19. ETHNOLOGY, SURNAMES, FOLKLORE, AND DIALECT. Perhaps as interesting a portion of the book as any, is that part of the last chapter which deals with the folklore and dialect of the county. There is, we ought to add, a very complete index. DATED BOOK-PLATES (EX-LIBRIS) WITH A TREATISE ON THEIR ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. By Walter Hamilton. Part III. 4to., paper, pp. 111-225. London: A. and C. Black. Price 7s. 6d. net. This is the third and last part of Mr. Hamilton's useful catalogue of dated book-plates. As dealing with book-plates of the present century it cannot be accounted archæological, and it is only by virtue of its connection with the two former parts, which came legitimately within the scope of view of the Antiquary, that this third part can by courtesy claim a notice in our pages. He Mr. Hamilton dwells on the decadence of art in the first half of the century, as reflected in the poverty of design shown in the ex-libris of that date. considers that a revival of artistic design in bookplates may be noted after 1851. To a limited extent this may be true, but we are not sure that we altogether agree with him. Book-plates designed in the earlier part of the century were, at least, a natural outcome of the taste, or lack of taste, of that period. It is not so now. At the present day book-plate designs are running riot. The so-called " high art of the sickly aesthetic fashion of the hour is figuring far too often in the book-plates of the present day. This can be seen in some of the illustrations given by Mr. Hamilton in this section of his book. Many of the designs are exaggerated and unreal, however odd or weird, or even pretty, they may chance to be. If a book like Mr. Hamilton's is to be anything more than a mere catalogue, it ought to criticise and point out errors and evidences of bad taste. No one could speak with more authority then the chairman of the Ex-Libris Society. We do not care to specify what we consider the bad taste of particular persons as shown in the designs of their book-plates illustrated in this book. It is, however, very evident that many of the designs figured by Mr. Hamilton contravene the canons of sobriety and good taste which should restrain the design of a book-plate. In fact, the modern book-plate is fast being vulgarized and is running to seed. We have gone, page by page, through Mr. Hamil ton's list, and we are bound to say that so far as we had the means of checking it, the list seems to be remarkably free from errors. In only two instances have we detected a mistake. One occurs in the first entry on p. 144, where it is said that Dr. William Tyrrell, Bishop of Newcastle, was translated to Sydney in 1853. This is a mistake. Dr. Tyrrell was Bishop of Newcastle at his death. The other mistake is also ecclesiastical and curious, and also of more importance. In the second part of his book Mr. Hamilton drew attention to a fictitious book-plate of Bishop Carr, of Killaloe, which he had been told was taken from a device in Canon Dwyer's History of the Diocese of Killaloe. We then pointed out that although the device in question occurs in the book named, it is really copied from Harris's edition of Sir James Ware's works, vol. i., which was pub lished in Dublin in 1739. On page 216 of the part under notice, in the list of "Additions and Corrections," under date of 1661, Mr. Hamilton includes as a small book-plate (2 inches by 2), a label inscribed "Sigillum Decani et Capituli Laonensis 1661." This is another of the devices of Irish episcopal and capitular seals which occur as headings to the sections of Harris's edition of Ware's work. As there are a large number of these devices in that work, and as many of them only need to be cut out with a pair of scissors to look like genuine book-plates, it is well that collectors should be placed on their guard. We have, while writing this notice, taken the trouble to look through the book. Some of the devices would lend themselves more readily to fraud than others, those of Killaloe being among the most easy for an unscrupulous person to make use of; the number is so considerable that it may not be amiss to record them here. There are three each of the following: Armagh, Meath, Kilmore, Derry, Dublin, Kildare, Ossory, Ferns, Cork, and Cloyne; four of Tuam; two each of Clogher, Dromore, Raphoe, Leighlin, Limerick, Killaloe, and Elphin; and one each of Down and Clonfert. The two latter, if cut out, would easily pass as ordinary oblong book-plates Of Cashel there are two devices of the average size, and four small ones. Of Waterford there is one of average size, and five small. In all more than fifty of them. They are all very prettily designed, and were it not that the book is fortunately rather rare and costly, many more of them would no doubt be passing current as book-plates than is actually It is clear that the collector needs to be on his guard as to them, and it is safe to say that any small label with an Irish bishop's arms, or with those of an Irish cathedral chapter, which it may be attempted to palm off as a book-plate, will, on examination, be found not to be a book-plate at all, but to have been cut out from the book in question. the case. * AN INTRODUCTION TO FOLKLORE. By Marian Roalfe Cox. Cloth, 8vo., pp. xv, 320. London : D. Nutt. Price 3s. 6d. It