Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/406

 450 NOTES AND QUERIES. [0* s. iv. Nov. 25, '99. template. That, however, could not have been. As distinctly as Rabelais was born to tell us the fate of Gargantua, and give us the oracle of the bottle, so distinctly was Urquhart born to translate him. In a sense the two minds were complementary. To Rabelais belongs, of course, the credit of inven- tion, and the Frenchman is as much superior to the Scotchman as Shakespeare is to Cibber or Moliere to Cyrano de Bergerac ; but they were in a sense men of a kidney, and Urquhart managed, even like Shylock, to " better the instruction." We welcome Mr. Willcock's life of Urquhart, which will intro- duce to the vast majority of readers a quaint, original, and highly flamboyant individuality. In order to understand Urquhart it is necessary to understand his ejtoch. He is to some extent a Scotch counterpart t° Cyrano de Bergerac. He has something of the Admirable Crichton, whose life he wrote. At some moments he reminds us of Mad Meg of Newcastle, as men of the Restoration called the heroic duchess of that ilk. Brave, boastful, arrogant, and as capable of self-advertisement as the vainest of actor-managers, he left behind him a farrago Of the wildest mixture of erudition and bounce that the world has seen. We know his works, with the exception of the translation of Rabelais, by report only, and, omnivorous as we are, should shrink from the attempt at perusal. Euphuists, Gongorists, and Marinists are lucid and sober beside this man, who, not content with tracing his pedigree to Adam, from whom he claims to be the one hundred and forty-third in direct descent, included among his ancestors the Queen of the Amazons. The subject is attractive, and tempts us to expatiate. The temptation must, how- ever, be resisted. Mr. Willcock s book is pleasant and readable, and gives a full account of the life of Urquhart, and a still better account of his works. With Rabelais Mr. Willcock does not seem to have a very close acquaintance. Such, indeed, is not perhaps indispensable in the case of a biographer. He makes, of course, some protest against the indelicacy of Rabelais, but quotes the favourable estimate of Cole- ridge, and is, on the whole, very liberal for a Scot of the Scots. We have marked for quotation over a score passages, but considerations of space forbid the indulgence. The W. S. who contributed a distich under the portrait of Urquhart is probably Wye Saltonstall, the translator of Ovid. Two admirable portraits of Urquhart are inserted in Mr. Willcock's agreeable and scholarly book, and add greatly to its attractions. London Souvenirs. By Charles William Hecke- thorn. (Chatto & Windus.) Mb. Heckethorn's book may be taken up at any time and laid down at another with the certainty of amusement. It appears to consist, though the fact is not stated, of articles previously contributed to magazines, and it -has not a dull page. Having said this much in its praise, we are compelled to say, out of regard for Mr. Heckethorn's previous work, we feel a sense of disappointment. Though compiled from known sources, much of the infor- mation is inaccurate and out of date. The book itself is, moreover, written in. a carping style, the effect of which is displeasing. We cannot approve of a sentence such as " But does not our own time admire, or pretend to admire, the perky platitudes of a Tennyson, and the jejune prose, cut up into unmeasured lines, of a Browning, as poetry I . The description, p. 12, of the tournaments of feudal times strikes us only with pity. Equally offensive, and more vulgar, is what is said, p. 20, of the Kitcat Club. Tennyson and Browning may console them- selves in the shades when we find Mr. Heckethorn seriously asserting that the reputation of Shake- speare was "made in Germany," and adding that we have to thank the Germans " for a Shakespeare who is presentable to a modern audience, which the original writer was not; his plays were only fit to be acted before the savages who delighted in bull and bear baiting." We have marked many other Sassages no less regrettable or inept, but will spare lr. Heckethorn and our readers. Life and Book*. By F. F. Leighton. (Fisher Unwin.) Taking for guide Lessing (and a better cannot be), Mr. Leighton discusses the relations of literature and the arts, and has the courage of his convictions. He disapproves of ' The Nude in Modern Art,' questioning whether "the unclothed human form is the highest and most beautiful subject for art representation." He is a great admirer of Sir E. Burne-Jones, and has much to say in defence of his own rather daring opinions. Every one of his eight essays furnishes matter for controversy, and we refrain from saying more than that his work is readable and suggestive. It is satisfactory to know that the ' English Dialect Dictionary has benefited by the "boom" in general dictionaries, a number of new subscribers having been brought in. Part VIII., which will-, be published by Mr. Frowde next month, contains the letter F to the end of Fl, and carries on Dr. Wright's ' Dictionary' to p. 432. §totfoess la &Brtti$tmatuti. We must call special attention to the following notices :— On all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith. We cannot undertake to answer queries privately. To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the ^following rule. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a .separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. Correspond- ents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication " Duplicate." W. Mawby ("Noah's Wife").—The name is not given in the Bible, but is added by later outside tradition as Waila. NOTICE. Editorial Communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries'"—Advertise- ments and Business Letters to "The Publisher"— at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C. We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print; and to this rule we can make no exception. Terms or Subscription by Post. For Twelve Months For Six Months ... 1 0 0 10