Shorter Notices
The Story of Richmond in Yorkshire. By David Brooks. (The Dundas Press. 12s. 6d.) MR. BROOKS, the town clerk of Richmond, has produced a thoroughly praiseworthy example of local patriotism. Richmond, grouped round its castle on -the banks of the Swale, is one of those country towns which are the backbone of England, never rising to greatness but never declining to mediocrity, and it is impossible to read far in the history of England without coming on evidence of the part which it has played. In its time Richmond has been " pledged to pay a man's debts and to send another off to the Crusades ; it has been mortgaged to dry a woman's tears and settle her extravagances ; kings have been glad to seize upon any pretext to take it, and more than one Inquest was held upon it, whilst for three hundred years it belonged to ' foreigners who held like possessions in France." Mr. Brooks has written his account primarily for the children of Richmond, and it is accordingly a popular rather than a scholarly guide. But the story is a good one and well told.
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