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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. i. JAS. 22, mo.
brick we regard with great satisfaction, as it
secures its permanence. Mr. Clinch's brief
mention associates the figure with " some form
of ancient religion." He has our adherence to
this view. Mr. Martin says, inter alia :
" Horsfield and Lower agreed in thinking it probably the work of mediaeval monks from the priory in the plain below. Absence of notice concerning it somewhat justifies suspicions of its antiquity, since so prominent an object could, if present, scarcely have been passed unnoticed."
As to this we remark that the Cerne Abbas giant is also associated with monks close by. But may they not in both cases have taken on a cult, or, at any rate, a spot with associations of religious awe ? That the Dorset figure was regarded as of use in promoting childbearing is known. That either of them was the work of monks seems wholly untenable, for the reason 'that their proportions are clumsy. Monks were often mediaeval artists, and would have produced something less rude and strange in appearance.
' Old-time Sport ' by Mr. H. A. Bryden, and -' Country Life in the Past,' by the editor, are particularly welcome as giving us an insight into the life of the people, without which such a book as this may be too exclusively antiquarian in its appeal. We have ourselves a feeling for Architecture in itself which makes all the lore of -the subject a delight ; but there are others to whom an old tower, say, conveys but little is nothing, in the words of Sophocles, if empty of .those who lived together within it.
The race of old country folk is rapidly passing away, language, habits, dress, and social custom alike yielding to the overpowering attraction of big centres, which crush individuality. Perusal ,of this volume will show what admirable features fitill remain worthy of the study and thought of the man of the town.
Our Debt to Antiquity. By Prof. Zielinski. Translated, with Introduction and Notes, by Prof. H. A. Strong and Hugh Stewart. (Bout- ledge & Sons.)
WE are grateful alike to the publishers and translators for giving us an excellent version of a stimulating little book. Prof. Zielinski delivered rthe lectures it embodies at St. Petersburg in the .spring of 1903 to the highest classes of the second -
- ary schools in the capital. They did not gain a
favourable reception at first, but soon won their way to a second edition, which was ' ' meant for the world at large."
Russia " looks back to Byzantine Greek as its .classical language," says the Introduction ; but the Professor attaches much importance also to Latin, which is not generally viewed with favour in his native country. The defence of the study -of the classics as an educational instrument is most spirited, and full of that simplicity and naivete of diction which always seems to us the great charm of Russian literature, while the Russian point of view has an agreeable freshness. The author has, too, a philosophic outlook which adds to the value of his survey. On the subject of " semasiology " a long word for a simple and important study he is particularly good, and a little consideration of what he says would, perhaps, suggest to some writers of English their defects in the knowledge of words, and con- ^equent degradation of a fine language. " How
often do I tear my hair for not having had a
classical education ! " said Pushkin ; and we
have heard similar exclamations from men who
wrote with 'a due regard for the splendid heritage
of their mother-tongue.
A brief exposition like this is bound to contain some debatable positions stated as if they were assured. We are ready, however, to endorse in the main the arguments so well put before us. The translators have achieved the feat of prer senting a rendering free from the distressing signs of alien origin. Perhaps this is because they are themselves classical scholars.
The appearance of such a work at the present stage of culture in England is opportune, and we hope that it will go far and wide. There is no trace in Prof. Zielinski's lectures of the pedantry which disfigures much of the writing of learned scholars in England, and deprives them of the influence they might exert on the ordinary reader, and, as we all write now, we may add the ordinary writer.
A Hundred Verses from Old Japan : being a Translation of the Hyaku-nin-isshiu. By W. N. Porter. (Oxford, Clarendon Press.) THE grace and delicacy of the brief cameos of Japanese verse are becoming known to a few outside the ranks of professed scholars. This audience will be increased by Mr. Porter's render- ings of pieces which all have five lines and thirty - one syllables, and were collected in A.D. 1235. We are told that Japanese verse depends on all sorts of puns and alternative meanings which are beyond the power of a translator to render. Apart from this, however, many of the pieces have charm as thumb-nail pictures of scenery, or as embodying a gentle, reflective melancholy which is attractive. We give a specimen of the poems, the work of a man who was an official in the Province of Sagami in 911 :
Gone are my old familiar friends,
The men I used to know ; Yet still on Takasago beach The same old pine trees grow, That I knew long ago. Illustrations by native artists at the end of the eighteenth century are reproduced here, and come from the collection of Mr. F. V. Dickins, C.B., one of the few English scholars who have a thorough knowledge of Japanese ways and lan- guage.
We must call special attention to the following
notices :
O N all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
EDITORIAL communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries '"Adver- tisements and Business Letters to "The Pub- lishers "at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C.
B. M. D. ("St. George as the Patron 8aint of England"). See 78. iii. 38G, 06; 98. v. 374, and the authorities cited.
CORRIGENDUM. 10 8. xii. 483, col. 2, third pro- verb, for "tin " read pin.
