REVIEWS.

A DICTIONARY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE WAVERLEY NOVELS OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. By M. F. A. Husband, B. A. (London: George

Routledge & Sons.)

MR HUSBAND has in this volume done thoroughly and judiciously a work the need of which has probably been felt a thousand times for once that it has been expressed. It is practically sure of a welcome alike from literary workers, students of general literature as well as specialists in Scott, and from readers of romance everywhere. Its place will be beside the Waverley novels in every library. Its usefulness for reference hardly needs demonstration. It is noted that, inclusive of 37 horses and 33 dogs, no fewer than 2836 characters are entered in alphabetical order in the Dictionary. In such a host, while none is likely to forget anything material concerning the M'Ivors, or Bailie Nicol Jarvie, Rob Roy, or Jeanie Deans, or any others of the more prominent immortals, that some of the minor creations should have become indistinct in place and outline cannot be considered other than a venial lapse of memory, even in a professing admirer of Scott. It is, moreover, not Scott alone whose characters linger with the present-day reader of fiction, but those of the many who have followed him in romance, down to Meredith, Stevenson, and the living Churchill. Selection has become the only resource of the most retentive memory. To recall promptly from such a 'vasty deep" the figures of Scott's Dugald Garr, or Hugh Houkham, or even Father Francis, a volume like this of Mr Husband's was a necessity. The novel is indicated in which the several characters appear, and just enough is told of each for identification. and description. No attempt is made to evidence the parts they play.

In addition to that, a few of the rarer Scots words occurring in connection with individuals are explained after the entries dealing with them, and a number of historical notes are scattered through the volume, either explanatory of the action of the novels or corrective of Scott. The latter are none too long. It is only said of the Duke of Rothesay, for example, that he died in 1402, and not in 1396 as indicated by Scott. But that is not the only error into which he falls. Nearly all that is said of Rothesay, including the viciouscareer, outlined by Mr Husband, is either fiction pure, or not proven. There is no conclusive evidence that the Duke was done to death, and he

certainly did not die in the east wing of the Palace of Falkland, for it was not built until long after his day. The starvation story is included in the note to the Duke of Albany. As a rule, nevertheless, Mr Husband is trustworthy, careful, and illuminative. Another valuable feature of the book is a chronological table of the Novels, given in the order followed in the edition of 1829-33 (48 volumes), which Scott himself revised and corrected, and was the first published after his acknowledgment of the authorship. The date of the first publication of each is stated, and, though they are not summarised, there is a sufficiency of information given to localise the incidents and fix the periods to which they severally belong. From what has been said the scope of the work may probably be gathered, and looking at it broadly, Mr Husband can hardly be too highly praised on the score of either industry, conciseness, minuteness of detail, or a full comprehension of the want he undertook to supply.

By George Henderson Kinnear, (Laurencekirk: Archibald Taylor, Edinburgh and Glasgow: John

THE HISTORY OF GLENBERVIE, THE FATHERLAND OF BURNS: A Parish in
the County of Kincardineshire.
F.E.I.S., Schoolmaster, Glenbervie.
Kincardineshire Observer Office.
Menzies & Co.)

BUT for its involving an act of simple justice, the pages of the Burns
Chronicle had assuredly not been used for any reference to the above attempt
to earn a literary reputation. The work first appeared in 1895, under
the title of History of Glenbervie. In course of preparing it, Mr Kinnear
helped himself so freely to a series of copyrighted articles by Mr Edward
Pinnington that the author of them remonstrated. Mr Kinnear pled ignorance
of copyright law, that he had no intention of invading protected rights, and,
in the end, upon friendly intervention, Mr Pinnington said that, due
acknowledgment being made, he would write the Burns chapter himself. He
did so, and the Preface of 1895 states the circumstances in full. Finding that,
by reason of the Burns chapter, the book was more widely noticed than it
otherwise would have been, Mr Kinnear now brings out a new edition with
the Burns chapter reprinted verbatim, and "The Fatherland of Burns"
imparted into the title. At the same time he drops from his Preface al
reference to Mr Pinnington and his good-natured contribution of the Burns
chapter out of copyrighted material. The result is that Mr Kinnear has been
widely credited in the Press with Mr Pinnington's work and researches.
truth of the matter has been stated in one or two weekly papers only. The
position Mr Kinnear has succeeded in reaching is, however, his own affair.

The

THE SCOTTISH AND AMERICAN POEMS OF JAMES KENNEDY. (Edinburgh and London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier.)

It must be encouraging to the Sons of Song that, first copyrighted in 1883, these poems are now in their fifth thousand, and that a new issue is contemplated, the explanation probably being that, while rhymsters abound, Mr Kennedy is temperamentally a poet. He has, furthermore, the rare gift of singing in Scots and English with equal facility, vigour, and grace. As pure poetry, and in respect of high thinking one of his most memorable pieces, "In the Golden Cage," beginning—

"O'er the hills of effort lie
Fields of opportunity,"

is in English. In English aiso is his "Proem," in which, addressing the Muse of Scotland, he pays eloquent homage to Burns :

"I long to see thy beauteous face,

And mark thy wild and winsome grace;

And catch, perchance, some kindling thrill
Of that divine, impassioned skill,

Which flamed into immortal fire,

When Coila's ininstrel tuned the lyre,

And swept its thrilling chords along
In bursts of sweet ecstatic song."

