278
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. m. APHIL s, m
but is the phrase " fflores Hortorum " likely ?
I suggest "Poetarum," and MR. PORTER may
look again at his manuscript with these lights.
I would add that I possess a book bearing the
following title :
"Illvstrivm | Poetarvm | Flores: | per | Octa- vianvm Mirandvlam collect!, & in locos communes digest! : nunc verd ab innumeris mendis repurgati | a | Theod. Pvlmanno | Craneburgio. | Cum Indice locorumcommunium. | Antverpiae, | Apudloannem Bellerum sub aquila aurea. | MDLXXXVIII. | Cum Priuilegio Regis."
It is a copious Latin anthology, with alpha- betically arranged subject headings and marginal references. F. ADAMS.
106A, Albany Road, Camberwell.
May not this book be c Flores Doctorum,' a work which I find announced among " Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Books " in ' London's Cata- logue of the Most Vendible Books in England,' 1658 ? The last word, being indistinct, might easily be " Docto," with the ,r-like contraction for rum and orum, common enough in docu- ments of the period. London gives neither place nor date of publication, but the size only, 16mo. In another part of his catalogue he has "Flores Solitudinis, certain rare and elle- gant pieces of Temperance and Patience ; of life and death ; the world contemned by the Bp. of Lyons ; the life of Paulinus, Bp. of Nola, &c. 12mo." In the 'Catalogi Veteres Librorum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Dunelm.' (Surtees Society, vol. vii.) we have 'Flores Bernardi, cum quadam alia tabula prsece- denti,' and 'Flores Bedse super Epistolam Pauli ad Romanes.' Of course, " cortox " suggests " cortex," and the book may be of the nature of a herbal ; but as I find no work in ancient catalogues bearing that title, I put forth the foregoing suggestion for what it is worth. RICHARD WELFORD.
GOODHALL, YORKS (9 th S. iii. 227). Is not this Gowdall, between Snaith and Hensall ? ISAAC TAYLOR.
" THE POLICY OP PIN-PRICKS " (9 th S. iii. 46, 115, 238). I am unable, I regret to say, to comply with ST. SWITHIN'S request, for the simple reason that my information was de- rived from an English, and not a French source. HENRY GERALD HOPE.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
Life and Times of the Early Valois Queens. By
Catherine Bearne. (Fisher Unwin. ) IN this handsome and attractive volume Mrs. Bearne deals with the lives of the first three queens of the house of Valois Jeanne de Bourgogne, Blanche de
Navarre, and Jeanne d'Auvergne et de Boulogne.
Concerning these illustrious ladies ordinary histories
are all but silent, and the record of their lives has
been compiled with commendable industry from
early chronicles and similar sources. Comparatively
few particulars as to the three queens them-
selves are obtainable, and the record of their doings
is of no special vivacity. A good picture of life in
France is, however, furnished, at a time when the
fortunes of that fair country were all but at their
lowest, since, in addition to the terrible scourge of
the Black Death, with which all Europe was visited,
she had to undergo the revolt of the Jacquerie, and
to see her land overrun by English hordes and
by disbanded mercenaries, who committed fearful
outrages. Humiliation of the keenest kind was
not spared the French, and the volume includes
accounts of the English victories at Crikjy and
Poictiers. As a picture of France the book is,
accordingly, to be commended. Its pages are,
however, blurred and indistinct, being overcrowded
with figures. As a rule, the information is trust-
worthy, and we have detected few mistakes, and none
of importance. We never heard of the ' Grande [sic]
Dictionnaire Historique' of Morey, mentioned
p. 81, and must suppose "Morey" to be a misprint
for Moreri. We should say, also, that " Lucas
le Borgue," named p. 115 as making for the king a
cotte hardie of escallate, should be Lucas le Borgne.
Fourteenth-century French offers some difficulties ;
but we know of no such word as borgue. The most
charming feature in the book consists of the illus-
trations. These are taken by Mr. Edward H.
Bearne from ancient drawings and similar sources,
and supply admirably vivid pictures of feudal
France. The frontispiece shows the Chateau of
Chastellux, a fine specimen of a feudal residence,
" picturesque outside and intolerable inside," as our
author says. We have in addition, besides por-
traits and shields, admirable views of the old
Chateau of Dijon, the Chateau Gaillard, the
Louvre, the Palais de la Cite, the Chateau de Vin-
cennes, the Tour de Nesle, the Grand Chatelet, St.
Denis, Evreux, Melun, &c. The legends connected
with these edifices, notably the Tour de Nesle,
are briefly narrated. Mrs. Bearne is to be con-
gratulated on having chosen ground almost un-
occupied in this country. She holds out a half
promise of a second volume, giving lives of Jeanne
de Bourbon, Isabelle de Bavie~re, and others. The
sad career of Isabelle de Baviere should furnish
opportunities for a good study. It is, perhaps,
unreasonable to wish for more personal particulars
concerning the women dealt with. Such are not
easily obtainable, and when obtained are not often
edifying.
St. Ronarfs Well. By Sir Walter Scott. Edited by
Andrew Lang. (Nimmo.)
IT is pleasant to read afresh ' St. Ronan's Well, now included in the reissue of the handsome " Border Edition." When in boyhood we firs! encountered the work in what used to be called the author's favourite edition we found it unread- able, and it was not until a decade or more had passed that we accomplished a task since that time often repeated. The opening chapters, once re garded as the dullest, are now special favourites. Not until the tedious, and, as Mr. Lang says, conventional" Nabob comes on the scene t( serve as a deiis ex machind does the book become tiresome. We are not easily reconciled to the
