"The charming volume by Mr. J. Parkinson and Mr. E. A. Ould on the half-timber domestic buildings of three Western counties, just published by Mr. B. T. Batsford, will be welcome to all lovers of these picturesque English structures. Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Cheshire, to which the authors restrict themselves, are especially rich, but this style of architecture occurs elsewhere. Stratford-on-Avon has one fine specimen, besides Shakespeare's much-restored cottage; Tewkesbury affords some good examples, and so does WarwickLeicester's Hospital being quite a gem. They are, in fact, generally most frequent in the counties on either side of the Severn and the Dee. But they exhibit marked differences, as Mr. Ould points out in his useful, but almost too brief, descriptive notes to Mr. Parkinson's photographs. On the east side of England, south of the Thames, an alternation of vertical timbers and long brickwork panels commonly replaces the chequer-patterns of the west; while north of it moulded. plaster work is often a successful rival. Nor is such construction confined to England, for we find it common enough in some parts of Germany. In fact, it is sure to be frequent where there is much wood, some brick, and little building stone, and the climax is reached in the all-wood houses of the Mountain Cantons of Switzerland. The style is almost wholly domestic, though it is used in two or three churches, such as Marton, in Cheshire, of which a photograph is given. In this case, the exception justifies the rule. This is no doubt due to the fact that the material makes any but rectilinear designs difficult and costly. The buildings now remaining were for the most part erected between 1558 and 1625, and especially in the last fifty years of this period. Older examples exist, and probably were once more numerous, but many have disappeared. In the west, however, timber continued to be used till well on in the eighteenth century. There are reasons for all this. That efflorescence in Elizabethan days is an indirect consequence of the Reformation, which brought about much building of cottages. The arrest of the process soon after the first quarter of the seventeenth century was due to the approach of the Civil War; then, at the Restoration, the brick buildings of the Netherlands followed the returning Stuarts, and strengthened their footing under William of Orange. Of the three counties included in this volume, Cheshire is the richest in black and white houses, which, as Mr. Ould remarks, 'are as common in its broad plains as the magpies that they so much resemble.' The materials seem equally to suit the cottage and the manor house, the streets of a town or a setting of lawns and trees in the country; Chester, as everyone knows, affords some excellent examples, and what can be more attractive than the Stanley

Palace and the house in Whitefriars. Ludlow supplies another house in a street, and the quaint little abode of the Reader close by its churchyard. Best of the four examples in Shrewsbury is the house at the corner of Butcher's Row, which is both elaborate and effective in design, and one of the oldest instances to be found in the country, for it probably dates from the earlier part of the fifteenth century. Smaller towns, and even villages, have contributed even more largely to this collection. Very effective is a house at Craven Arms, one with a little first-floor gallery at Much Wenlock, the priest's house at Prestbury, and that built by Bishop Percy at Bridgnorth. Among the farmhouses, nothing can be more picturesque than those at Dodmore, near Ludlow, Richard's Castle, The Leys, near Weobly, and Luntley, near Pembridge; the two last-named villages seem to be exceptionally rich, especially in cottages, and for these, however simple, the style is peculiarly adapted. But it can rise readily to the dignity of the manor house, as we can see from such examples as Ludford, Orleton Court, Handforth Hall, with Gawsworth, Welbrough, and Adlington Halls, three near Macclesfield, nor do these names exhaust the list.

The Literature of the Highlands. By MAGNUS MACLEAN. (London: Blackie and Son. 78. 6d. net). Mr. Magnus MacLean has followed up his work on "The Literature of the Celts," which was reviewed in our pages last year, with this further work, which deals more particularly with the Highlands of Scotland. It is the more interesting just now, owing to the contest between the United Free Kirk and the "Wee Kirk ;" and as we read the story of their literature, we can understand the "dour" and stubborn attitude adopted by the little band of Highlanders who have refused to abandon their principles at the bidding of those of wider views.

The most important chapter deals with Macpherson and his "Ossian." The controversy which raged for so long around the question of the authenticity of "Ossian" is now fought out, and it is is admitted that five-eighths of the work is Macpherson's own, while for the remainder he was indebted to ballad stories. Thus the fame of "Ossian" is his, and he is rightly called the Homer of the Highlands. He was undoubtedly a genius, and the charm and enchantment of the epic are all his own. The remaining chapters are not of much general interest, except as showing the sort of literature which is the outcome of, and has been the moulding force of, the Highland character, and the list of Gaelic proverbs displays the want of originality in the people more than anything else. Mr. MacLean, however, proves himself a thorough master of his subject.

English Monastic Life. By Dom F. A. GASQUET, O.S.B., D.D., etc. (London: Methuen. 78. 6d. net.)-This is the first volume of "The Antiquary's Library," of which several succeeding volumes have now been published, and which, in its entirety, is intended to convey in a popular form the best results of modern archæological knowledge to the general reader. It is for him they are designed, and it is to be hoped that there is a sufficient demand for such knowledge to reward the publishers and authors for their outlay and trouble. Dr. Cox is the general editor of the series. It goes without saying that the story of Monastic Life in England could have been committed to no one more competent to deal with it than the learned head of the Benedictine Order in England, and right well has he performed his task.

