258
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii&ix. 1^88,1914.
the red hand printed at the head of the
Ulster Covenant is the right hand, whereas
the hand which a baronet '(of Ulster) bears
on his coat is the lejt hand. May not the
reason be that the connexion of baronets of
Ulster with that province being of a merely
nominal or fictitious nature, the cognizance
of Ulster the dexter hand, couped at the
wrist, gu., of O'Neill was differenced in
the case of such baronets, and the left hand
assigned to them accordingly ?
T. T. V.
Early Wars of Wessex. By Albany F. Major.
Edited by the late Charles W. Whistler.
(Cambridge University Press, 10s. Qd. net.)
THIS admirable work deals with a very interesting and important epoch in our country's history one about which, however, most people are pro- foundly ignorant, owing to the fact thr.t there is available so little information of a lucid and authentic character.
It is a study of the period following the evacua- tion of Britain by the Romans, and it traces in the ceaseless warfare of Celt, Saxon, and Dane the gradual welding together of the foundation of the English nation. It is remarkable for the manner in which there have been laid under contribution an immense variety of sources of information the documentary records, so far as they go ; careful study of the local topography, based upon intimate personal acquaintance ; some special knowledge of Scandinavian antiqui- ties ; local and family traditions and names ; folk-lore, &c. and for the sagacious reasoning and acute deduction which have been brought to bear upon them. The result is a volume which, commencing \vith the dim half-lights of Arthurian tradition, gradually develops a clearly outlined picture of early England as far as the reign of Alfred the Great in the ninth century. It treats of a difficult period in a style pleasant and inter- esting, and will be found of value alike from the historical, racial, and topographical points of view.
When, as is pointed out in the Preface, so much of the early history of these islands " re- mains writ large on the face of the country," it is to be deplored that, apart from vague local tradi- tions, so little is generally known to aid in inter- preting these signs aright.
The warfare through which was evolved the Kingdom of Wessex, with the overlordship of her rulers, materially helped to shape the destiny of England as a whole. And here is traced, step by step, how the Teutonic conquerors gradually dis- placed the Celtic and Roman inhabitants until they " became the people of the land itself."
Book I. deals, in eight chapters, with the rise of the Kingdom of Wessex to its final subjuga- tion of the rival British Kingdom of Dyvnaint. One notes with interest how much in this early period the Abbey of Glastonbury stands out as an historic landmark. In Book II. we come to the advent of the Danes, in whose case we can again note the paramount importance to this
country of command of the sea. Book II I,
traces the final stages of the great struggle between
Alfred and the Danes, resulting at last in the
overthrow of the latter and their disappearance
as a conquering race.
Numerous maps, plans, and diagrams, valuable references to authorities in foot-notes, and an excellent Index add to the usefulness of this, one of the most important contributions to early- English history which have appeared in recent years.
Book-Auction Records. Vol. XI. Part I. (Hamp-
stead, Karslake & Co., 17. Is. yearly.) WE always give a welcome to these ' Records,' and the present part is specially interesting. We note that a copy of the first edition of ' The Complete Angler,' contemporary binding in a case, fetched 560?. There is a long list \inder Shakespeare r including the Second, Third, and Fourth Folios. There are first editions of Milton and Spenser, besides the first of ' Robinson Crusoe,' 467. ; Wordsworth's ' Evening Walk,' 347. ; ' Pedestrian Tour,' 357. ; ' Grace Darling,' 211. ; and ' Line* written after the Death of Charles Lamb ' (only five or six copies known), 497. Under Dickens are the first edition of ' Martin Chuzzlewit,' in parts,. 87. ; ' Sunday under Three Heads,' 77. 7s. ; and ' The Village Coquettes,' 97. Under Lamb are the first series of the first edition of ' Elia,' in. the original boards with label, 257. ; and the first edition of ' Tales from Shakespeare,' with Blake's plates, 357. Bronte first editions fetched big- prices, two copies of ' Jane Eyre ' realizing 227. 10s. and 337. (the latter a very fine example).
The article introducing the part is by Mr^ William Jaggard, and is entitled ' Stratford -upon- Avon from a Student's Standpoint.' It is illus- trated by a view of the Memorial Library.
We congratulate the editor, Mr. Frank Kars- lake, on his being able to announce 74 new sub- scribers during the past year.
The Place-Names of Nottinghamshire : their Origin and Development. By Heinrich. Mutsch- mann. (Cambridge University Press, 7s. Qd.) Place-Names of Gloucestershire : a Handbook. By W. St. Clair Baddeley. (Gloucester, John, Bellows, 5s.)
THESE two works, each signed by a name known to our readers, carry on worthily the tradition of this particular branch of scholarship. No small part of the equipment necessary for the student of place-names is a happy knack of conjecture not likely, in these days of meticiilous scrutinizing^ to go unchastised if its exercise flouts too cavalierly those ascertained philological sequences and modifications which some writers like to speak of as " laws." Dr. Mutschmann is certainly the possessor of this faculty, which, supported by a thorough study of available data, has on occasion done him notable service. A good example is the article on " Sherwood," where he offers at least very plausible grounds for explaining the first element as the same with the O.E. sclr boundary, to be compared, etymologically, with the element common in Low German field-names such as ScJiiereneiken, Schierholz, and historically to be referred to the German custom, familiar to us from the pages of Tacitus, of leaving tracts of dense forest as the safest boundary between tribe and tribe. It happens that Sherwood Forest does
