Celtic Ireland. By Sophie Bryant, D.Sc. (Kegan Paul.)—In this little
volume Mrs. Bryant brings together a great deal of information about the early condition of the sister-isle that may be found at large in the works of O'Curry, Sullivan, Stokes, and others. Mrs. Bryant's method is more sympathetic than critical; and we cannot help feeling that she is something of a " polisher " —the old Irish name for an advocate—and only shows us the bright side of things. Incidents such as the war waged by the future St. Columba with the men of Meath, in which 3,000 of the latter were killed, because the King of Meath had given judgment against him in a suit about the possession of a Latin Psalter, let in a rude light on Mrs. Bryant's picture of the blessed condition of the island before the coming of the Danes and Normans. Her account of the peculiar development of Aryan instituCons in Ireland is very good and clear ; and the same may be said of her chapters on Irish Music, Art, and Architecture.
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