translated; and Mr. Verity very plausibly suggests that Milton, requiring the names of some places on the northern coast of Spain, at the point nearest to the Land's End, i. e., Galicia, would turn to an atlas, and it is a fair conjecture that the particular atlas consulted was the 1636 edition of Mercator,' which had been printed in England, and in which, on the special map devoted to Galicia, of the places indicated along the seaboard, Namancos and Bayona-the one with its tower the other with its fortress-were quite the most conspicuous. Namancos was apparently only an isolated fort, and its disappearance from later maps may be accounted for by its subsequent deW. F. PRIDEAUX.

struction.

Kingsland, Shrewsbury.

"LANKY MAN" (8th S. viii. 167, 313).-Your correspondent H. T. alludes to the figure cut in the turf on the side of the hill at Cerve Abbas, in Dorset. It is locally styled the "Cerve Giant," and is of huge size and supposed to have existed there from time immemorial. A notice of it appears in Warne's 'Ancient Dorset' and other authorities; but the best account of it appears in an interesting and erudite treatise by the late well. known Dr. Sydenham, called 'Baal Durotrigensis, in which, if I remember rightly, he attributes to it a phallic significance. That is my own opinion, and a local superstition concerning it lends considerable force to this supposition.

I understand that of recent years General Pitt Rivers, the Director or Curator of Public Monuments in England and owner of the property upon which the giant lies, has taken this interesting monument of antiquity under his own special care and protection. J. S. UDAL.

Fiji.

FIRST WELCOME OF THE POTATO IN FRANCE (8th S. viii. 466).-Potatoes, though credited with wonderful medicinal virtues, not only failed upon their first introduction to make their way as an article of food, but were looked upon with great suspicion. Indeed, they were forbidden in Burgundy, on the ground that, eaten in excess, they caused leprosy; and this doubtless partly accounts for the long neglect of them in France generally.

C. C. B. THE "FLANDERS CHEST"IN GUESTLING CHURCH, SUSSEX (8th S. viii. 304).-Mention of the above has brought to my recollection a chest I saw two years ago in the church of Harty, Isle of Sheppey, Kent. The chest is preserved in the vestry, and bears on its front a carved representation of a tilting match between two knights. The details of the armour are very perfect. The saddles are peculiar, and the leg defences exhibit continental workmanship, bearing no resemblance to English armour. The execution of the whole would not

later than the fourteenth century, and would

LICHFIELD (8th S. viii. 266, 311, 357, 393).— Though wishing to avoid the ordeal of treading in the thorny paths of philology, yet perhaps it may be permitted me to give an illustrative note. In Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England ’ (s. v. "Lichfield ") it is stated that

it is [. e., Lichfield] said to have derived its name from the martyrdom of more than 1,000 Christians, who are said to have been massacred here in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, and a spot in which they are said to have been interred still retains the appellation of the Christian field."

Two corporation shields are figured in the account, one bearing date 1688, and the other 1844, no the Siege of Lichfield,' by the Rev. William doubt having reference to the above event. In Gresley, M.A., Prebendary of Lichfield, published in 1841, is a small engraving on p. 11, representing three crowned figures in the foreground with their arms and legs lopped off. It is styled "The City Arms: three slaughtered kings, or more probably martyrs with crowns."

JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

The Novellino of Masuccio. Now first translated into
English by W. G. Waters. 2 vols. (Lawrence &
Bullen.)

