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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. in. MAR. n, ion.
Dumfries and Galloway Notes and Queries, Part I.,
Series I. (Dumfries, Courier and Herald
Office.)
IN September, 1909, the editor of the Dumfries and Galloway Courier and Herald arranged for a discussion of local matters in the form of notes and queries, and his scheme straightway de- veloped into a very popular and substantial feature of his journal. After a year's experience, the publishers are justified in their conclusion that the contributions thus secured constitute an agreeable miscellany which fully merits separate publication. The working plan is practically that of ' N. & Q.,' although occasionally what is substantially a lecture on a native theme takes the place of the standard "note." Political and literary history, genealogy, place-names, folk-lore, and so forth, are treated luminously and well, many of the discussions having not only local value, but also general importance. The writers are not always exhaustive in stating references. One, for instance, has a note on Burns's ' Lines Written on the Back of a Bank- No te,' and quotes the verses as if he gave them for the first time. He should have said that they appeared in The Morning Chronicle and The Edin- burgh Magazine in 1814, and were afterwards in- cluded in complete editions of the author's works. Another contributor writes on Helen Walker, the prototype of " Jeanie Deans," and, while admitting that the significant part of his com- munication " has been published before," omits to state that it is a slightly revised version of the narrative prefixed by Scott in 1830 to ' The Heart of Mid-Lothian.'
A Book of Light Verse. Edited with Notes by
B. M. Leonard. (Frowde.)
WE noticed with pleasure the author's ' Pageant of English Poetry.' The present collection, which is available in several elegant bindings and in each case at a moderate price, is similarly com- prehensive, and we share the verdict of a judicious friend, who is also an old reviewer, that it is likely to prove a source of perpetual pleasure. The " musa jocosa " of the past has not been overdone of late years, and Locker-Lampson's ' Lyra Elegantiarum,' on which this volume largely relies, is the best of foundations. Al- together, there is abundance of matter both familiar and known to but few. No living writers are included, but the harvest of the past is rich enough to occupy many a fireside evening. The .notes explain obscurities, and supply some lite- rary judgments of interest, though these are in some cases rather examples of prejudice than fair criticism. A list of authors and an Index of First Lines are given conveniences that ought to be always added to such collections as this.
Fragrance Among Old Volumes. By Basil
Anderton. (Kegan Paul, Trench & Co.) THE papers which Mr. Anderton has here re- printed from some of the minor magazines in which they first appeared are of slight texture, and we cannot take them so seriously as the author does. Indeed, we find it difficult to dis- cover their raison d'etre, as they hardly possess the
charm of style which would atone for the flimsi-
ness of their matter ; and we doubt if they will
be of interest to many outside the circle of the
author's friends. There are some good reproduc-
tions of old cuts, by Bewick and others, but
otherwise the illustrations are amateurish. The
example of " early Church poetry " quoted from
St. Bernard (p. 85) is really derived from the
Vulgate of Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 29.
The West Riding of Yorkshire has been added to the " Little Guides " of Messrs. Methuen. All wise travellers know the value of these guides with their compact and easily accessible information ; and for ourselves, we thank Mr. Joseph E. Morris for his well-illustrated descriptions 'of, and com- ments on, a country which is full of the beauties both of art and nature. The Yorkshire dales should not be missed by any lover of England.
IN The Cornhill for March Canon Vaughan, whose writing we always read with pleasure, has an excellent article on* ' The Authorized Version of the Bible.' He quotes Dr. Scrivener's remark that " never perhaps has a great enterprise of a like nature been carried out with less knowledge handed down to posterity of the labourers, their method, and manner of working." The revision occupied two years and nine months, but the exact date of publication in 1911 is not known. The Version, especially in the New Testament, bears " the impress of the genius of Tyndale," and it is just this greatness of rhythm which, we may add, the Revised Version utterly misses. Canon Vaughan reproduces various tributes to the in- comparable book and quotes from Prof. Cook, without giving the source of the passage, the ' Cambridge History of English Literature,' usages which have become part of the ordinary speech of the people, and are not generally recog- nized as biblical. Mr. A. C. Benson has an admirable subject in ' Professor Newton,' who was described by a friend of his as having " all the characteristics of John Bull." The Professor wore the oldest clothes ; insisted on verifying his references ; would not have a single lady in the College Chapel ; objected strongly to the intro- duction of an organ ; and left strict injunctions that there was to be no music at his own funeral. He loved to have his way, and generally got it, dominating the small society of Magdalene College. He was useful, Mr. Benson indicates, as a drag on hasty changes and sentimental theories. ' The Subaltern ' has a lively account of life in the Persian Gulf and Busra, and Mr. G. M. Trevelyan affords new light on Garibaldi as com- mander of the forces of Montevideo in South America. This information comes from the papers of Sir William Gore Ouseley, a diplomat who was sent on a special mission to Montevideo. This authority says that a brave, worthy, and upright man has been misrepresented by contin- ental enemies. Garibaldi came to see him late at night in a Poncho, for he was busy all day pre- paring orders, maps, &c., and could not afford to purchase lights for his own use. The Poncho con- cealed the dilapidated state of his clothes, for he did not get his proper pay, and declined the title of General and the rewards offered by the Montevidean Government, as Mazzini explains in a letter here quoted, probably of 1846. Mazzirii's hopes of future eminence for Garibaldi were fully realized.