says very much for the study of folklore that the books which have appeared on the subject have as a rule maintained an unusually high standard of excel lence and scholarly attainment. With a subject which appeals so readily to the popular fancy, it might have been expected that quite the opposite would have been the case, and that the market would have been stocked with a plentiful supply of books of a very inferior order of merit. Fortunately this is not so, and the book now before us quite rises to the general high level which is so distinct a feature of most of the books which have dealt with folklore. There is a great deal of very suggestive matter and accurate reasoning in Introduction to Folklore, especially in the chapter on the "Separable Soul." It is not necessary to agree with all that is said in a book in order to appreciate its power, or estimate its value, and this is the case in the present instance. The fault of the past was that nobody noted, in any systematic or scientific way, the many traces of remote antiquity which can be detected in the ordinary customs and manners of civilized nations and individuals. The danger, as it seems to us, is now rather in the opposite direction of detecting, or thinking that there is to be detected, a trace of primæval usage in customs or practices which are really only the outcome of something by no means peculiarly ancient. To take a single instance, that of Christians turning to the East. It certainly suggests a connection with ancient sunworship, but if examined it will be found that it is of medieval origin, and is based on the symbolism so dear to the minds of men like Durandus and others. It is not a traditional custom of unbroken lineage from primitive Christianity, but is a piece of medieval symbolism based on the idea of the "Son of righteousness arising with healing on His wings." It is not connected with anything more remote. So, too, the placing of a poker upwards across the bars of a grate to induce a fire to burn, is based on sound commonsense, and is devoid of the idea, suggested in the book before us, that it originated in the forming of a cross, to make the evil spirit depart out of the fuel, which he prevented from burning. It would be quite easy to argue that the reason for punishing boys by whipping them on what Mr. Athelstan Riley and Mr. Labouchere have designated in Truth as the "official spot," arose not from the obvious convenience of that locality, but because it was a tradition from the days of primeval cannibalism, when the chef of that period was wont to pound the human steak to make it more tender. The fact is, that if we only use a little imagination we can very soon invest nearly every action of life with some romantic origin, supposed to be derived from prehistoric savagery or superstition. There is a real danger of this, and the student of folklore needs to curb the reins of his imagination to a very considerable extent in this respect. The first chapter of this book is headed "Introductory." It is followed by one on the Separable Soul; then comes the subject of Animal Ancestors; which in turn is followed by chapter iii., on Animism Ghosts and Gods; chapter iv. deals with the Other World; chapter v. with Magic; and chapter vi. with Myths and Folk-tales. It is a book full of matter for sober reflection, and without always accepting the author's conclusions, we look upon it as quite one of the best books on the subject. It is a capital explanation of and introduction to folklore in its many-sided bearings. There is, we may add, a complete and full index. . EXTRACTS FROM THE RECORDS OF THE MERCHANT ADVENTURERS OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE. Vol. i. (Surtees Society, vol. xciii.) Pp. lii, 315. Published for the society by Andrews and Co., Durham. This, which is one of the volumes issued to the members of the Surtees Society for 1894, was originally entrusted to Mr. J. R. Boyle, whose work as a painstaking Northern antiquary is well known. Unfortunately, Mr. Boyle had to leave Newcastle before completing the work, and this and other causes made it necessary for someone else to continue the work. A fresh editor was found in Mr. F. W. Dendy, and fortunately the book has not really suffered from the change of editor, as might have been feared that it would. It is not, perhaps, generally understood that merchant gilds were quite distinct from the craft gilds (or mysteries). Their members were those burgesses in the town who were shopkeepers or warehousemen engaged in the purchase and sale of merchandize. Craft gilds, on the other hand, were associations of artisans engaged in special handicrafts in a town. Merchant gilds existed in France at an earlier date than their existence in England can be traced, and it is surmised that their advantages may have first been learnt by the English from the Norman merchants who followed in the wake of the Conqueror. This volume deals therefore with what may be termed a general association of Newcastle shopkeepers, and not with the trade gilds of Newcastle at all. The Records of the Newcastle Merchant Adventurers are contained in fifteen manuscript volumes, ranging from the middle of the fifteenth to the middle of the present century. They are deposited in the safe of the company (which still exists), in the Merchants' Hall, at