SUPPOSING that the shades of the departed find comfort
or solace in the approval of their fellows or successors,
the author of the Novellino' will now hold up his head
proudly among his fellow ghosts, and may possibly seek
he had not dared to aspire. Recognition has, it is true,
an entrance into the charmed circle to which previously
been in his case somewhat tardy in arrival. During
four and a half centuries he has had to content himself
with a moderate amount of homage on the part of his
countrymen. By strangers he has been ignored, or at
least has been allowed to stand nominis umbra. His
Christian name, even, is unknown; he stands Masuccio,
and no more; and though some facts and conjectures
concerning his family have been brought to light by his
him, and all we can gather concerning him is the meagre
latest editors, they contribute little to our knowledge of
information he, consciously or unconsciously, affords.
No translation into any European language can be traced
before the appearance of the present English version,
though many of the novels-and those, as a rule, not the
most cleanly-have been included in French collections
such as Les Comptes [sic] du Monde aduentureux'
and similar compilations. The original editions - the
first bears date Naples, 1476-are of excessive rarity,
and in imperfect or patched-up exemplars have brought
place among translated and reprinted writers, it is under
long prices. When now, at length, Masuccio takes his
conditions more favourable than could have been ex-
pected. The novels of Boccaccio, of Louis XI., and of

in the Gesta Romanorum'; and The Seven Wise Masters.' Heywood's version is transferred into Blomefield's 'History of Norwich,' Sir Thomas of Erpingham figuring as the husband. Scarcely a writer is Masuccio to be place 1 in the hands of youth. To those, meanwhile, to whom insight into life is an indispensable adjunct of study, and who are not disposed to quarrel with an epoch because its views and its speech are different from what now they are, the book will appeal. The lover of beautiful books will need no introduction.

Margaret of Navarre have been more or less profusely illustrated, and the last-century editions of two of these writers or collectors of stories are among the works most cherished of the bibliophile. Such even less edifying works as Le Moyen de Parvenir' have appeared with all the luxury of india paper and indecorous designs. When now, at length, Masuccio comes for the first time before us, it is in a form difficult to surpass. We do not often supply our books with culs-de-lampe such as grace the Decamerone' with the rubric of Londra [Parigi], 1757, or the Heptameron Français,' Berne, 1780-1, nor do our publishers rush into such expense THE sanest of the literary articles in the Fortnightly of illustration as when their more or less erotic efforts is that by Madame Van de Velde on Alexandre Dumas were backed up by the purses of the Regent or of the fils and his Plays.' Concerning those marvellously witty Fermiers-Généraux, enriched by the spoil of the armies theses in dramatic shape for which the world is indebted of their country. In beauty of design and execution, to Dumas the writer holds much the same opinion as meanwhile, the plates by Mr. E. R, Hughes, R. W.8., need everybody else. What is said about the dress, personality, not shrink from comparison with those of the best last- and method of workmanship of Dumas, is, however, new century designers, from Gravelot to Eisen or Freuden- to the majority of English readers. While easy-going berg, while as regards bold and unconventional treat- and almost careless in habits and dress, Dumas was ment, some of the plates, at least, will furnish the most minutely careful in all matters connected with his exigent amateur with no cause of complaint. In typo-literary work. We scarcely know whether to regard it graphical respects, moreover, the two volumes are as as sincerity or affectation that for those of his heroes perfect as anything that has issued from Messrs. Law. or heroines to whom he gave titles he invented a coat of rence & Bullen, whose publications are the delight of arms, which he blazoned upon the covers of the bound the book-lover. No work previously issued by their firm copies to be given away. It may please those of our is more genuinely beautiful and artistic than are these readers who, besides being interested in armorial bearvolumes. ings, are familiar with the plays of Dumas, to know that De Perigny, in La Princesse Georges,' had on a ground gules a salamander disporting in gold flames, with the motto, "Per Ignes," and that the arms of Madame de Morancé, in Une Visite de Noces,' were a sword argent on a shield of gold. How far English heralds will approve of those coats we know not. Part I. of The Blessedness of Egoism,' by Mr. Russell P. Jacobus, deals in able, if somewhat morbid style with the writings of Maurice Barres and Walter Pater. There is from the pen of Mr. John Bailey the customary article on Matthew Arnold, whose critical method at its best is said to have been an "admirable combination of simplicity of manner, subtlety of perception, and sanity of judgment." "The School Boy's Feast,' by Mr. A. F. Leach, deals, among other matters, with the Boy Bishop. Dr. Robson Roose writes onThe Climate of South Africa' as a health resort.Ouida sends to the Nineteenth Century a long and characteristic arraignment of the conditions of modern life. From much that she says it is impossible to dissent. Her lesson is, however, somewhat over-vigorously preached. We are far from going with her all the way, and though we sympathize with her to a great extent, and admire her energy and zeal, we wish she had a little more sense of the value of humour, and would insert a little satire into her jeremiad. Maxwell Gray, otherwise M. G. Tuttiett, should learn the great lesson to verify his quotations. He builds something approaching to an argument upon a terrible misquotation. Where, may we ask him, does he find such an example of bathos and cacophony as Half a beast and half a man Was the great God Pan?

