21 DECEMBER 1929, Page 26

" SHAVES for a penne, cuts hare from toopence and

oyld and powdird into the bargain " is part of an eighteenth-century barber's advertisement, and is one of many tickling little scraps out of which Mrs. Lilian Boys Behrens has constructed the gossiping olla podrida which she calls Love Smugglers and Naval Heroes (Palmer, 7s. 6d.). " Love Smugglers sounds an intriguing topic, and just a hint of its nature may be given by mentioning that one of the " love-smuggled ' was re- quested by her disconsolate parents at least to return the key of the tea-chest." The naval heroes belong to the Kentish families of Boys, Lamb and Harvie, and round these names is woven a garland of varied antiquarian chit-ghat about the County, the Navy, and the Century.

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