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 »» a. VL S.PT. i, 1900.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 179 extravagant, and yet avaricious, with no sense and no scruples." The two other Valois queens who are depicted furnish more satisfactory sub- jects of study. They could, indeed, hardly have supplied less edifying examples. The book can be read with interest, and by those to whom more important works are inaccessible with advantage. An effort after accuracy is more earnest than was perceptible in the previous volume. It is curious that the dictionary of Moreri still plays a Puck- like part in leading her astray. On p. 133 we have a note that the name, which she gives as Morery. "when quoted by some writers is spelt Moreri. This statement we take leave to doubt. The e in Moreri is incapable of a grave accent. To support such it must be Morere. In the same note Mathurins is spelt Mathurius, obviously a printer's error. There are more of such, which is a matter of regret, if scarcely of importance. A History of Surrey. By Henry Elliot Maiden. (Stock.) THAT the history of Surrey which Mr. Maiden has contributed to the series of "Popular County Histories " is in all respects an ideal work may not, perhaps, be said. It is, nevertheless, an erudite and an eminently readable book. The task is unusually difficult of compressing into a single volume all that requires to be known concerning one of the most populous and. in some respects, one of the most important of English counties. For those who seek full knowledge—and that species of information it is the special aim of county his- tories to supply—the portentous folios of Manning and Bray are available. What space that wort would occupy if continued up to date on the scale on which it was first planned and carried out is diffi cult now to conjecture. So far as regards politica history, etymology, and other matters it is out o! date, though in respect of manorial history it stil occupies a high place. Subsequent works of Bray ley and Allen are even more conspicuous for short comings. Without entering further on this ques tion, it may be said the information that Mr Maiden supplies is trustworthy. In dealing with the historical portion—which is, at least, the part of most general interest—he is at much pains to show how insuperable an obstacle the Thames constituted to all movements from the south upon London. Against all the resources of early times London Bridge, if resolutely held, was impregnable An attack on the narrow entrance of this position could not be supplemented by a flank attack, since the artillery in the Tower forbade the passage ui the river of a fleet. Upon this point stress is laid and it is shown how forces approaching London had to march up the south bank to Kingston, th nearest point at which the stream could be crossed When we read of the 1,115 castles demolished by Henry II. when he ascended the throne, very fev of these could, presumably, have been structures o masonry. Sufficient skill, money, and materials U erect such were not in the possession of the baron during the anarchy of Stephen's time, and it mus be assumed that the so-called castles were in man cases mounds which "could be dismantled fo military purposes by throwing down the palisades. Curious information is given as to the tenures b which some of the royal tenants at Guildfor held their lands. Robert de Mankesey, otherwis Gatton, held land under Henry III. as "Mare schallus custodieudo meretrices de curia Domin et Mareschallus de duodecim puellarum use sequuntur curiam Domini Regis. Among urrey tenures was that by castle-ward, which was the obligation, since Plantagenet kings had no sanding armies, of taking for a season the charge f defending a royal castle. Such tenures were, re fancy, more familiar in the Marches than n places near London. It is strange, too, to nd people mulcted heavily for refusing to take art,, temp. Henry V11I., in popular mummeries. >ater, in 1605, we find, as a result, presumably, f Puritan development, the authorities of Guild- ord opposing popular revels, and complaining of 'homas Smalpece and his associates for going bout to set up a " summerpole," otherwise a naypole. The subject of the Bankside theatres n.) bear-pits is raised. Much is also said of nterest concerning the influence of such great cclesiastical institutions as existed at Waverley, rarnham, Chertsey, Reigate, and elsewhere, where ide by side with the ordinary town or village life was " a more or less wealthy household, or corpora- ion, the members, and even the dependents, of which lived under a law differing from that of their neighbours, wore a different dress, followed often different avocations, paid different dues and taxes owed a special allegiance to different authori- ties, and yet were essential not only to the worldly employment of those about them, out in a peculiar '.ml particular manner were essential to their n;: In-i life." An idea of some of the many points of interest with which Mr. Maiden deals may be gathered from what has been written. Pedigree Work. By W. P. W. Phillimore, M.A. (Phillimore 4 Co.) To the would-be genealogist who does not possess Mr. Phillimore's admirable ' How to Write the History of a Family' this cheap and excellent compilation may be warmly commended. It tells the student or the worker exactly what he wants to know, how to begin and proceed, describes for him authorities, and instructs him exactly to what sources to apply. We notice one or two slips which need correction. It is Solly's not Solley's 'Index to Titles of Honour"; andiW. de Gray Berth should surely be W. de Gray Birch. 'A Date-Book, 1066-1900,' is likely to be useful to those unacquainted with the variations and eccen- tricities of chronology. The Yorkshire Archatoloffical Journal. Part LX. (Leeds, Whitehead & Son.) THE parentage of Gundreda de Warenne is the subject of a paper by Sir G. F. Duckett, who is an ardent advocate of the claim made for this lady to have been the daughter of the Conqueror and his wife Matilda. He has marshalled his arguments with effect, and made out a strong case for his client. We wish, however, he had been less severe on those who have not enjoyed the advantage of sharing his views. With regard to a difference in respect to one of William the Norman's charters, he permits himself to speak of certain persons not in agreement with him as "wiseacres, who would wish to be called savants"; and in another place we hear of " incompetent and self-sufficient critics, of whom Mr. Stapleton seems to have been the first." Nothing is gained for the cause of historic truth by rhetoric of this sort; anyone can pour it out at will, and when produced it is utterly uncon- vincing. Stapleton was, we may add, a learned