Dealings with the Dead. (George Redway.)—This volume, which is a
translation by Mrs. A. E. Whitehead of "La Legende de in Mort en Basse Bretagne," by A. Le Braz, introduces us to Breton superstition, religious usage, and folk-lore. " Fanciful and fantastic as undoubtedly are some of these narratives," says the translator, " oftentimes eerie, and now and again gruesome and even grim, they all possess a distinctive stamp and character,—respect for the dead, realisation of their con- tinued existence, and deep reverence for religion." This is certainly proved by the work which Mrs. Whitehead has trans- lated, and the author of which " went about getting matter from farm-maids, from sailors and small tradesmen, from any one who had ghost stories to tell." Certainly the stories given here are very simple and very eerie, being quite in the spirit of the old Breton theory :—" During the day the world belongs to the living. When evening comes it belongs to the dead. Honest people should be asleep with closed doors at the ghostly hour." The titles of some of the " narratives," such as " A Soul Seen as a White Mouse," " A Soul Seen as an Insect," and " A Soul Seen as a Flower," speak for themselves. The Devil, it is hardly necessary to say, makes many appearances in these pages ; and so does the poor woman who is told by a supernatural visitor of the catastrophe which makes her a widow. From beginning to end this volume is interesting.
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