patriotism is a good thing, and any movement, custom of
book that fosters it is to be commended. We have nothing but praise for Mr. Pease's small volume, which in a series of scholarly papers recounts the different phases of Northumber- land's history. Northumbrians, he says, are apt to be indifferent to their county's story, but, as the Duke of Northumberland (who writes an introduction) says, this little book will go a long way towards removing the indifference." That it should exist at all is the more surprising, in that Northumberland, in common with Scotland. possesses in the Border Ballads a body of folk history that no other country or region can match. In a future edition (which may confidently be expected) Mr. Pease may like to expunge. a few small blots, like Floddon (p. 135), acturial (p. 168), laggart (p. 178), and on the same page alter " As'S dyen wi' religion," which, as it stands, means nothing at all. How interesting it is to note that Northumbrians. like the Scots, hold the belief that " Weshin' takes the marrow cot of a man,"
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