Of Masuccio Guardati-for to that noble family he belonged-what shall be said? That he was himself a nobleman, and lived on terms of intimacy with the princes and men of distinction to whom he dedicated the fifty tales-all of them true, as he asserts-is a matter of little consequence. As Aretino declared himself the scourge of princes, Masuccio is the scourge of monks. In assuming this office he was not without rivals, some as flippant as himself, others as earnest as Erasmus, who said that monks took on themselves vows of ignorance as well as of poverty. He is also, which is a rare quality, the scourge of false wives. Alexandre Dumas is not more relentless in his persecution of unchaste women than is our author. How far in this respect he was in earnest it is difficult to say. Painting as he does sexual relations into which intrudes no sentiment such as in modern days is attached to the idea of love, it is difficult to believe in his absolute sincerity. Concerning monks he leaves little room for doubt, and his writings are thus linked with those of his successors— Rabelais, Maguerite of Navarre, and what may be called the allies of the Reformers. His stories, like those of the 'Heptameron,' are more apt to be coarse than erotic. In one case the translator-whose task is so far admirably accomplished that the whole reads easily, and conveys the idea of vigour-has been obliged to leave the language in the original Italian, and dispense with translating it. Such an instance occurs, however, but once. With the original Italian text we claim no familiarity; and it is charged with so many Neapolitan idioms that we doubt our capacity to read it. In the stories generally -those especially which lash the monks-there is a skatological flavour more to the taste of the Italian or, it may be said, the Latin public than the English. The character of the stories may, however, be gathered by those unfamiliar with the works of Masuccio from the tale of The Knight and the Friar,' which George Colman-who was the licenser of plays, and anything rather than indulgent in the discharge of his duties-included in his Broad Grins.' From Mr. Waters's very interesting notes we gather that the story, which is probably derived from the fabliau of Jean le Chapelain, Le Sacristain de Cluni,' has an English parallel in Heywood's 'History of Women'; in 'Dan Hew, Munk of Leicestre';

Not, certainly, in Mrs. Browning. As a whole, his paper onThe Advantage of Fiction' repays perusal. Sir Algernon West tells some striking stories concerning English Prisons.' A very erudite article is that of M. J. Gennadius on 'Erasmus and the Pronunciation of Modern Greek.' Dr. Augustus Jessopp advocates Church reform as against Church defence. Mrs. Archibald Little describes rather arduous travelling in The Wild West of China.' Some of the controversial matter discussed in the number is of pregnant interest.-The opening article in the Century, A Kaleidoscope of Rome, with illustrations by A. Castaigne, is partly anti

40

An

in Longman's, is very whimsical and humorous. Mr. Austin Dobson deals admirably with Grosley's London.' Mr. Lang, in 'At the Sign of the Ship,' is entertaining and instructive as ever.-Chapman's Magazine has a capital variety of fiction.-Under the title of The Lake of Shadows,' Lough Swilly, co. Donegal, is described in Belgravia.

MESSRS. ALDEN & Co., of Oxford, promise Chronicles of the Royal Borough of Woodstock,' compiled from original documents, including the Borough Records, with a chapter on Blenheim, by Adolphus Ballard, B.A., LL.B., Town Clerk of Woodstock and author of Notes on the History of Chipping Norton.'

