Jonson, and Milton, and their con- j temporaries.

Ijtotkea t0

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