140
NOTES AND QUERIES. [u s. v. FEB. 17, 1912.
added here and there. For instance, a reader
may well look for " the Strachy " in ' Twelfth
Night,' and might be told at least that the
meaning of the phrase is disputed.
Altogether, in spite of numerous competitors, we expect this pleasant and handy edition to win its way rapidly into the favour of the public.
IN Tomus XXX. Fasc. IV. of the Analecta Bollandiana, published by the Socie'te' des Bollan- distes, Bruxelles, the principal article is that on St. Bomanus, the martyr who was beheaded on 1 May, 780, at Baqqa, near the Euphrates, by the Caliph Mahdi, because he refused to abandon his faith. The account here given in Latin is from an ancient Georgian MS. Bomanus, a Greek by birth, became a religious in a certain monastery on the borders of a lake or marsh, in the midst of which was an island with a nunnery upon it, whose abbess seems to have been the superior of both the houses. Being sent with a companion on a mission concerning the affairs of the monastery, he was taken prisoner by the Saracens, who kept him for many years at Bagdad. His story is told with a delightful and vivid simplicity ; and is also interesting for the picture it gives of life in a time and region with which Western readers are not commonly familiar.
WE give a hearty welcome to Dr. P. W. Joyce's latest book, The Wonders of Ireland, and Other Papers on Irish Subjects, published by Messrs. Longmans. In it he has brought together the "" wonders " from the Book of Ballymote and those related in the MS. (H. 3. 17) in Trinity College Library, Dublin. He notices as he goes along, not only what Giraldus or the " Kong's Skuggio," or any other ancient authority, has to say, but also what survives among the peasantry of the present time in the way of tradition concerning these " wonders," or belief in them. As he himself says, his treatment is popular, not strictly scientific ; but it is excellently calculated for his purpose, simple and clear without being jejune, and sufficient as to detail, while yet remaining brief. Perhaps there is a poetry about these old stories which has in part escaped him ; but, on the other hand, the love of Ireland and the knowledge of Ireland are unmistakable.
Of the' Other Papers, 'that on the Three Patron Saints, though somewhat slight, gives all that is essential for a useful outline of the life of each ; and next to it, as successful, we would put the stories of Cahal O'Connor and Fergus O'Mara. 'The paper on ' Spenser's Bivers,' that on the interpretation of "Irish names, and that, again, on ' The Old Irish Blacksmith's Furnace ' are scholarly discussions which embody sundry new conjectures and interpretations.
MB. HEFFER of Cambridge has recently pub- lished The Vision of Faith, and Other Essays, by the late Caroline Stephen. These are preceded, not only by a Memoir, the work of her niece, the Principal of Newnham, and an Introductory Note, in which Dr. Hodgkin sets forth her rela- tions with the Society of Friends, but also by a selection from her letters, which fills little less than half the volume. The interest of the whole book is chiefly religious ; and it is not difficult to understand how the writer given her circum- stances and temperament came to join the Quakers. By her work ' Quaker Strongholds ' she did much, at a critical moment, to rediscover
the Quakers to themselves. In one of her
letters, given here, she expresses some doubt as
to reading being " quite such an obvious good
in itself " as many of her " most admired and
trusted counsellors " thought it ; and this book
though the work of one so highly cultivated,
and so familiar with much of the intellectual life
of her time has curiously little in the way of
reference to other books.
THE BEV. WALTEB CONSITT BOULTEB.
WE greatly regret to learn of the death of one who, as " W. C. B.," has been since 1864 a regular contributor to our pages. In our present issue appear a note and two replies by him, show- ing how lately the pages of ' N. & Q.' were in his hands ; and one has but to glance at the columns of entries against his signature in the General Indexes of the Ninth and Tenth Series in order to realize how wide was his learning, and how curious. Typical of this and of his love of accuracy were the numerous articles on the ' Dictionary of National Biography ' which he contributed to our Sixth, Seventh, jEighth, and Ninth Series ; and his affection for ' N. & Q.' and its " band of brothers," both living and dead, was exhibited at the time of its Jubilee by notes at 9 S. iv. 391, 411 ; v. 89. In this connexion mention may be made of his close friendship with the Rev. Dr. Fowler, F.S.A., of Durham, and John Sykes, M.D., F.S.A., of Doncaster, whose genealogical books and MSS. he inherited, as his note in this number (p. 127) testifies.
He was a contributor for many years to the ' N.E.D.' ; and latterly the only additions to the library in his overcrowded study were the quarterly sections of the ' N.E.D.' and the half-yearly volumes of ' N. & Q.' He had a marvellous memory, and could always detect repetitions of old subjects. He knew the Durham University Calendar almost by heart, did much to improve its accuracy, and had for some years been com- piling biographies entitled (after the manner of Anthony Wood) ' Athenae Dunelmenses.'
Mr. Boulter, though belonging to a Worcester- shire family, was a native of Hull, with an inti- mate knowledge of the East Biding and its history. He was from 1870 to 1877 an attorney and solicitor, but was ordained deacon in the latter year, and priest in 1878, having been Junior Hebrew Prizeman of Durham University in 1874. His first curacy was at Bochdale, and from 1891 to 1902 he was Vicar of Norton, near Evesham. He died at Bichmond, Surrey, on the 5th inst., aged 64. In ' N. & Q.' we may fitly adapt to him the words originally written concerning Sir Christopher Wren: "Si monu- mentum requiris, circumspice."
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