5 JANUARY 1924, Page 28

AYRSHIRE IDYLLS. By Neil Munro. (Blackwood. 3s. 6d.) This is

the tenth and last volume of the uniform edition of Mr. Neil Munro's works. Its title is not altogether an exact description of the contents, for the ten little studies here collected, though mildly amusing, are hardly idyllic. There is an occasional touch of not very subtle satire. They are, for the most part, reconstructed moments in the lives of various literary men : Dr. Johnson, John Galt, Robert Burns. As fictions they possess but a slight charm, and they do not add anything to our knowledge of the authors con- cerned. Ayrshire scenery comes in for a good deal of attention.