Recent Wiltshire Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c. 521 



as gathered from the lips of the " oldest inhabitant" are wholly good. 

 The "Hocker Bench" at Bishopstone, and its connection with 

 traditions of the Danes, who will some day come back again ; the 

 extraordinary story of the laying of the ghosts at Earls Court in Little 

 Hinton and the hag-ridden horses there ; the ringing of the curfew at 

 Bishopstone to guide those lost on the Downs ; the description of the 

 cock fighting ; of Col. Calley's ox teams at Burderop, and the ox carter : 

 the clerk's ale at Chiseldon ; the holding of the " Court Leek " at the 

 Plough Inn, at Badbury ; the old industries of willow weaving and 

 willow plaiting, for hats, at Aldbourne ; the origin of the name " Lid- 

 dington Pig Diggers," and the acorn pie, the cutting of which used to 

 usher in the feast at the same place ; the way the Amesbury folk " feel 

 for daylight " ; the bee customs ; the meaning of " Dobbin Sunday," 

 and " Hudson's Pudding," at Wanborough ; the method of cultivating 

 water cress at Bishopstone ; the ways of the village foundry at 

 Chiseldon, and the superiority of its workmen and their life to that of 

 their fellows in the " factory " ; all these things and many others, of 

 the greatest interest to Wiltshiremen are to be read of in the pleasant 

 pages of this book. It will certainly advance the author's reputation 

 as a delineator of the ways and the talk of the folk of the North Wilts 

 Downs. Reviewed, Times Lit. Supp., Jan. 1st ; Wiltshire Times, Jan. 

 3rd, 1913. 



Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke. By Frances 



Berkeley Young. London : David Nutt, 57—59, Long Acre. 1912. 



Cloth, 9in. X 5fin. pp. 6 unnumbered + 237. 7s. 6d. net. Three 

 portraits, from the pictures at Penshurst and in the National Portrait 

 Gallery, both attributed to Marc Gheeraedts, and a photo of the en- 

 graved portrait by Simon Pass. " The literary relations of the Countess 

 of Pembroke with her time " are the real subject of this book. "As an 

 author on her own account— a fair poet and an excellent translator — 

 she challenges our attention. More than all, however, she is significant 

 because of her attitude towards letters and scholarship." Her "ancestry 

 and childhood," her life as "Countess of Pembroke 1577 — 1601," as 

 " Dowager Countess 1601 — 1621," as " Editor, Translator, and Author," 

 as "Patron of Letters," together with an account of the various works 

 dedicated to her, and literary references to her by the writers of the 

 time, make up the bulk of the book. Wherever available, her letters 

 are largely quoted at length. There is an appendix of her translation 

 from the Italian of The Triumphe of Death, a note on " the Countesse 

 of Penbrook's Passion," and a useful partial bibliography of Lady 

 Pembroke's life and writings, together with a good index. 



3ir Isaac Pitman. Pitman's Journal, of Jan. 4th, 1913, contained 

 a " Centenary Supplement" on Sir Isaac Pitman, pp. 30, containing the 

 following articles : " The Centenary Movement and its Supporters," by 

 Edward A. Cope ; " Life and Achievements of the Inventor of Phono- 

 graphy," pp. 4 — 21, with cuts of " The Site of Sir Isaac Pitman's Birth- 

 place at Trowbridge," "Boyhood Home at Timbrell Street, Trowbridge," 



