80
NOTES AND QUERIES. CD* s. HI. JAN. s,
Louis XV. as a child, of his Court, his entry into
Paris, of Marie Leczinska ; caricatures of the use of
pannier and plume ; grim views of the questioning
of Damiens ; charming designs from Moreau's
'Monument of Costume'; portraits and busts of
Voltaire, Diderot, Madame Vestris, Turgot, and
other celebrities : with these and similar things
the book overflows. To all who tolerate or love
the eighteenth-century art of France it offers end-
less attraction. It is in all respects a triumph of
the Parisian press.
Scottish Vernacular Literature. By T. F. Hender- son. (Nutt.)
MR. HENDERSON, well known for contributions to historical and biographical knowledge, has given us what is called "a succinct history" of Scottish vernacular literature, principally, but not wholly, poetical. It is a well-written, useful, and an emi- nently readable book. Discarding the assumption of supreme and ineffable wisdom, once supposed to be the equipment of every reviewer, and accepting the harsh judgment likely to follow the avowal of birth south of the Tweed, we confess to having found the early Scottish poems more than a little difficult of comprehension, and have, in the case of early alli- terative romances, abandoned the attempt. We have found Mr. Henderson a pleasant guide, we will not say to intimacy, but to a bowing acquaintance with many interesting works, and have, to our benefit, read his work from cover to cover. Under the influences of the Reformation the vocation of art and literature in Scotland became, "notwithstanding the impulse of a true poetic tradition and the fostering influence of James VI.," gradually impos- sible. "The sudden, full, and immediate contact of the rude intelligence of the masses with a book every word of which was supposed to have been directly dictated by God, upset as it was bound to do the nation's mental and moral balance." Under this and other influences much of the vernacular Scottish literature has perished. It was reserved for Burns to recreate the old Scottish world, and to breathe into the dry bones of the past the breath of life. If we had room to extract from Mr. Hender- son's illustrations we would quote the original ver- sion, embellished by Boece, of the interview betwixt Macbeth and the weird sisters on which Shakspeare drew. Wyntoun's 'Chronicle' is credited with a certain anecdotical garrulity, and a very interesting account is given 01 ' Rauf Coilzear,' ' Colkelbie's Sow,' and other Scottish fabliaux. Mr. J. T. T. Brown, who disputes the assignment to James I. of the authorship of the ' Kingis Quair,' is held not to have established a case which cannot be established. Most great cities and rivers have their laureates. It is curious that the first to praise aright London and the Thames should be Dunbar, who says : ! towne of townes, patrone and not compare : London, thou art the floure of Cities all. Very quaint and irreverent is the poem of ' Kynd Kittpk,' ascribed to the same poet. Mr. Hender- son is at some pains to defend Dunbar from the aspersions of Lowell and Prof. Courthope, and is successful in so doing. We cannot accompany Mr. Henderson further, pleasant companion though he be. We can but commend a study of his book, a task to be discharged with the minimum of labour and the maximum of delight.
Odd Volumes and their Boole-plates, by Walter Hamilton, Parodist to the Sette of Odd Volumes, is
a collection of a series of articles which appeared
last year in the Journal of the Ex-Libris Society.
Mr. George Redway has had a small edition printed,
of which only 150 copies are for sale, in size and
style to match the well-known opuscula of the Odd
Volumes. There are numerous reproductions of
quaint and interesting book-plates, and the articles
are humorously descriptive of some of the leading
members of this curious London dining club.
THE longest articles in the current number of Folk-Lore are Mr. Hartland's criticism of Mr. Lang's 'Making of Religion,' and an illustrated account of the Shrew Ash in Richmond Park. One of the questions in the pages devoted to correspond- ence demands further information on the debated point whether the jus primce noctis was ever in reality exercised among the peoples of Western Europe after they became christianized. In the miscellanea is a description of the immemorial custom of "Riding the Black Lad" in Ashton- under-Lyne.
AMONG the various papers published in the later numbers of Melusine are further additions to M. Tuchmann's immense collection of notes on fascina- tion. The superstitions relative to the evil eye would appear to be almost inexhaustible.
THE Intermediaire is, it is needless to say, full of valuable information on all kinds of subjects con- nected with literature, history, and archaeology. Among the curious facts chronicled in its pages are several instances of the preservation of corpses by the soil in which they were buried. Examples of fortified churches are still added to the list of such buildings which has already been given in the earlier numbers of the magazine, and a record of the non- belligerent patriots executed under various pleas by the Germans in 1870-71 is being gradually estab- lished.
THE Publishers' 1 Weekly, though scarcely of interest to the outsider, contains information likely to be of use to persons concerned with the book trade.
We must, call special attention to the following
notices :
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