ii. DEC. 3, 1904.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
459
de Pierre cle Bourdeille, Seigneur de Brantome,
contenans les Anecdotes. ....touchant lea Duels,' is
neither less interesting, less characteristic, nor less
amusing than its predecessors. In translating into
English a work with which we are only familiar in
the Foppens edition treated as an Elzevir annex
of Jean Sambix le Jeune (Foppens), 1722 Mr.
Powell has given his rendering a bantering accom-
paniment, which, while it is eminently disrespect-
ful to Brantome, is no less eminently amusing to
read. The book thus treated has been supplied by
Mr. Bullen with a series of admirable illustrations,
taken from the ' Portraits des Personnages Illustres
du X VI me Siecle ' of Niel, reduced, and from various
works, Italian, French, German, and other, upon
the science of arms. As a rule the portraits are
after Francois Clouet. The result is a book which
is likely to be equally dear to the student of Renais-
sance literature and life and to the admirers of the
white weapon. Remarkable knowledge and tact
are shown in the selection of the scenes of combat,
most of which are admirably lifelike and effective.
There was little that was make-believe about the
combats so lightly undertaken by Guisard and
Huguenot, by the Mignons of the French kings, and
the captains, Italian or Spanish. So there is no
mistake or make-believe about the fights in the
'Arte di Maneggiar la Spada' of Alfieri and other
works laid under contribution. The book is
delightful to read, and, on account both of its
letterpress and its illustrations, should be in the
library of every scholar and man of taste. Mr.
Powell has made much use of the 'Rodomontades
et Juremens Espagnolles' of Brantome. Spanish
soldiery were at that time the best in Europe. In
the duels of Quelus v. Antraguet, Biron v. Carancy,
and other no less famous encounters, the chief
interest is found. On p. 99 the name Livarot is
used in mistake for Quelus.
The Scottish Historical Review. No. 5, October.
(Glasgow, MacLehose & Sons.) WE foresee a long career of usefulness for this valuable journal. The articles, almost without exception, present new knowledge of an important kind. There are few things with which we Southerners are less acquainted than the laws and customs that regulate the Scottish peerage. They are commonly assumed to be identical, or at least parallel, with our own, and when the wide differences between them are pointed out, the information is sometimes received with signs of incredulity. No new Scottish peers have been created since the union of the kingdoms. At that time there were 164 titles entered on the Union Roll ; of these 62 are dormant or extinct the greater part we believe to be dormant only. But there is another reason which makes the Scotch peerage seem to have fewer members belonging to it than it has in truth. Many Scotch peerages have been absorbed in higher titles, Scotch and English, and are thus forgotten by the multitude. It would be out of place to consider here whether the union of the two kingdoms was or was not an advantage for Scotland. However this may be, there can be no doubt that the Scotch peers were not treated with justice. The writer by no means exaggerates when he says that, as far as they were concerned, the dealings with them were " without either prin- ciple or prevision," and the bearer of the oldest title in Scotland was made to rank on official occa- sions below the newest English peer of his degree.
It does not seem to have been realized by those-
who were responsible for drafting that famous Act
that some of the Scottish peers had held positions-
little short of royal. The claim of the Earl of Fife
to enthrone the king on the Stone of Destiny indi-
cates, as is pointed out, that some form of con-
sent on the part of that earl was called for to-
confer tho regal authority. In early charters the
earl sometimes designated himself " By the grace-
of God Earl of Fife," which seems to imply that his
position was not entirely dependent on the Crown.
Prof. Sanford Terry contributes a paper on 'The Homes of the Claverhouse Grahams,' which indi- cates great research, and cannot but be of interest to those who, in spite of Lord Macaulay's invective, have a warm place in their hearts for the hero off Killiecrankie the " Ultimus Scotorum," as Dr. Pitcairn, the Jacobite poet, affectionately called him. Whatever estimate we may form of his character, his career, it will be conceded, is one of greab interest, and what has hitherto been regarded as his home is, we believe, often visited by pilgrims. The Claverhouse property on the river Dichty, near Dundee, was the estate of John Graham, Viscounfr Dundee. Of this there can be no doubt, and he- was, before the peerage was conferred upon him, it is probable, called " of Claverhouse " from that estate having been longer in the family than those subsequently acquired. "The bloody Clavers " was another secondary name which you may still* hear if you gossip about the wars of the Covenant with the men and women of the western shires of ; Scotland, whose forefathers many of them suffered; for what they regarded as the rights of conscience. The Grahams were scions of a widespread race and' well descended in female lines, but do not seem to have been wealthy. There is said to have been a castle on the Claverhouse estate, but Prof. Terry's investigations render this tradition extremely doubtful. A dower-house there was, but we see- no reason for thinking it was ever the dwelling- place of the lairds. In 1684 the future Viscount Dundee acquired the castle of Dudhope, which for the few remaining years of his life was probably his home. It is to this place, not to Claverhouse, that those who treasure the memories of a lost cause should make pilgrimage.
- Some Sidelights on Montrose's Campaigns ' is a
valuable paper, containing facts which seem to be new. One of these is that at the battle of Tipper- muir the royalist army possessed but one barrel of gunpowder, and another is that the warcry of the Covenanters was " Jesus and no quarter."
The account of Miss Katherine Read, a Scottish' artist of the eighteenth century, is interesting. She is now well-nigh forgotten, hut was highly esteemed* by her contemporaries. Some of her portraits, it is said, have been attributed to Reynolds. She- went to India, and we gather painted there many portraits. The climate did not suit her, so she embarked for home, but died at sea.
THE Edinburgh Review for October contains more than the usual number of papers which do not belong to our province. The most noteworthy of those we may discuss, because it relates to a subject on M'hich many of us are content to be ignorant, deals with ' The Commercial and Fiscal Policy of the Venetian Republic.' The question is a grave one, not capable of investigation except by those who have access to the many documents which have been preserved in the libraries and record
