Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/291

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

ii. SBPT. 17, loot.] NOTES AND QUERIES.


239


and assistance of Dr. W. de Gray Birch, of the British Museum, one of the highest authorities, if not the highest, on the subject. Prefixed to the

  • Studies' is an account of Roger de Busli, who,

apart from property in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and other places, possessed no fewer than 174 manors in Nottinghamshire. Other names of scarcely less frequent occurrence are Will: Pevrel and Gislebert: de Gand. Tenants of land in " Snoting- hamscyre" include also King William, Earl Alan (of Richmond), Earl Hugh (of Chester), (Robert) Earl Moriton (Moreton), the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Bayon, the Abbot of (Peter) Burgh, &c. In a following article Mr. Stacye expresses his belief that he has estab- lished the site of the Blyth Tournament Field, which Joseph Hunter and other antiquaries sought vainly to identify. His arguments in favour of Terminings, alias Styrrup Meadow, are ingenious. Another paper is on the much-disputed site of the Shireoak near Steetley. Following these papers comes a reprint of the portion of Thoroton's ' His- tory of Nottingham,' 1677, relating to ' Worksop and its Hamlets in the Dukery.' Mr. W. H. Steven- son, one of the most trustworthy of antiquaries, has a most important contribution on ' The Early Boundaries of Sherwood Forest.' Another article of great value is by Joseph Hunter on Hodsoke. A species of apology is proffered for an account of ' The Vicissitudes of the Welbeck Miniatures,' in which a grave charge is brought against a once well- known antiquary, who had charge of them, and turned them to improper use. Nothing that greatly surprises those who are behind the scenes is, how- ever, advanced, and the Duke of Portland authorizes the statements that are made. The subject is one, however, with which we may not concern our- selves. Criticism in the case of a work of this description is out of the question, and none has been attempted. The task of giving an idea of the amount of valuable material brought within reach of students, even, is beyond our power. With its reproductions of chartularies, grants, leases; inqui- sitions, inventories, and deeds of all kinds ; with its numerous and well-executed views of spots of local interest, its facsimiles, and its illustrations gener- ally, the work is a treasury, and we can but hope that the subscribers to the volume will be suffi- ciently numerous to guarantee the editor or writers from loss. Among things worthy of special study we would instance a most serviceable and important note on the difference between the purchasing power of money in the Middle Ages and at the present day. There are some items concerning the Commonwealth wars. A striking story of a duel between Sir John Holies and Gervase Markham, a well-known literary hack, whom Ben Jonson styled " a base fellow," is the last entry. We doubt, however, whether this is Gervase Markham the scribe, or another Gervase Markham, of Dunham, Nottinghamshire, with whom many people, in- cluding Hume the historian, have confounded him.

Scottish Heraldry Made. Easy. By S. Harvey John- ston. (W. & A. K. Johnston.) OF all knowledge the acquisition of which demands application and perseverance, the science of blazon is perhaps the most easily acquired. As in other cases of study, a smattering is soon obtained, while a com- plete mastery is reserved for the few. Each country has its own laws, and separate branches such, for instance, as ecclesiastical heraldry are the subject


of special and important treatises. For many- reasons Scottish heraldry and Scottish genealogy- are exceptionally involved. Mr. Johnston has beeu well advised, accordingly, in issuing what aims at being an explanatory work and an easy introduc- tion to an attractive branch of study. Admirable and authoritative books, such as Woodward's Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign,' and Sir James Balfour Paul's 'Ordinary of Scottish- Arms and 'Heraldry in relation to Scottish His- tory and Art, which Mr. Johnston has necessarily- consulted, have been reviewed at a period relatively- recent in our columns; but Sir David Lindsay's Heraldic Mb. and Stodart's ' Scottish Arms ' have- been primarily consulted by our author. After a few short preliminary essays on the purpose and origin- of heraldry, on the shields, tinctures, parted coats,, &c., charges, animate, astronomical, miscellaneous, &c., are treated at some length. Of charges con- nected with earth it is stated that in Scottish heraldry such are confined to mountains, the mounds- from which trees grow, and the rocks on which- castles rest. Under the sub-ordinaries references are- made to the double tressure peculiar to Scotland, and consisting of two narrow orles, one within the other. A chapter on * Odds and Ends ' describes how to draw a shield, gives the rules of blazon, and deals with cockades, &c. A useful glossary and an adequate index add to the value of a serviceable- book. Many of the illustrations are in colour.

The Cathedral Church of Bayeux and other His- torical Relics in its Neighbourhood. Bv the Rev R. S. Mylne, M.A. (Bell & Sons.) THE appearance of this volume in Bell's series of handbooks to continental churches is welcome, not only for its own sake, but for the sort of implied- promise it affords that the churches of Caen the- one continental spot with a resemblance to Oxford, will follow. We have ourselves been in the habit of varying our journey to Paris by going via Cher- bourg and the Cotentin, and thus seeing Bayeux Caen, and other fair spots. A view of the cathedral from the north forms a pleasing frontispiece, and a nearer view from the east is given at p. 12 A chapter is, of course, devoted to the famous tapestry and another to the many spots of extreme interest to be found in the neighbourhood of Bayeux. The volume constitutes a pleasing addition to the series.

The Poems and tome Satires of Andrew Marvell

Edited by Edward Wright. (Methuen & Co ) Several Discourses by Way of Essays. By Abraham Cowley. Edited by H. C. Minchin. (Same pub- lishers.)

HAPPY indeed is the modern reader who obtains- in the "Little Library" the poems of Andrew Marvell. We sought them in our youth for many years, and then only obtained them in a scarce- edition issued by Mary Marvell. Yet what lover of poetry would now be content to be without ' The Nymph,' " To his Coy Mistress,' ' Bermudas ' To- Milton on his "Paradise Lost,"' 'The Character of Holland,' and especially the Horatian ode on 'Cromwell's Return from Ireland,' with its mar- vellously bold and splendid tribute to Charles I. upon his death ? Who, indeed, would spare anything Marvell wrote? A portrait of Andrew Marvell still youthful, lent by the Duke of Buccleuch serves as an attractive frontispiece.

Cowley's ' Essays ' are recognized as among the best in existence. They are, none the less, known