19 AUGUST 1938, Page 30

ST. CHRISTOPHER

By Christopher. Johnson •

Mr.' Johnion's Well-illithrated little boa " (published by himself at To Stafford Street, Edinburgh, 2s. 6d.) is designed to show how widely Si. Christopher, 'as the patron saint of travellers, was venerated in mediaeval Britain. Most churches probably had a- painting-of -the -saint on the north wall, so that anyone entering by the south porch could see it and thus be-assured of protection on his travels- that day. -Mr.lohnson

has made a long list of such wall paintings as are known to him, arid of carved or glazed figures of St. Christopher, arranged under counties, and he describes some of the more important, as at Pickering, Bartlow, Horley by Banbury and St. - Keveme. Many more are doubtless still hidden under Reforination plaster. The author devotes a chapter to modem representations of his Saint ; one of them serves as the Bank of England war memorial, because the Bank covers the site of the church of St. Christopher-le-Stocks, and there are two Christopher signposts, at Shalford, Surrey, and Old Treyford, Sussex. Mr. Johnson recommends motorists to adopt a Christopher plaque as their mascot, but the saint would not guarantee safety in speeding.