Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &o.

County Folk-lore.-Vol. V. Folk-lore concerning Lincolnshire. Collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock. (Published for the Folk-lore Society by D. Nutt.)

THE DEVIL looks over Lincoln, according to the old saying. The adherents of the Royal Archæological Institute, who are to do the same thing at the end of this month, may be recommended to peruse this most interesting volume, which is full of fascinating tradition and folk-lore concerning the county of Lincoln. The whole is excellently arranged by the skilful hand of Mr. N. W. Thomas, and has been collected with admirable zeal by Mrs. Gutch and Miss Mabel Peacock, daughter of our old contributor Mr. Edward Peacock. The last-mentioned scholar in his Glossary of Words used in the Wapentakes of Manley and Corringham,' in our own columns, and elsewhere has done much to elucidate and preserve the fast-fading relics of earlier days. Miss Peacock says in her Preface that the only striking characteristic of Lincolnshire folk-lore is its lack of originality." This, however, is a feature which pleases us, since many of the stories and customs recall slightly different variants with which we are familiar in different parts of England. Thus we knew well a "wise man who was accused of overlooking" people, and was called by village folk a witch."

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Green's forsaken, and yellow's forsworn,

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But blue's the prettiest colour that's worn, is the Oxfordshire form we have heard of the couplet here quoted from Grantham. Kex," "keck," or "kecksy," a general name for umbelliferous plants, we know best in the second form. It is a word securely recorded in our language, for it occurs in Shakespeare, and also in the Dorset dialect of Mr. Thomas Hardy.

Three sections full of interest are those con

cerned with Animals, Goblindom,' and Witchcraft.' At Stamford the custom of informing bees of a death is prevalent, a rite concerning which our correspondents have written at different times, and which appears in the literature of ancient Greece. Under Epworth' we learn of Tom Boggle," the almost universal name for a ghost, which reminds us of " poor Tom" in King Lear.' The same great play has "Handy-dandy," a child's game recorded here. Among the Goblin Names might, perhaps, be included Tennyson's " boggle" which was like a butter-bump." We have met with several educated persons who carry a potato in their pocket or a chestnut for rheumatism, just as Lincolnshire folk do.

According to Mr. Peacock, in making a bed you must be careful not to turn over the bed or mattress on Sunday, as is done at other times; you will have bad luck all the week if you do." A Yorkshire informant tells us, however, that the Sunday turning means turning away love, and the Friday turning bad luck. From the same source we gather that to walk under a ladder is not unlucky if you wish hard. Bowing at the first sight of the new moon we have heard of often, but our folk-lore orders nine such curtseys.

Mr. Peacock is also the authority for a quaint set of sheep-shearing numerals beginning Yan,

IN The Fortnightly Mr. J. L. Garvin's Imperial and Foreign Affairs: a Review of Events,' leads off, and is interesting throughout. Mr. Edward Clodd's article George Meredith: some Recollections,' is genial and intimate, and probably the most interesting of the month to the literary reader. Mr. J. C. Bailey writes on Meredith's Poetry.' Rowland Gray's Heavy Fathers' is clever, but not very convincing, dealing with two or three parents who have laid a heavy hand on their offspring. Mrs. Stopes has a learned article, which is well fortified with references, on 'Burbage's Theatre,' and her daughter Dr. Marie Stopes gives notes of An Expedition to the Southern Coal-Mines of Japan,' which are fresh and of decided interest. Mr. Edward prints a paper against Mr. Redford's office. Garnett in The Censorship of Public Opinion There is something, we think, to be said on the other side, though we regard much of the censorship of plays Hewlett begins Letters to Sanchia,' a narrative in recent years as inconsistent. in his best and somewhat Meredithian manner. The young charmeur represented reminds us, indeed, of a figure in Meredith's work supposed to be derived from R. L. Stevenson.

Mr. Maurice

IN The Nineteenth Century politics figure largely: Mr. W. Frewen Lord has an exaggerated tirade on The Creed of Imperialism'; Sir Felix Schuster attacks the Death Duties in unconvincing style; and Mr. Austin Harrison introduces once again an inspired underling in The Cult of Teddy Bear,' which seems to us rather foolish. Prof. Vambéry concludes his Personal Recollections of Abdul Hamid II. and his Court,' and shows what a bundle of conflicting habits and ideas the Sultan was. Mr. Marcus B. Huish deals with the representation of British Art at Venice' in a British pavilion secured by the liberality of Sir David Salomons, and suggests that Venice ought to raise a monument to Ruskin. The article, though sensible, is spoilt by inflated language. Mr W. C. D. Whetham and his wife in The Extinction of the Upper Classes' have an important subject -the modern limitation of children; but we fear that public warnings are useless in such matters. In the breeding of unhealthy children those who should know best what they are doing are often the worst offenders. Frère Jacques is one of Miss Rose Bradley's accomplished travel articles, giving a pretty picture of late spring in Corsica. Canon Vaughan writes well on The

