Famous Scottish Burghs : their Romantic Story. By George Eyre-Todd.
(Heath, Cranton. 30s.) Scotland is essentially a country of romantic townships. Its heroic memories, here and there set down by such writers as Scott, Galt, and Stevenson, cluster about its burghs, big and little, which originally were fortresses, and (as Mr. Neil Munro points out in his short Introduction) in their origin and character were for centuries the strongholds of jealously- guarded privileges held successively by Crown or baron, bishop or burgess. Scotland is also a land of fervent local, as distinct from national, patriotism, so that there is obviously a place for such a work as this, which gives an historical sketch of the burghs. Some fifty odd towns, ranging from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Kelso and Wick, are dealt with, and close upon a hundred excellent photographs, for most part of architectural features, illustrate the text. Mr. Eyre-Todd, who has written several other books of this kind, has the requisite historical knowledge and a keen eye for the picturesque, and though perhaps his style is hardly capable of blossoming in purple and red when the occasion demands it, he has done very well indeed... This fine big book, with the gilt thistle imprinted on its blue cover, should make a capital gift-book for the Scotsman abroad sighing in melancholy exile, or, indeed, for that matter, for a Scotsman anywhere.
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