Without going into any detailed historical account of any one Order or House, he pictures the life of a medieval monastery at its best period, showing the occupation and duties of all its inmates, from the Abbot or Prior down to the Obedientaries and paid servants; and demonstrates how useful was the example of an ordered and disciplined life in the midst of a turbulent population, and how the Houses, both of monks and nuns, were the fosterers of literature and learning, and the instructors of youth among the people. He shows, likewise, what good and generous landlords the religious Houses were, and how grievously the peasantry and yeomen tenants felt the difference when the Dissolution transferred the lands to lay possessors. There are 18 Plates, many from Dugdale; and numerous illustrations adorn the text, as well as three plans of Monastic Houses. There are five maps, showing the distribution of the Religious Orders, but these are so small as to be almost useless, and need enlargement. There is a concise but adequate Bibliography.

A list of all, or nearly all, the English Religious Houses is included, which will be found most serviceable for purposes of reference, and which also shows where ruins, more or less extensive, are to be met with. Praise of Dom Gasquet's work is superfluous, but, within its limits, no better book on the subject exists.

From Messrs. Cassell and Co. we have received the two concluding volumes of their illustrated edition of Social England. (Vols. v and vi. 14s. each, net.) These carry the story of the social progress of the English people forward from the year 1714 to 1885, within twenty years of the present time. It is the earlier years of this period which alone more properly fall within our province, but the whole is as fully illustrated and as ably written as were the earlier volumes of this truly great work-a work great in its conception and admirably

carried out. The illustrations are from all sources--portraits, pictures, views, caricatures, besides details of the advance in machinery and in all kinds of articles that make for the comfort and the well-being of the people, and must have entailed an enormous amount of labour on those who are responsible for their choice.

The plan, which was pursued from the commencement, of dealing in order first with the historical setting, and then with the details of the Army and Navy, trade and commerce, literature and art, science, and social progress in all its forms, is carried out to the end, and produces an impression of ordered advance which is almost bewildering in its extent and in its ramifications into every detail of the nation's life. As we purpose dealing with the story told in these six handsome volumes as a whole in a future notice, we will add no more as to these two concluding volumes, except to say that they are fully equal, if not superior, to those that have preceded them; and we can imagine no more acceptable gift for any intelligent boy or girl than this study of Social England, nor one which is better calculated to promote a love for Old England, through the discovery of the secrets of her greatness. The letterpress will afford many an hour's enjoyment to older heads. The only fault we have to find is that the volumes, especially the last, are too large and bulky to be comfortably held in the hand.

How to Decipher and Study Old Documents. By E. E. THOYTS with an introduction by C. TRICE MARTIN. (London: Elliot Stock, 48. 6d. net.) This is a reprint of a work published ten years. ago, which was well received as a useful manual on the subject of the study of ancient documents. It has been in constant demand ever since it went out of print, and is now reissued in a new and revised form, in the belief that it will be found additionally serviceable in the new edition, and at a time when the interest in ancient family documents is on the increase. The number of those who are called upon to consult ancient deeds, charters, parish registers, and similar documents, has very much increased in recent years both on account of the many present facilities for access to historical papers, and the greater interest which is now felt in family deeds as throwing light on family history and the records of interesting localities. Some of the difficulties which beset anyone who studies such documents for the first time, unless he be an expert, are the deciphering of the ancient and unfamiliar style of writing; the peculiar abbreviations and signs which were used by our forefathers; the quaint phrases and expressions and obsolete words constantly occurring the arbitrary and old-fashioned spelling; the use of letters

now out of date; the old forms of foreign languages; customs no longer existing, and other stumbling-blocks, which to the uninitiated are always vexatious, and often cause the would-be student to give up the quest at the threshold of his investigation. It is to enable the more or less experienced student to meet and cope with these and similar difficulties that this work has been compiled, by one who has had considerable experience in research. The following are the subjects treated of in the work, and will show its comprehensive character :— Hints to the beginner; Character by handwriting; Saxon, NormanFrench, and law Latin; Old deeds; Law technicalities; Manor and Court rolls; Monastic charters; Parish registers; Parish officers and their account books; Books on palæography; Old letters; Abbreviations, etc. It will prove a useful handbook for those who are interested in family history, genealogy, local history, and other antiquarian subjects; and many who have hitherto been restrained from such investigations by the apparent difficulty of the work will find in its pages the stimulus and guidance which they need to prosecute their studies successfully How to Decipher Old Documents is illustrated with facsimiles of deeds and specimens of handwritings of different periods. It is tastefully printed in crown 8vo., on fine paper, appropriately bound in art cloth.

Bygone London Life ("Pictures from a Vanished Past"). By G. L. APPERSON, I.S.O., Editor of The Antiquary. (London: Elliot Stock. 68. net.)- Many books have been written on the endlessly varied aspects of historic London life, but the subject is as inexhaustible as its fascination. The long panorama of that life is of constant interest, not merely to professed antiquaries, but to all men and women of British birth or of British descent in every part of the world; for not only every Briton, in whatever part of the Empire he may live, but every American who traces his descent back to the Old Home, must feel that he is a sharer in the historic inheritance which bygone London has bequeathed to us. The purpose of the author of this volume, as stated in his preface, is "not to treat of any one particular aspect of the London of the past, but to present a few pictures of society of different grades and of various epochs, which should be to some extent typical of social life in the Metropolis during the two centuries between the age of Queen Elizabeth and the Georgian era-the period which formed the connecting link between mediæval and modern times." In the various sections of the book are presented sketches of social and convivial life in tavern and coffee-house; of the vagaries of fashion as exhibited in the beaux and "modish men" of various periods; of curiosity-mongering