5 JUNE 1897, Page 27

Tales of Black Country Life. By David Hobbs. (Elliot Stock.)

—The scene of these tales is " Slagtown," and " Slagtown " is supposed to be in the Black Country of Scotland, of which Mr. Hobbs claims to be the first chronicler. His tales are largely in dialect, and a dialect not easily understanded of the people in the South. There is no little vigour about them.