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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. v. FEB. 3, im

waited on the Governor of Paris, Marechal Junot, and, with no little difficulty, at last attained their object. It is a family tradition that the doctor was the last British subject who managed to escape. D. F. C.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

Balmerino and its Abbey. By James Campbell, D.D.

(Black wood & Sons.)

WHAT the world elects to regard as a generation has passed since the appearance of the first edition of Dr. Campbell's ' Balmerino and its Abbey.' That edition, issued in 1867, won respectful recogni- tion. We have not seen it, however, and cannot judge what proportion it bears to the portly volume which now appears. Seven hundred pages, of which the present work consists, seern a good many to bestow upon the history of one parish, however interesting and important. We are of those, how- ever, who advocate the gathering together of local details ; and though we concede that much that is now said concerning the parish of Balmerino, of which Dr. Campbell is minister, would be true of other places, we hold that its publication is justi- fiable and laudable. As regards prehistoric Scot- land, the information we possess, drawn from articles of various kinds found imbedded in the soil, though inadequate to our requirements, is trustworthy. Since the appearance of the first of Dr. Campbell's work elaborate explora-

edition

tions have been conducted in various parts of *Scot-

i j With these, the testimony of which is

land.

practically the same, we find ourselves now and again called upon to deal. In the neighbourhood with which Dr. Campbell is specially concerned, many interesting objects have in recent years been brought to light. In and since 1873, in the highest parts of the district, cists have been examined, and the contents, appetizing rather than satisfying, are now in the private collection of Col. and Mrs. Anstruther Duncan, of Naughton. Still more recently an ancient cairn on the summit of Green- hill has been explored. A burial cist, obviously constructed for some important personage, was found. It had, however, been previously opened, and whatever relics it had contained had been removed. At a previous period many stone coffins had been investigated. Amongst other treasures two pieces of gold of the combined value of W. had been discovered. It is, of course, from the graves of celebrated personages that the most interesting objects have been obtained. An inquiry into the reason for the interment of these objects would lead us too far. Our readers are, moreover, too well instructed to render comment necessary. Of weapons belonging to the Stone Age, arid of the remains of animals consumed for human support, we hear comparatively little, the district supplying apparently no caves which were used as human habitations. A windy day will, however, reveal from under the sand drift flint implements belonging to the neolithic period. Remains also exist of hill forts, which extended along the north of Fife, but we hear nothing of the vitrified forts which are found in other portions of Scotland. Recorded history begins, of course, A.D. 83, with the descrip- tion by Tacitus in the ' Agricola' of the consterna-

tion of the inhabitants of North-East Fife on seeing the Roman fleet sailing up the Firth of Tay. What was the exact scene of the events depicted, in- cluding the battle of Mons Grampius or Granpius, we must leave to the decision of Scottish anti- luaries. The discoveries of Roman coins favour, it least, the theory that the Romans were at some period in the north-east of Fife, and the descrip- tion of the Vernicomes of East Fife as a large- limbed, red-haired race, and other particulars given, have all inherent plausibility. Concerning pagan rites, the Beltane, the washing of the face with May dew, and other traces of sun and fire worship still in a modified form traceable among us, Dr. Camp- bell has something to say. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries what is called parochial his- tory began, and it is in the reign or William the Lion, 1165-1214, that Balmerino is indirectly men- tioned. At this time the chronicle portion of the work begins, and we have a consecutive account of the proprietors of Balmerino, and also of the ancient estate, chapel, and castle of Naughton. Part II. is occupied with the 'History of the Abbey of Balmerino,' the monks of which were Cistercian, as were those of Melrose, Cupar Angus, Dulross, and other institutions. Balmerino Abbey itself was founded by Queen Ermengarde, the second wife of William the Lion. The pages describing the foundation of the abbey and supply- ing the lives of the consecutive abbots consti- tutes the largest, most important, and most interesting portion of the volume, and seems worthy of publication at some future date in a separate form. After the battle of Pinkie the abbey was surprised and burnt by Admiral Wyndham. The particulars concerning the assault,' ignored until the latter half of the present century, are now given in the text or in the appendix. In addition to the geology and botany of the parish, the appendix gives many documents of equal value and interest. We have not dealt with the genealogical portions of the book, which to some will constitute its chief value. The space at our disposal is, however, occupied, and we must leave those interested in Scottish genealogies to turn to them. Dr. Campbell has done a sound and important piece of work, to the merits of which we gladly bear testimony. Numerous and well-selected illustra- tions add to its attractions, and it is in most respects a model of a parish history.

Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life. By E. A.

Wallis Budge, M. A. (Kegan Paul & Co. ) Egyptian Magic. (Same author and publishers.) THESE two volumes, the first of a series of "Books on Egypt and Chaldea," by Dr. Budge, the Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian Anti- quities in the British Museum, constitute important aids in the study of Egyptology. Their price regarding them as works on a recondite subject brings them within reach of most students, and they will be of extreme utility to those who bestow on them the attention they claim. The first volume drawn principally from that strange and im- portant collection of religious texts ' The Book of the Dead' gives as full an insight as, with our present knowledge, is obtainable of ideas and beliefs which, in altering forms, have prevailed over many thousand years. No systematic account of Egyptian ideas concerning the resurrection and the future life exists or is to be hoped. Egyptian theology is, however, saturated with the idea. The murnmi-