26 APRIL 1930, Page 20

It is generally agreed, despite Gibbon's argument to the contrary,

that the patron saint of England was a native of Palestine, and in George of Lydda (Luzac, 12s. 6d.) Sir E. A. Wallis Budge has made a further contribution to the study of the mass of legends connected with the name. This learned volume contains versions of the horrifying Ethiopic stories of St. George's miracles and martyrdoms—for he seems to have been executed repeatedly before he ceased to trouble his per- secutors. In a lengthy introduction the editor suggests that St. George was martyred about the year 250. His encounter with the dragon was a late accretion, but he was venerated in England before the Conquest and became widely popular during the early Crusades. The illustrations are many and curious.