Tammas Bodkin. By W. D. Latto. (Hodder and Stoughton.) —Of
the rather too numerous writers of the present day who give us sketches of Scotch character and studies in Scotch dialect, Mr. W. D. Latto is the most alarming, but not the least capable. He gives his book, which is named after its hero, the title of " swatches in hodden gray;" and it will certainly take one who knows what that title means and who is an expert in the language spoken in Fifeshire and the Mearns, to understand pre- cisely what that means, or to appreciate the inwardness or the ecstasy of,— " Tve an auld dowie chaumer j nist twal feet by ten, An oot-hoose, an in-hoose, a but-hoose, an' ben, A weel-plainished mailin an' gowd a my sin."
Some of the names, too, such as " Burleyrackit," are more than appalling. At the same time, the writer of Tammas Bodkin has a shrewd insight into Scotch character ; and his tailor, if not quite so interesting as his predecessor, Mamie Wauch of Dalkeith, shows, before we are done with the various incidents and character, —revelations that constitute this book, that he is a good deal more than the ninth part of a Scotchman. Even English readers will be able to understand the fun of poor Bodkin's fool's errand to the Bank of England. Scotch students of the social history of their country also will find here material worthier of their diligent attention than that supplied by books of a more " popular " character.
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