Raffans Folk. By Mary E. Genie. (A. D. Innes.)—This is
described on the title-page as a "story of a Highland Parish." The dialect which the people talk does not seem to ns like High- land English. "She maun ken what a gran' thing it is for a man to hae a gelid mither,"—that is not what the men and women say in Mr. Black's novels. Apart from this, the story is a good one. It describes the ambition and success of a crofter's son. He loves music and books ; the schoolmaster and the minister do what they can for him ; he wins a bursary at Aberdeen ; does well at the University ; and finally obtains one of the best parishes in the North of Scotland. A pretty love-story is worked in with this narrative. There is the daughter of a farmer to whom Colin Fraser presumes in his humble days to lift his eyes ; and, of course there are difficulties,—the father's pride, and an un- scrupulous rival, who, being postmaster of the village, is able to employ the familiar device of the intercepted and even the forged letter, with great success for a time.
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