98
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-
