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NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. xi. FEB. 6, 1915.
Old Roads and Early Abbeys. By Annie Louisa
Lee. (Elliot Stock, 2s. Qd. net.) YET another book on the fascinating subject of London ! For this little work Mr. T. Fairman Ordish is sponsor, and he vouches that the fcook is genuine, because it is the outcome of the .author's experience." The places and buildings described have all been visited by her, and evi- dence is shown of careful study. An interesting feature is the information given respecting the dedications of several famous churches, and the store of picturesque legend which hangs about these names is boldly drawn upon, such matter being generally absent from merely topographical events." ., .
We are taken by the writer over many miles ot old roads. Starting with St. John's Wood, we pass through Lisson Grove, and are reminded of the days when cows and cowsheds lined the roads, and of the then popular comedy ' Tottenham,' which contained the song of the Marylebone Milkmaid, who led " a dainty life, dabbling in the -dew," and " singing to her cows." At the close -of our ramble we find ourselves as far away as Wrotham and the " Forgotten Way."
' Old Roads ' is dedicated by permission to Sir Laurence Gomme.
THE articles in the new Nineteenth Century which
fall within the ordinary scope of ' N. & Q.' are of
rather unequal merit. A French tribute to the
late Comte de Mun from the pen of M. Eugene
'Tavernier is one of the most attractive of them,
showing as it does not only something of the
nature of the personal forces whose working has
culminated in the renaissance of old traditions
in France, but also how far back and with what
persistence these were brought into play. English
criticism of France say, ten years ago was all
too apt to ignore their existence. Bishop Mercer
gives us a thoughtful exposition of his conception
.4 if the true relation between the doctrines of
Nietzsche and Darwinism. Here and there a
Hash of humour lights up his argument, as where
he remarks that " if the Superwoman is to be
as self-assertive as the Superman, Nietzsche's
ideal has no chance of perpetuation." He
quotes the result of a small investigation instituted
by Prof. Hall as to " what are the things which
in real life arouse the emotion of pity ? " Ovei
two thousand answers do not perhaps constitute
.anything conclusive: still, it is interesting t(
observe that the majority of these mentionec
linnyer as the chief agent. Mr. H. R. D. Ma^
has a subject of no little social importance in
The Immorality of the Modern Burglar Storj
.and Burglar Play ' ; but, writing too discursively
and virtually confining his remarks to a singk
4'xample, he fails to make the most of it. Mrs
Holbach on ' The Bahai Movement ' write.
from a disappointingly external standpoint, an
t hrows no light upon the numerous questions whicl
any reader to whom her account may be pre
sumed to offer anything new would be likely t<
ask; as, for example, the exact relation between
Hahaism and the dogmas of another system, o
the definite teaching of Abdul Baha, if he give
such, with regard to the main human problems
There is a vigorous article by Dr. Charles Mercie
4 m ' Science and Logic,' traversing the positioi
taken up by Mr. Shelton in a recent Quarlerl
Review. Midway between a sketch of foreig
ravel and the Avar comes the vivid diary of Miss
essica Cossar Ewart of her experiences as,
aving been caught by the outbreak of hostilities
t Seebruck, she made her way first to Munich,
nd then with infinite difficulty home. The rest
f the number is devoted to the war, and we will
ingle out only one paper for mention ,because it
nay well subserve plans that reach into the days
f peace, and that is 'England's "Commercial
rVar " on Germany : a Conversation in Spain,'
vhich, as communicated by Mrs. Bernard
.Vhishaw, is entertaining as well as instructive.
THE February Cornhill has, among others good, )ut of somewhat inferior merit, four articles that ire well worth attention, two of which are directly oncerned with the war. The first is Capt. Davis's description of the trenches in their naking. Readers of war literature will, it is )robable, have already picked up most of the nformation given here, and have vivified a good 3eal of it by the study of pictures ; but this emains valuable as a conveniently clear, >rief, and lively sketch of one of the most mportant operations of the war. Next comes Mr. E. D. Kendall's brief " piteous story " of a jiiother and her baby at Aerschot, well and con- vincingly told. The third paper, called ' Birds and the Battlefields,' by Mr. Horace Hutchinson, will disappoint readers who hope for any par- ticular information about the effect of the war upon birds, but will be found a pleasant sketch of the ways of birds in migration, and especially good in the information given as to the night journeys of migrants a subject which has been only recently to some extent cleared up. The fourth paper which strikes us as of more than common interest is Miss Ella C. Sykes's account of life on a Poultry Ranch in British Columbia. Much of it describes the daily round of a woman who had settled alone a round, it would appear, of grinding hardship, with almost nothing to alleviate it. Miss Sykes, in fact, must be read rather as uttering a warning than as holding out encouragement, for, admirable though " Miss Brown's " pluck and capacity are shown to be, it is made equally clear that they are wasted as at present employed. The situation is one which illustrates the importance of the family as unit. An Old Rugbeian writes pleasantly on ' " Moberly's " and Rugby in the Late Sixties ' ; and Mr. Archibald Marshall's sketch of the late Robert Hugh Benson, which we found rather jejune, is nevertheless sure of readers. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle continues his ' Western Wanderings.'
THE price of ' The Aberdonian s, and Other Low-
land Scots,' by G. M. Fraser (Aberdeen, William
Smith & Sons), reviewed in our last week's num-
ber, is one shilling.
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.G.
BARONESS ROEMER and C. D. Forwarded.
