Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/223

 9* S. IV. Oct. 7,'99.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 299 popular manner. Mr. Tyack's book is of this kind, well written in an easy, agreeable style, but pre- senting little that is not familiar and well known. Considering this, we have no right, perhaps, to complain that he gives no references or authorities for his collectanea ; but he would have added much to their value if he had done so. We have chapters here on funeral and marriage customs, and the various popular beliefs, super- stitions, and old stories that centre round the font, the pulpit, the lectern, and the chancel. Mr. Tyack, however, might have added sundry quaint customs connected with the rite of confirmation, such as the episcopal buffet and cutting the hair, which seem to have escaped his notice. He is not always happy in the etymological ground into which he makes, occasional excursions. The old verb ro/ow, to baptize, used by Tyndale, is not, as that old writer feigned and the author seems to approve (p. 176), an adaptation of the Latin rolo, 1 will," the response made by the godparents on behalf of the child, but merely a West-Country form of follow, a derivative of A.-S. fullian, to cleanse, whiten, or baptize. We are sorry to notice so correct a writer as Mr. Tyack condescending to such a banal expres- sion as "his Satanic Majesty." Miss A. Goodrich-Freer writes in Folk-Lorc on the traditions of the Outer Hebrides concerning the powers of evil, and Miss A. Werner gives several African variants of Uncle Remus's celebrated story of Brer Rabbii's interview with the Tar-Baby, while Mr. W. G. Aston describes the myths contained in the sacred books of Japan, and considers at length the place of Shinto in the science of religion. The articles in Miluninc for July-August are of the familiar ty]>e. Among them may be mentioned that describing the chitu noir, which is, or till lately was, a bugbear made use of in Jesuit colleges. This black dog, a creature of diabolic origin, if not the very fiend himself, is supposed to carry off irreligious and unsatisfactory pupils, and the thought of it inspires the deepest terror in sensitive and imaginative natures. M. Octave Mirbeau relates in his ' Souvenirs' that one of his little college companions died in horrible delirium from fear of this croque-mitaine. The erudite correspondents of the Inttrmidiaire continue to supply its pages with an endless variety of instructive observations, questions, and answers, including heraldic and genealogical memoranda, notes on the iron cages formerly used for confining prisoners, and remarks on the still surviving use of the tally in France. In more than one recent number the doubtful connexion of the Beguines with St. Begga, mother of Pepin de Herstal, is dis- cussed ; and the marriages of bishops and other ecclesiastics during and before the French Revolu- tion also receive attention. In the Fortniyhtly Miss H. C. Foxcroft compares 'The Dreyfus Scandal' with that begotten in Eng- land by the proceedings of Titus Oates. There are, of course, some points of similarity, and the influence of Oates's pretended revelations was more wide- spread than that even of anti-Semitic passion. There are, however, many points of difference, and two centuries have elapsed since the period of the grossest miscarriage of English justice. In Mr. Andrew Reid's ' History in Advertisements' is advanced what is more nearly a parallel, a con- flict between the civil and military powers, in which the latter had to submit. The paper in question is interesting, though we should say pre- judiced. W e are no admirers of Charles II. What is said concerning the " royal charlatan " and the crowned humbug," by which is meant the " Merrie Monarch, is in very bad taste. It is not only pro- bable but presumable that Charles believed in his healing powers; he was taught so to believe, and the writer has to own that, instead of taking a fee for curing the king's evil, the monarch, to use Mr Reids curious phraseology, "actually bestowed a golden com in the palm of each of his patients." 1 his is not the only instance in Mr. Reid's paper of the introduction of political animosity into what ought to be literary matter. Miss Frances H. Low speaks m high praise of' Mrs. Gaskell's Short Stories ' A Romance in Scholarship ' by Mr. Joseph Jacobs deals with the discovery of portions of a Hebrew version of the Apocryphal Book of ' Ecclesiasticus ■ or, the W lsdom of Sirach.' Mr. Albert 1). Vandam deals historically as well as descriptively with ' The Pans Market-W omen.' ' Eugene Piot: a Precursor,' by the late Charles iarte, shows the marvellous flair of Piot for antiquities. There are, as was to be expected, some papers on ' The Crisis in the Church. — lhe Nmeteenth Ctntury opens with a passionate invective against the Rennes verdict bv Mr. Swinburne. Not the least interesting portion of the remaining contents is by women. The Hon Emily Lawless sends ' Leaves from a Diary' written in North Clare. Especially happy is the description of the district, the Burren, and its natural features where owing to the constant wet, "the ground itself becomes a mirror" to the sky, and "the earth shares the tones of the sky, so that the skv itself seems changed." Particulars interesting to naturalists are given of the part in fertilizing flowers played by the moths, and notably bv the Nubigena. Miss Ida Taylor deals with 'Powder and 1 aint in their influence on female beautv a subject far too recondite for us to venture upon. W e will only ask her, with regard to the use of rouge, if she knows that Venetian beauties of the last century used to put splashes of rouge on their cheeks to Tieighten their colour, and not in the least to deceive as complexion. Writing on 'The Hospital where the Plague Broke Out,' Miss C O Conor-Eccles gives a sad picture of Viennese hospital accommodation, owing to the absence of adequately trained nurses and of modern sanitary appliances. Mrs. Batson contributes one out of two papers on 'Town and Country Labourers'the seconding by M r. Percy Wyndham. The scheme she advocates is that of permitting the country labourer more readily to acquire land. Sir Algernon West sends a thoughtful paper on 'The Great U"Val . a S RevUraham Sandbcrg introduces "s to A, Tibetan Poet and Mystic,' and Mr Henry Walks writes on ' Thirteenth-Century Persian Lustre Pottery.' Apart from disputed or controversial questions, accordingly, an interest- ing variety of contents is seen to be provided.- Ihe Pall Mall has for frontispiece a beautiful repro- duction of the late Sir E. Bume-Jones's 'Wood Nymph. God s lace,' which follows, is pleasantly illustrated and pretty in sentiment, but not very noteworthy as poetry Sydney is the subject of Capitals of Greater Britain.' The discovery by Cook of New South Wales, and the ill-used but marvellously conducted expedition of Capt. Arthur rnuiip, K.JN., of whom a portrait is given, are duly /