Revision of the Prayer Book Psalter.' Mr. George B. Wilson makes a reply in True Temperance and the Public-House' to Mr. Edwyn Barclay's statements as an eminent brewer. IN The Cornhill Mr. Binyon has an ambitious and not wholly successful poem, 'Mother and Child.' It is, however, far preferable to the smooth cleverness which generally is accounted good verse nowadays. Miss Cholmondeley's Vicarious Charities: a Dialogue,' is admirably witty and sensible, and will be read with pleasure by many people in society who are bored and wearied by unsuitable applicants for help in various forms. Dr. Fitchett retells a vivid chapter of Australian history in The Tale of the Eureka Stockade '; and E. V. B. has an impressive short story of ghostly possession in Katharine Tynan sketches a very gracious figure with old ideas and a young heart in The Lady of the Manor.' The Seven Thirty' is a delightful story of a London landlady by Dorothea Deakin. Briton and Boer in South Africa,' by a Cape M.A., and Babies of the State,' by Mrs. H. O. Barnett. both treat in an informing way subjects of importance to every Englishman. The mortality among the babies dependent on the State is more shocking than the tale of any foreign war.

An Unseen Terror.'

IN The National Review Mr. Austin Dobson's account of Mr. Cradock of Gumley' is the most interesting article to any one with literary tastes. Cradock was not a great figure, but he has left memorable notes of great figures, such as Johnson and Garrick, which Mr. Dobson has woven into a charming article. 'The late Lord Glenesk and The Morning Post,' by M. T. Ferguson, dwells justly on the honourable part the paper and its modern maker have played in journalism; but its progressive character in social reform is possibly exaggerated. It is said that the first regular War Correspondent was C. L. Gruneisen, who represented The Morning Post in the Carlist War of 1837. Miss Black-Hawkins has a curious short paper on Wasps as Pets.' Mr. A. Maurice Low, in dealing with American Affairs,' rebukes The Spectator for its tone of condescension towards the United States; and Mr. Benson Hayes, in 'Hypnotism and Character,' tells of the suc cesses of a French doctor, Bérillon, in curing diseases and unpleasant habits. The writer says that at the dispensary in the Rue St. André des Arts "the fee is a nominal one, within the means of the poorest; and a glance at the number of patients present belonging to the working classes convinced me that faith in the healing power of hypnotism must be very widely spread in Paris." Episodes of the Month' is, as usual, a pungent summary of politics. The Imperial Press Conference is described as "a conspicuous and unclouded success.' Unfortunately, it was somewhat of a party character. Much is made of Lord Rosebery's famous letter concerning the Budget, and he is asked to take a "clear, strong lead," as both the dominant party in the Commons and the House of Lords are too apprehensive concerning their respective fortunes to look after the country.

are

and the growth of its literature. Among the families who have lately been discussed in its pages may be mentioned those who are connected by blood or alliance with the kindred of Jeanne d'Arc. The man who assassinated the Duke of Guise at Orleans in 1563 comes under notice; and several famous, or infamous, actors in the great drama of the Revolution and the First Empire are also discussed. One query draws attention to the fact that under the ancien régime right to do so. many people wore swords who had no legal of the eighteenth century, Jews, actors, lettres, According to the police reports and others broke the formal rules in this respect. It does not appear, however, that they were prosecuted for infringing the law.

A somewhat quaint account of the physical relics of St. Francis of Sales-such as his heart and tongue-is given in another note.

remains seem to abound.

His

It appears that the Hagiologie nivernaise,' by Monseigneur Grosnier, explains the existence of numerous examples of his hair and blood in the monasteries of the Visitandines by referring to "le manuscrit des valet de chambre had an elevated conception of Visitandines," which shows that the saint's his employer's sanctity, and accordingly preserved everything of which St. Francis had made use. His old clothes, the cuttings of his hair, and the blood taken from his veins when, following the fashion of the time, he was bled, were carefully hoarded. "I foresaw that one day all these would become relics," the servitor explained when questioned on the subject after the holy man's death. In this instance a man did prove a hero to his valet, and the latter had the acumen not only to recognize that he was living with a man of unusual type, but also to conclude that at some future date anything which had formed part of him, or been in contact with him, would have a value for the collectors of religious keepsakes.

Notices to Correspondents.

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We beg leave to state that we decline to return print, and to this rule we can make no exception. communications which, for any reason, we do not,

To secure insertion of communications correspondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answering queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication" Duplicate."

DELTA. See the extensive literature of the subject. "First-hand knowledge" is in any case difficult to prove.

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