Stories of the Scottish Border. By Mr. and Mrs. W.
Platt. (G. G. Harrap and Co. 3s. 6d. net.)—The introduction to this volume will give young readers a useful outline of early Border history and, moreover, an interesting one. Scattered through the book as comments on the old ballads are other historical notes on Belted Hill, Merry Carlisle, and the condition of the Border in later times. The authors have certainly achieved their aim of telling us in prose suitable for young readers the stories on which the most famous of the Border Ballads are founded, giving at the same time much information. With the excellent drawings the book makes a handsome present for a Border-bred child. The reflection comes over one irresistibly that, shorn of the wonderful and vigorous poetry which embalms these legends and stories, they are, to put it plainly, extremely brutal and savage. We are told the truth in these pages, but the halo of romance is quite skilfully preserved.
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