There is another poem, consisting of eight stanzas, addressed "To the Shade of Burns," and written on the unveiling of a statue to his memory in Central Park, New York, in which the feeling of reverent admiration is as grateful as the melody of the verse. Speaking of the attendant thousands, Mr Kennedy says:

"They see in monumental bronze

Thy manly form and face;

They hear in music's sweetest tones

Thy spirit's grander grace.

And though from many lands they came,
To brotherhood they're grown;
By thee their pulses throb the same,
Their hearts are all thy own."

These quotations may give some faint idea of Mr Kennedy's style; the latter is made for a second purpose. Ile is Scots by birth-what is commonly called a Scottish-American-and his ruling sentiments are a passionate love of Scotland, a faithful attachment to his adopted home, and an almost pathetic

belief in the brotherhood of man. The latter occurs as quoted above. When the Scots of New York went out to fight for the North and the Union, he says, in "The Highlanders in Tennessee

"And their's the cause that strongly stood

Alone for human brotherhood."

The thought occurs in the "Proem” in more impassioned phrase —

-"the faith that faintly hears

A far-off music in our ears;

When all the barriers that divide

The human race are swept aside,

And man with brother man shall be
Bless'd in a happy unity."

It recurs, like a refrain, at the close of "Auld Scotia in the Field," and again in the last verse of “The Songs of Scotland.” In such fashion the message of Burns and Tennyson is taken up by the poet of a later generation, and carried who can say whither? This alone would show that Mr Kennedy is no idle jangler of the lute strings. A peculiar kind of worldly-wise humour gives point to his character sketches. The majority of his lyrics are love-songs, although it is doubtful if, for sweetness and charm, they equal "Bonnie Noranside" or "Noran Water." The American element is represented by "Among the Catskill Mountains,' ," "To the Mosquitoes," and the exceptionally beautiful "To the Humming Bird," with its fond memories of home, that

"Come sudden on th' enraptured view,
Then vanish in a blink-like you";

and its closing address to Poesy—

"And though thy flashing fancies flit

Like this wee birdie's restless fit."

The Scots "fute" might have looked better than "fit," but, for quick and apt change of thought and musical phrase, the poem is one of the finest examples of poetic art in the volume. Two pieces are devoted to Robert Buchanan. The most ambitious poem is "The Highlanders in Tennessee," but Mr Kennedy's genius seems to be essentially lyrical, and that notwithstanding the high quality of some of the other pieces named. If the volume

came as a surprise, it has turned out a pleasure, and inspires a hope that Mr Kennedy may both continue to sing, and live to reap the Poet's dearest reward -a full meed of praise, and the poetic rank to which he is entitled.

THE POETS OF AYRSHIRE, from the Fourteenth Century till the present day, with Selections from their Writings. Compiled and Edited by John Macintosh, Author of Ayrshire Nights' Entertainments," &c.

Thomas Hunter & Co.)

(Dumfries:

THIS is not a critics' book, and anything said here must be construed as matter of suggestion for a second edition. The value of such a collection depends primarily upon the editor's construction of his function, as decided by his observance or neglect of two rules. The first is that a clear line of division be drawn between poetry and prose masquerading in poetic guise; the second is that an intelligible principle be observed in classifying the poets to be considered entitled to admission. Grouping poets by counties is, in truth, rarely satisfactory and often irritating. What is an Ayrshire poet? If birth be the test, then all the "resident" poets brought together in Book III. of this work are excluded. If residence be the test, then Alexander Smith and several others born in the county are inadmissible. Smith was taken away in childhood, drew no inspiration from Ayrshire, is most intimately associated with Glasgow and Edinburgh, found his best themes outwith his nursery, and so far is not, in a true sense, a "Poet of Ayrshire." Upon the residential qualification, again, Burns has already been claimed for Dumfriesshire. But he also lived in Edinburgh, wrote there several pieces, including his matchless "Farewell to Clarinda," and if he is to be claimed for Midlothian, and on like grounds for other counties, a nice question arises as to the length of time necessary for county naturalisation. Other objections to the geographical assortment are the tendency county boundaries have of becoming elastic, and the impetus given to unwarrantably swelling the divisional quantity of verse, irrespective of quality. For example, Stenhouse ascribes "Willie was a Wanton Wag" to Walkinshaw; to keep him in Ayrshire, Mr Macintosh says dubiously, “the balance of opinion seems to be in favour of Hamilton,” of Gilbertfield, but gives not a word of the evidence behind the opinion. The mention of quantity and quality leads back to the above-mentioned distinction between poetry and prose. The editorial temptation to swell the bulk of collected verse is admittedly great, and that for obvious reasons. It is desirable to spread the interest of the collection. But how can the happy medium be struck between collecting in the spirit of the lowly chiffonier and in that of a discriminating editor? Going through the volume, one would think that no sins of omission could be laid at the compiler's door. Yet in his Introductory Note he speaks somewhat threateningly of a "single volume," in connection with omitted names and selections “which might have enriched ” his work. This hint of further explorations is the ground of our reference to a new edition. If any of the following suggestions are of value they are at

the editor's disposal.

There is a chance of neatly defining the connection between Ayrshire and