All scholars, within and without Cambridge, must regret the death
of Sir William Ridgeway, a man of the widest learning in the Classics, history, archaeology, anthropology, and in many curious by-ways such as the prehistoric origins of the horse or the beginnings of metal coinage. He was an Irishman and a magnificent controversialist. He could sing a comic song in a Combina- tion Room or preside over a learned meeting with equal geniality. His books were delightful. The last that we reviewed, The Dramas and Dramatic Dances of non-European Races, was his final assertion that tragedy arose from funeral games. The research shown was deep and minute, and reproduced without a dull sentence. His enjoyment in refuting his friends, Sir James Frazer and Miss Jane Harrison. was infectious. Who else would have included in irony among illustrations drawn from all ages and continents a photograph of a Punch and Judy show as a myth of the seasons ?
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