I^evieivs and Book Xoti'ces. 



223 



Yorkshire: Coast and Moorland Scenes. Painted and Described 



b\- Gordon Home. A. & C. Black, London, 1904. 7s. 6d. net. 



AlthoLig-h many beautifully-illustrated works dealing with 

 our broad-acred shire have appeared in recent years, but few can 

 compare with the new book just issued by Messrs. Black, and 

 the volume certainly stands alone in g-iving- a vivid impression 

 of our coast and moors in colour. Strictly speaking, the title 

 of the book is hardly correct, as it deals principally with the 

 North Riding- only — Pickering, Scarborough, Whitby, Rievaulx, 

 and the intervening districts. The area, however, is dealt with in 

 an able and entertaining manner, and includes various items of 

 interest to Yorkshire naturalists. Occasionally the author has 

 obtained quaint references from old works, such as the description 

 of the ' Sea Man,' caug'htby the Skinningrove fishermen in 1535. 

 This raw-fish eating monster, which eventually escaped and 

 went back to the sea, had evidently something human about 

 him, as we learn that, when there were any ' fayre maydes ' 

 amongst his numerous visitors, he would gaze at them with 

 a very earnest countenance, ' as if his phlegmaticke breaste had. 

 been touched with a spark of love'! We also gather that 

 formerly certain rocks towards HuntclifTe Xab, left bare at low 

 tide, were covered with ' Seales in greate Heardes like Swine,' 

 and reference is made to the fact that ' One Great Seale or more 

 keepes sentinell, which, upon the first inklinge of any danger, 

 giveth the Alarme to the rest by throweing of Stones, or making 

 a noise in the water, when he tumbles down from the Rocke, 

 the rest immediately doe the like, insomuch that yt is very hard 

 to overtake them by cunning.' In view of the recent frequent 

 record of Seals on the Yorkshire coast this reference is not 

 without interest. 



But it is in the 32 coloured reproductions of water-colour 

 drawings of coast and moorland scenery that the real charm of 

 the book lies. To some the colouring of these may seem rather 

 high, but It must be remembered that in them the country is 

 seen 'under summer skies, in the late autumn, when the richest 

 of tints are on the foliage, and in the winter, when sea and moor 

 are swept by fierce winds.' And if the actual browns of the 

 bracken, the purple of the heather, and the various tints of 

 foliage, rock, and sea do not appeal to us so forcibly as they 

 have done to the artist, we can only regret that we have not his 

 eyes. By the courtesy of the publishers we are able to repro- 

 duce one of the illustrations herewith (Plate VI.). 



July I. 



