" Here in the library, of a rampant night like
this, it is com- fortable to know that the granite walls about me are eight feet thick and four hundred years old." This opening sentence of Sir Hector Duff's book. (Nelson, 12s. 6d.) sets the atmo- sphere of the little world of which he writes. It is, in fact, a Scottish country house called Castle Grim ; a remote place set in the midst of moorland, with few visitors. So, for lack of someone to talk to, he took to writing down whatever came into his head. At least, that is the impression one receives from these pages. The only connecting link seems to be that they were all written in the same place. But there emerges from the confusion of reminiscence and history, speculation and anecdote, a fairly clear picture of the life in Castle Grim. He describes the shooting, which is difficult, but interesting, on account of the variety of -game rather than the quantity. The sportsman will find this part of the book interesting, as Sir Hector is obviously an enthusiast and an expert. Then he discourses, sometimes originally and always entertainingly,on such topics as Gettysburg, education (he suggests that Finance should be a regular school subject), immortal women, Victorian belles, and the mutiny of the Bounty, of which he gives a short account. This is a good book for those moments when one does not know what to read next.
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