jA Reviews and Book Notices. 



An Introduction to the Study of Local History and Antiquities, by J. E. 

 Morris and H. Jordan. London : G. Routledge. 400 pp., 4/6. 



In this admirable Handbook the authors have prepared a volume 

 •wliich gives a general idea of local history and antiquities. It is really the 

 outcome of the Circular issued by the IBoard of Education in 1908. As 

 the authors point out, it frequently happens that a teacher interested in ' 

 any particular phase of liistory, is likely to give a wrong idea of proportion 

 to his scholars. The present work is an admirable summary of Pre- 

 Celtic and Celtic Britain; Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman England; 

 Mediseval England, Wales, and Scotland ; Mediaeval Ecclesiastical Eng- 

 land ; Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic England ; and Tudor and 

 Stuart and later England. The book is prepared in such a way that a 

 teacher or scholar can get useful local illustrations, no matter in what part 

 of the country he may be situated. The book also is anything but the 

 ' dry as dust ' variety, and is an exceedingly readable and instructive 

 narrative of the many antiquities and historical features of Britain. There 

 are also several fine illustrations of earthworks, Roman and Mediaeval 

 remains, etc., carefullv selected from the more remarkable of their kind. 

 The book is all that it professes to be, and is remarkably cheap. 



England before the Norman Conquest, by C. Oman. Methuen & Co. 

 658 pp., 10/6 net. 



This is the first of a seven volume ' History of England,' and deals with 

 the important period prior to the Norman Conquest. It is the most 

 complete and circumstantial account of the early history of these islands 

 that we have yet seen, and contains information which otherwise would 

 require the perusal of a whole library of books and pamphlets. In his 

 work the author has had the assistance of Prof. Haverfield and other ex- 

 perts on the various periods to wixich he refers. At the outset he very 

 clearly draws the line between geology and liistory. He then deals in a 

 masterly manner with the Neolithic and Bronze Periods, and the Celts 

 down to the Invasion of Julius Ca?sar. Of tliis usually neglected and 

 little known period Mr. Oman is particularly clear and interesting. He 

 then traces the course of events during the Roman occupation, and so on, 

 throuo^h Saxon and Danish times. Each period is dealt with most thor- 

 oughly. On the question of the liistoric Battle of Brunanburh the author 

 is very definite that it cannot have taken place in the Humber district, 

 but was probably fought on the north-eastern side of Solway Firth. Tiiis 

 is a little embarrassing to the dozens of authors wiio have written on the 

 subject, and practically all of whom have definitely ' located ' the site at 

 one or other locality in Yorkshire or Lincolnshire! Mr. Oman gives a 

 wealth of references to papers and other sources from which he derives 

 his information, so that the student can follow up any particular point 

 that he desires. There are excellent maps of Roman Britain, England 

 about the year 730 a.d., England about 910 a.d., etc. 



Family Names and their Story, by S. Baring-Gould. London : Seely & 



Co. 43^ PP-. 7/6 net. 



There is always a great field for speculation as regards the origin of 

 place-names and family-names, and whilst in the present handsome volume 

 the versatile author has accomplished much in getting together a wonderful 

 amount of information on the subject referred to in the title, certainly far 

 more than has previously appeared within a single cover, we cannot yet 

 say the matter is final, or that other theories or ideas will not be brought 

 forward. Our surnames are at least 300 years old, and many are twice 

 that age. As Mr. Baring-Gould points out, spelling was always tentative 

 and capricious, and Smith, perhaps the commonest, was Smeeth, Smythe,' 

 Smeyt, Smyth, etc. ; and Faber, the blacksmith, became Fever, Feures,' 

 Fferron and Fieron. Because of the arbitrary way in which the names 

 were recorded, so many are unintelligible to-day. Similarly the owners 

 of some of the best of our family names treat them so strangely as regards 



Naturalist,'- 



