SILKSTONE. By the Rev. Joseph F. Prince. (Penistone J. H.
Wood. 12s. (3d. net.)
The Vicar of Silkstone has made an excellent contribution to the literature of what may be called the regional survey. His account of "the History and Topography of the Parish of Silkstone in the County of York" has evidently been a labour of love. He has collected practically everything that is recorded about -his parish, from Domesday Book to the great strike of 1921. Mr. Prince dedicates his -book to the miners whose subterranean toil has made Silkstone a household word for more than a century, and his most interesting chapters for readers in outlying parts are those which describe the life and work of the pits. 1n1811 the collier was paid at the rate of about sevenpence a ton and had to work fourteen to sixteen hours a day for a bare subsistence ; under the truck system he had to buy everything at the shop belonging to the colliery owner, and if he had a few shillings left for himself on the fortnightly pay-day, after his shop-book and rent had been deducted, he Was a lucky man. Mr. Prince's sketch of the minek's -life to-day is in comparison idyllic, and perhaps explains "the apathy $if the miner" to matters that concern the improvement of his position.
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