the Guildhall at Newcastle. It is from these fifteen books. that the extracts have been taken which are given in the present volume. The insight which they give into the merchant life of a great Northern town is extremely interesting, and is, moreover, full of important material. We learn much from them of the ways and methods of trade in the past, and much new light is thrown upon matters which have hitherto been obscure and doubtful-such, for instance, as the question of a struggle between the merchant gilds and the craft gilds, a matter hitherto much in dispute among his torians. The Newcastle records distinctly indicate that there was such a struggle in the reign of Ed. ward II. It is impossible, in a book full of so much variable matter, to give any detailed outline of its contents. We can only say that it appears to have been very judiciously and carefully edited. It forms one of the most valuable books which have hitherto appeared on the subject of merchant life in England in the past. We very much hope that similar records in other towns may also be published; we shall then be better able to compare the different aspects of trading in the past history of England than is at present possible. We have learnt a good deal about the craft gilds of late years; we now need more information as to the merchant gilds. This volume is a considerable help in this, and it will be much more so when the companion volume appears. NOTE TO PUBLISHERS.-We shall be particularly obliged to publishers if they will always state the price of books sent for review. INDEX. Abbeyton Bridge, Holy Well at, 217. Abstracts of Protocols of Town Clerks o Amber Witch, The, Review of, 94. Ancient Bookbindings, 9. Ancient Rome and its Neighbourhood, André (J. L.), Letter on Suppression of Antiquary, The, Among the Pictures, 166. Archeologia Eliana, The, 347. Publications of, 379. Archæological Institute of America, Pub- Archeological Journal, The, 312. on, Warrington Museum, by J. Ward Architectural History of Harrow Church, Ardnacloich, Holy Well at, 181. Badges from Monumental Brasses, Some 159. Berks Archæological and Architectural Best Plays of the Old Dramatists, Re- Blundered Coins, Note on Two, by T. M. Book Collectors, English, Scottish, and Book of Common Prayer in Manx Gaelic, "Book of Wisdom," A MS., 308, 339- Books Fatal to their Authors, Review of, Books Received, 127, 319. 233. Brave Translunary Things, Review of, Brehon Laws, The, Review of, 30. British Association, Proceedings of, 347. Bught, Holy Well at, 216. Cairnie, Holy Well at, 180. Publications of, 253, 313. Letter on, 159. Cardiff Naturalists' Society, Proceedings Celtic Fairy-Tales, More, Review of. 94. "Chulakantamangala," Review of, 316. Coins, Note on Two Blundered, 77. Letter on, 159. Coningsby Hospital, Hereford, by W. J. Cork Historical and Archæological Society, Correspondence, 32, 63, 95, 128, 159, 189, Costume of Colonial Times, Review of, Craig Dunain, Holy Well at, 215. Garvock, Holy Well at, 181. Gentleman's Magazine Library, Reviews George Morland, Review of, 255. Glasgow Archæological Society, Proceed- Glass-Making, English, in the Sixteenth III. Crystal Glass, 68. IV. From Bowes to Mansel, 102. V. Glass-making at the Restoration Glastonbury Archæological Society, Pub- Lake Village, Decorated Gloucestershire Brasses, Notes on, by Mr Hebrides, The, Pigmies' Isle in, 22. 128. Letter on St. Alban's Abbey, Hill of Spaxton, Letter on, 189. History of the Church of the Cymry, Re- History of the Welsh Church, Review of. Holy Land, Holy Well at, 214. Inverlussa, Holy Well at, 214. Irish Ecclesiastical Plate, On Some Pieces Irish Silver Dish-Ring of the Eighteenth Jewish Historical Society of England, Ki'calmonell, Holy Well at, 214. Kinnord, Holy Well at, 181. Knife, A., with a "Benedictio Mensæ" on Knockers, 202. Konglige Vitterhets Historie och Anti- Lanarkshire, Holy Wells of, 26, 150. Laud, Archbishop, Some Portraits of, by Legends of Florence, Review of, 340. Letters of the First (English) Prince of Life and Times of Ralph Allen, Review Lincolnshire Water-lore, by Miss M. Pea- List of the Inventories of Church Goods Parish, Rev. C., Letter on Selmeston Peacock (E.), Letter on Hagoday, 256. Portraits of Archbishop Laud, Some, 274. Problem, A, in Tacitus, by A. Hall, 63. Quarterly Notes on Roman Britain, by Rapallo, Notes on the History of, by Rev Reviews and Notices of New Books, 30, Round Towers at Montpellier, Notes on Royal Academy, The, 166. Royal Archæological Institute, Proceed- Royal Institution of Cornwall, Publications Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Publications of, 380. St. Dunstan's-in-the-East, London, 15. St. Lawrence's Well, 27. St. Multose Church, Review of, 318. Scottish Poetry of the Seventeenth Cen Selmeston Old Church, Sussex, 296. Seton, Holy Well at, 151. Short Notes, 32, 63, 95. 128, 159, 189, Shotts, Holy Well at, 150. Shropshire Archæological Society, Trans- Proceedings of, 122. Skeat (W. W.), Letter on Hagoday, 288. Sochmen of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Pro- Some Ancient English Homes, Review of Spital, Holy Well at, 27. Stirlingshire, Holy Wells in, 216. Stonehenge and its Earthworks, Review Stonehouse, Holy Wells at, 27. Suppression of Superstition, Letter on, 128. Publications of, 182, 380. Surtees Society, Publications of, 182. |