Annals of a Quiet Valley in the Wordsworth Country. By
" Country Parson." Edited by John Watson. (Dent and Co.)— The " Country Parson " whom Mr. Watson " edits " is presumably a myth. If he is not, he is the grandson of the " Wonderful Walker." At least, we find the description which he quotes on pp. 9-10 is identical with that of a letter given in the notes to Wordsworth's Poems. The "Country Parson's " grandfather was born, he tells us, in 1719; whereas, Robert Walker was born in 1709. His youngest son was born in 1753. This must be the "Country Parson's " father. This is a long stretch in time, and might have been advantageously noted. It is quite right to make up a book out of several originals ; but it would have been well not to collide with known facts. The story told of a "Northern Coast Village," about the parson and the wreck, announced at church-time, comes, we fancy, from Cornwall. The man who would not weep because he did not belong to the parish, is another familiar figure. With all deductions, there is much that is interesting in this volume ; and the sketches are decidedly good.
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