Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/500

 488

NOTES AND QUERIES. p s. v. J UNE i 6, 1900.

detected but two errors calling for correction. " S. R. Planche," on p. 7, should be /. #., the name being James Robinson Plao-he, an old friend and contributor of our own; ant: " stainless Turnstall," p. 115, should be stainless Tunstall.

The Defensive Armour and the Weapons and Engines of War of Medieval Times and of the "Renaissance" By Robert Coltman Clephan. (Scott.)

THE subject-matter of the present volume first appeared in 1898 in the Archceologia JEliana. It- has since been expanded, and, with numerous illus- trations of armour from the author's own posses- sion and other collections, constitutes a service- able guide to an important subject. Interest in arms and armour has developed strongly during recent years, and there is, we believe, a society or club in London consisting wholly of collectors. To write a complete or adequate history of armour is a difficult task involving wide and varied know- ledge. This Mr. Clephan has not sought to do, contenting himself with supplying a chronological and condensed treatment of the subject. In some cases we wish the treatment had been fuller, as when we hear of the monument at Susa erected by Naram-Sin about B.C. 3750, and " recently" brought to light by M. de Morgan. This shows a king wearing a horned helm, and armed with an arrow in his right hand and a bow in his left, and with a dagger in his girdle. Reference is also made to an Etruscan helm with horns. Something might surely be said in a popular treatise concerning the signification of the horn on a helmet, though the subject might, perhaps, find its proper place in a work, such as we recently reviewed, on the horn. Defensive armour reached its highest point of deve- lopment towards the close of the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century it was used for display rather than service, and became more and more decorative. Comparatively little plate-armour of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries exists. A reason for the disappearance of sixteenth-century armour, when enormous quantities were in use, is supplied by Lord Dillon, who asserts that in the days of Queen Elizabeth large quantities were con- verted into "targets" and "jacks" for the navy. We should have been glad of further information concerning the tournament roll preserved in the Heralds' College, of which institution it is one of the greatest treasures. The illustrations are of singular value and interest, and many of them of great beauty. A transitional Gothic suit at Munich forms the frontispiece. Fifty other plates include fine specimens of the enriched armour concerning which much curious information is given. Engraved designs of the crucified Christ were worn on the breastplate. Little knightly armour was made in England, and that little was of an inferior description, Italy and Germany being the chief workshops, and Milan, Brescia, Nuremberg, Augs- burg, Innsbruck, Venice, and Florence the chief sources of supply. French armour was coarser and less artistic than that of Germany and Italy. A very interesting and useful part of the work is found in the section dealing with the weapons and engines of war. The book would be more conform- able to modern requirements if furnished with a bibliography. Sir Richard Burton's 'Book of the Sword' is qualified as a * Romance of the Sword.' It may be this, but it is much to be regretted that it was never completed.

Six Anthems of John Milton. Edited by G E P

Arkwright. (J. Williams.)

THESE six anthems will be welcome to musi- cians. They are not all printed for the first the histories of music of Burney and Hawkins, ihe introductory matter is of high value and ^terest, and appeals to others beside musicians. Ihe whole constitutes, indeed, an important con- tribution to musical archaeology.
 * ime, two of them haying appeared respectively in

IT is a curious fact that some of the American magazines should give us pictures of the South African war more striking and realizable than any which appear in periodicals of home growth. We inow, at least, of no designs better than those by ffe.A n ! . r i T hich ' in Scnbner>8, illustrate the With Buller's Column' of Mr. Richard Harding Davis. We should be sorry to accept as accurate what Mr. Thomas F. Millard says concerning the Boer army. Mr. H. S. Morris has a good account of ' The Paintings of John McLure Hamilton.' Are the Philippines Worth Having?' repays jtudy. Mr. Charles Major startles us with the assertion that "the chambermaids in Whitehall Palace addressed Charles II. familiarly as ' Rowery,' that being the name of a famous horse in the royal stables. In this statement there are, we fancy, three lamentable mistakes.

AMONG books connected with the present war the following are announced by Mr. Elliot Stock :

The Wedge of War: a Tale of Ladysmith,' by Francis E. Hallowes ; ' Sunbeams through the War Clouds,' by Dr. J. F. Hamilton ; and ' The Little Bugler, and other War Lyrics,' by Norman Bennet.

We must call special attention to the following notices :

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D. D. We dare not open so controversial a question.

ERRATUM. P. 436, col. 1, 1. 6 from bottom, for " Poor of Boston" read Port of Boston. NOTICE.

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