MR. MAURICE LENIHAN, J.P., editor and proprietor of the Limerick Reporter and Tipperary Vindicator, and the author of a valuable history of Limerick, who died on Christmas Day, aged eighty-six, was at one period a frequent contributor to 'N. & Q.'

Notices to Correspondents.

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quarian, partly modern, and blends Christian imaginings with pagan proceedings. The opening picture presents naked Christians lying in the circus among the wild beasts, and protected by an angelic visitant. We next see the Forum under the Caesars, and in turn arrive at the peasants of the Campagna or the Piazza Colonna at night. An interesting paper follows onResponsibility CASSELL'S Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland, among the Chinese.' Mr. William M. Sloane's 'Life of Napoleon Bonaparte' depicts the crumpling up of Prussia Part XXVIII., begins with Ilkeston and ends with Jura. at Jena and Auerstädt, and ends with the dubious en- Its best-or, at least, longest-papers are on Inverness counter with the allied forces at Eylau. It constitutes and Jersey. A good view of Ilfracombe from Hillsdeeply interesting reading, and is finely illustrated. A borough is also given. Feast Day on the Rhone' depicts the proceedings on a voyage down the Rhone from Lyons to Avignon by the members of two Felibrien Societies.-A full account of a decorative painting, by Robert Blum, in the Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York, is given in Scribner's. This is a very imaginative and harmonious work, well deserving the publicity accorded it. A view from the Seine, Rouen, forms a frontispiece to the magazine. A fairly good account of Frederick Locker is accompanied by a portrait. The History of the Last Quarter Century in the United States' is continued, and The Waterways from the Ocean to the Lakes' furnish some graphic illustrations. An account is given of The New Building of the Boston Public Library,' and a new story by Mr. J. M. Barrie is begun.-' Legends of Old St. Malo,' which appears in Macmillan's, is picturesque and sentimental rather than antiquarian in treatment. account is given of the well-known soldier of fortune Sir John Hawkwood. A brilliantly humorous satire on the proceedings in our public offices is furnished in The Seat of Justice.'-Among many articles of interest in Temple Bar are Part I., Lions in the Twenties,' an animated account by an old lady of Southey and Campbell and other celebrities. Mr. W. P. Courtney gives a capital picture of Fighting Thurlow,' and Mr. W. Davies depicts Haworth Thirty-seven Years Ago.' The delight ful papers by S. B. Wister on 'Cats and their Affections,' begun in the last number, are concluded, with no diminution of interest, in the present.-Mr. James Hooper sends to the Gentleman's an excellent paper on 'Thomas Hickathrift, the Norfolk Giant-Killer. It sets forth, in capital style, one of the most remarkable of legends. 'Mr. Gladstone's Mr. Alfred F. Robbins writes on Phrases,' Mr. Sydney on 'Furness Abbey,' Mr. G. Walford on Middle-Class Surnames,' and Mr. Schütz Wilson on Juvenile Lead.' The number is of exceptional value. -In the Pall Mall the most striking paper is the account of that strange, fantastic revivification of the Middle Ages the Eglinton Tournament. It is by Lady Fairlie Cunninghame, and conveys a capital account of the picturesque and martial proceedings. M. Georges Dubois gives a full and well-illustrated account of the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris.' 'Calcutta Past and 'Secrets in Present' is illustrated from photographs. Cipher will appeal to some, at least, of our readers. seems likely to have serious and A New Eldorado 'Some Memorable Shipwrecks' unexpected interest. contains many sad illustrations of English losses in the past century and the present. A Family of Statesmen' deals with the Cecils. A Third-rate Painter.' by Mr. Grant Allen, reproduces the Marriage of St. Catherine of Siena,' by Lorenzo de San Severino. "The New House in Pompeii' is fully revealed. Bernini's Apollo and Daphne' is also reproduced. The Cornhill supplies In the Land of Claret,' an account of Burma,' dealing with Margaud, shows that things are worse At the little hotel where the than once they were. writer obtained indifferent red wine we drank some of 'Returning a the best it has been our lot to taste. Verdict' is a brilliant sketch.-' Furbos the Aardvark,'

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