The Anecclotage of Glasgow. By Robert Alison. (Thomas D. Morison,
Glasgow.)—This is a queer, interesting book of a rather uncommon kind, and, apart altogether from the intrinsic merit of the stories which it contains, serves a useful purpose in illustrating both the ancient (indeed, the mythical) and the modern history of Glasgow. Mr. Alison divides his anecdotes into five books, in the first of which he deals with, among other things, the life of St. Mungo, who is regarded as the founder of Glasgow, the relations of the patriot Wallace to the city, and the connections between it and Queen Mary at blue period, and Crom- well at another. In this section there is naturally a good deal that is traditional. Many of the explanations which are given of curious place-names are suggestive of ingenuity rather than of authenticity. One of the streets in the city bears the name of Stockwell because, it is said, a party of English having been defeated by Wallace in the district, their dead bodies were thrown into a well, the patriot exclaiming during the performance, "Stock it well ! Stock it well !" Again, the village of Crossmyloof traces its (to English ears) unintelligible name to the story that, shortly before the battle of Langside, "the Queen pulled an ebony crucifix from her breast and laid it on her snowy palm, saying at the same time, 'As surely as that cross lies on my loot I will this day fight the Regent.'" The remaining four "books" of the volume deal with modern, or at least comparatively modern, Glasgow. Many of the stories in these are probably quite as apocryphal as the confessedly legendary ones. Not a few centre round celebrated clerical "characters," such as a Rev. Mr. Thorn and a Rev. William Anderson, and these are generally readable, though too long and ill-compacted. It may be objected, too, that a good deal of the material in the book, such as the details of the trial of Madeleine Smith, has been dragged into it. In short, mingled with Mr. Aileen's wheat there is a considerable amount of chaff. Nevertheless, his is a conscientiously written book, and one into which even an ordinary reader may dip with advantage.
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