Scene: the wild cliffs and crags of Kerry and West Clare. Theme: the play of passions as wild and terrible as the scenes; yet there are glimpses of peasant home-life and hospitality, and many touches of humour. The tales appeared in three series, 1827, 1829, and 1832. The first (Holland Tide) contained the _Aylmers of Ballyaylmer_, a story about a family of small gentry on the Kerry coast, with many details of smuggling; _The Hand and Word_, _The Barber of Bantry_, with its picture of the Moynahans, a typical middle-class family, like the Dalys in _The Collegians_, and several shorter tales. The second series contains _Card-drawing_, _The Half-Sir_, and _Suil Dhuv the Coiner_, which deals with the “Palatines” of Limerick. The third series contains _The Rivals_ and _Tracy’s Ambition_. These are sensational stories. The first has an interesting picture of a hedge-school, the second brings out the people’s sufferings at the hands of “loyalists” and government officials. They contain several instances of seduction and of elopement. Perhaps the best of these is _Suil Dhuv the Coiner_. The characters of the robbers who compose the coiner’s gang are admirably discriminated, and the passion of remorse in _Suil Dhuv_ is pictured with a power almost equal to that of _The Collegians_. ⸺ TALES OF MY NEIGHBOURHOOD. Three Vols. (_Saunders & Otley_). 1835. Vol. 1 contains _The Barber of Bantry_. Vol. 2. Three sketches and the dramatic ballad _The Nightwalker_. Vol. 3. Eight short sketches and the poems _Shanid Castle_ and _Orange and Green_. ⸺ THE DUKE OF MONMOUTH. Pp. 423. (_Maxwell_). 1842. A clever historical novel, dealing with this unfortunate nobleman and the battle of Sedgmoor. Two Irish soldiers, Morty and Shemus Delany, supply the comic relief. The fine ballad, _The Bridal of Malahide_, first appears here, and the song, “A Soldier, A Soldier.” ⸺ TALES OF A JURY ROOM. Pp. 463. (_Duffy_). 2_s._ [1842]. Still reprinted. The scenes of three of these tales are in foreign lands—Poland, the East, France in the days of Bayard. The remaining ten are Irish. Among them are fairy tales, tales of humble life, an episode of Clontarf, a story of the days of Hugh O’Neill, and several, including the Swans of Lir, that deal with pre-Christian times. All are well worth reading, especially “Antrim Jack”—Macalister, who died to save Michael Dwyer. =GRIFFITH, George.= ⸺ THE KNIGHTS OF THE WHITE ROSE. Pp. 311. (_J. F. Shaw_). 3_s._ 6_d._ Several good illustr. by Hal Hurst. 1908. The adventures of three young soldiers, an Englishman (the hero), an Irishman, and a Scotchman, in a Royalist crack regiment. Lively descriptions of fighting before Derry and at the Boyne. Good outline of the campaign but little historical detail or description. Told in pleasant style with plenty of go. For boys.