Burns and his Times. By J. O. Mitchell, LL.D. (Maclehose
and Sons, Glasgow.)—It is refreshing to turn from the rhetoric and rhodomontade which are so plentiful on Burns Anniversaries and the like to a careful and instructive study such as Dr. Mitchell gives us in this volume. He has read Burns with care, and he has drawn out by his reading a good many facts which do not lie on the surface. For instance, Burns saw the sea, but has not a single word in praise of it. Dr. Mitchell goes further. Scotland "has hardly added a name to the roll of naval heroes." He forgets Camperdown. The streams of the Burns country run smoothly. Trap-rock is common. The coal measures are near ; butter is a treat; cheese is common ; there has been an attempt to improve the breed of sheep ; there were pigs but no bacon, for the pig paid the rent ; fruit is very rarely named; bees are common ; houses were bad ; the bonnet was commonly worn ; porridge was eaten with milk and beer, sometimes mixed with cold water, under the name of "drummoch." Oat-cake and barley-cake and "mashlum " scones, made of all sorts of meal, were eaten ; the common drink was beer, whisky was beginning to take its place. These are speci- mens of Dr. Mitchell's work. The book is indispensable to the Burns student.
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