205 



REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 



Memorials of a Yorkshire Parish, by J. S. Fletcher. London : John 

 Lane, 22-, pp., 7/6 net. ISlr. Fletcher has put a powerful microscope 

 upon the village of his boyhood, and after a careful search reads a summarj^ 

 of the history of the country, illustrated by a few buildings and records 

 of this particular place. He tells us what the village was probably like 

 during the various periods of English history, and makes the most of the 

 relics remaining relating to the parish. He seems so have ransacked 

 every likely source of information, with the result that we learn from 

 the publisher's announcement, that ' This is an historical sketch of the 

 parish of Darrington, dating from the time of Edward the Confessor. The 

 immediate surroundings of this parish are full of historical and romantic 

 interest, and the author gives us the outstanding historical figures and 

 epoch-making events of each centurj-. The narrative is of absorbing 

 interest, and highly instructive.' There are reproductions of thirteen 

 drawings of the Church, etc., by G. P. Rhodes, who has attempted to 

 copy the style of the well-known sketches of Herbert Railton. 



My Life as a Naturalist, by W. P. Westell. London : Cecil Palmer 

 and Hayward, 26S pp., 7/6 net. When we received a volume with a 

 gaudily-coloured cover, upon which was a frog on its hind legs, in a ' Come- 

 sing-to-me ' attitude, ' making eyes ' at a ' painted lady ' with bright 

 blue eyes, and with a monstrous grub standing erect on its head — or tail — 

 and headed ' My Life as a Naturalist,' we feared a mistake had been made 

 in sending the book to this staid journal ; that it really related to a ' bird,' 

 and was intended for one of the frivolous weeklies. The title-page, 

 however, showed that the volume was an account of W. P. Westell, written 

 by W. P. Westell, and with W. P. Westell's portrait and signature as 

 frontispiece. Then follows an ' Introduction ' by the Earl of Lytton, a 

 reprint of a poem by Rudyard Kipling, another by C. S. Frethey, and 

 then the ' Life ' itself. But who on earth, in these times, wants to know 

 anything of the life of W. P. Westell ? Personally we should much prefer 

 to read an obituary notice of him ; it would be shorter, and from a different 

 point of view. We have perused the book in the hope of finding some scien- 

 tific achievement worthy of record, but in vain. However, as he informs 

 us that Darwin was an undergraduate, and Franklin was ' a misfit in his 

 father's shop ' (and both Darwin and Franklin became great men), appar- 

 ently Mr. Westell thinks the world is thirsting to know what moulded his 

 career. He considers that his ' inherited character is directly traceable ' 

 to two previous Westalls, or Westells, one a great artist and the other a 

 great poet. W. P. Westell has certainly written a ' poem,' which begins 

 with the original observation ' Hark to the joyous lark.' This he gives 

 us again, though we had seen it previously ; and evidently one person 

 ' appreciated ' it, and we are given the appreciation. We hope, however, 

 that his poetic ancestor is in no way responsible for ' Hark to the joyous 

 lark.' As to W. P. Westell's ' literary activities,' he tells us that at the 

 age of 14 he pubUshed his first article in a newspaper, and that recently, 

 at 43, he has pubUshed his ' 50th book.' We fear Mr. Westell's opinion 

 as to what a ' book ' is differs from our own ; at any rate in Mr. Westell's 

 own lists of Mr. Westell's own books, which should be reliable, we can find 

 nothing like that number. Briefly his life as a Naturalist consists of the 

 fact that at first he loved birds ; later, almost anything that he could 

 write about in his books ; that he has played cricket and football (he 

 doesn't say whether he ever played ' rounders ') ; that a relative taught 

 Queen Victoria painting ; that he has had a letter from ' Queen Mary ' 

 about his Uncle, and one from the Town Clerk at Oxford on a similar 

 subject ; he once showed some photographs at a Royal Society Conver- 

 sazione ; in 191 1 natural history saved him from a permanent mental 

 breakdown (we are sorry to hear of this) and so on. The book is illustrated 



1918 June 1. 



