CURRENT LITERATURE.
MEMORIALS OF OLD LINCOLNSHIRE, OLD LEICESTER- SHIRE, AND OLD DURHAM.
Memorials of Old Lincolnshire. Edited by E. Mansel Sympson. (G. Allen and Sons. 15s. net.)—Archaeologically speaking, Lincoln- shire has not quite the variety of interest possessed by many other counties; but it has some remarkable features. One contributor counts nearly thirty towers of more or less distinctive Saxon type, and such churches as Barton-on-Humber, Stow, Hough, Alkborough, and Stragglethorpe retain the handiwork of the Saxon mason. At Heekington there is that rarity, "a church, built at one effort, in one style," an edifice which in unity of design we find nowhere else but in East Anglia. One great house, Doddington, is described, and, of course, Tattershall Castle; and a most interesting chapter sketches the vicissitudes of Lincolnshire families, few of whom exist in the original lino or at their old seats. The writer of the chapter says that he does not think a single member of the great baronial families exists to-day in the male line. Three towns and their churches have a place of honour, Boston, Grantham, and Stamford. The greater part of the book is of mainly ecelesiological interest. The omissions, if the truth be told, are somewhat remarkable. The noblest memorial of all, says the editor, could not be treated piecemeal, and has been pur- posely omitted, and much of the history also, Roman rule and the great Civil War alone receiving notice. Interesting as the volume is, we cannot rid ourselves of the impression that justice has hardly been done in the scope afforded. The editor's words almost admit this inference. Even the bridge at Spalding receives no notice. —Memorials of Old Leicestershire. Edited by Alice Dryden. (Same publishers and price.)—A considerable space has been devoted to prehistoric, Roman, and Saxon Leicestershire, and the writers have made a comprehensive and profoundly interesting study of the early days of the county. Several pages are even devoted to the subject of prehistoric roads, and the map of the Roman and pre-Roman highways is not the least striking illustration in the volume. Ancient houses do not make a long chapter; an unkindly fate and other causes have left many in ruins, and castles are conspicuous by their absence. The vicissitudes of families furnish never-failing material for treatment; and the Greys of Groby, the Beaumonts of Grace-Dieu, and the Manners, Vernons, and Rooses of Belvoir afford some of the most readable pages. An historical sketch of Mountsorrel provides a typical instance of one of those towns which, after being spectators of stirring episodes, retain vitality, and have even started an industry; in the case of Mountsorrel it is granite. A brief but illuminating chapter on " Leicestershire Churches in the Time of Charles I." records many curious, and even startling, facts relating to the condition of the edifice, the seating of the congregation, and the story of both parson and church. Perhaps a man was justified in describing such a pulpit as the hollow trunk of a tree as " indecent." The survey of tombs and monuments is valuable because it includes all sorts and conditions, and not only the very grand. The Civil War did much havoc in Leicestershire, which was also, we must remember, the scene of De Montfort's rebellion. Memorials of Old Durham. Edited by H. R. Leighton. (Same publishers and price.)—The editor has wisely collected the materials for the chapters in this volume from several sources. Particularly interesting are the chapters on "Topography," "Folklore," and "Name-Places in the Durham Dales." The persistence of Saxon name-endings—that is to say, Saxon suffixes—is re- markable, considering that Pict and Scot and Viking, and, last and worst of all, Norman, harried the county mercilessly. The story of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, so inseparably connected, furnishes an excellent subject for discourse as a typical history of true religious foundation. The county has some famous monu- ments, for the Neville tombs in Staindrop Church are perhaps the most notable in the North of England. We do not find many pages devoted to the churches, for obvious reasons—they are not so striking as in more southern counties, but there are several of peculiar interest to students of architecture and there are a few specimens of entirely thirteenth century work. Of the old families, as one might expect, very few have weathered the stormy centuries of this turbulent county. The editor, however, remarks that the Heralds' Visitations were notoriously incomplete, as they were for Northumberland also, so that absence from the heraldic roil is not conclusive. The county can still show the archeological pilgrim the homes of some famous names, and few districts in England are more picturesque than Weardale, with its castles and halls. It should in justice be stated that this volume seems to us to have a wider scope than some others of these series, so that the criticism made by Americans that "Your guide-books tell us about nothing but churches and manor-houses" cannot be levelled at it.
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