Shillelagh and Shamrock. By M. McD. Bodkin, K.C. (Chatto and
Windus. 6s.)—There is something of the " neo-Irish " note in these tales, but some of the sixteen—for the volume con- tains • a collection of short stories—remind us of " Wild Sports of the West" and the rollicking tales of Lever. Short stories are for the most part a vexation to the critic and a disappointment to the reader ; but there are cases in which they have an obvious advantage. Here, for instance, the judicious reader when he comes across some warning word—and such words are not hard to recognise—will pass on to something else. Whatever the subject, Mr. Bodkin can tell a story concisely and clearly, and bring out its interest in a dramatic way, and now and then he gives us a bon mot worth remembering. At a dinner at Daniel O'Connell's one of the guests is a wine merchant by "Special Appointment to Her Majesty." He says to his neighbour, "Don't you think the company is just a leetle mixed ? "—" D—n it all, man, you don't want to have them cal licensed vintners?"
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