Irish Idylls. By Jane Barlow. (Hodder and Stoughton.)—These idylls are
some of the most charming descriptions of Irish life we have seen for a long time,—indeed, in their own sphere, the little
circle of half a dozen homesteads, we would place them next to none. They are exquisite miniatures of phases of Irish village life. What a well-known writer has done for Thrums, Jane Barlow has done for Lisconnel. Hardly less vivid than the dialogue and melancholy routine of the dwellers in Lisconnel is the description of the bogland scenery. To describe scenery in much detail, and yet never to lot the whole landscape fade for a moment, is a gift not vouchsafed to many. The pathos of the cabin-dwellers' life is touchingly brought out,—not by direct in- sistence on their poverty, but by the simple description of their loneliness, their few wants, and their patience. "A Windfall" describes admirably the struggle between: a poor widow's pride and her neighbours' generosity and tact.
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