The scene is laid amid very low class society in an Irish town. The interest centres in a young girl who is reared on charity, but finally marries a fairly respectable tradesman. The personages of the story seem to be Protestants, but religion is scarcely touched on. The brogue is very thick, but the stage Irishman humour is absent. There is a persistent attempt to study types and characters. ⸺ AMBUSH OF YOUNG DAYS. Pp. vii. + 344. (_Duckworth_). 1906. The scene is laid in a temperance hotel. The central character is a young girl, daughter of proprietor, who is given to telling out the truth in a most unnecessary and inconvenient manner. The lodgers come prominently into the story, and the heroine ends by marrying one of them. ⸺ THE STARS BEYOND. Pp. vii. + 375. (_Nash_). 1907. A problem novel dealing with an ill-assorted marriage—the wife’s name (symbolic) is “Vérité,” the husband’s “Virtue”; hence the clash. Religion enters largely into the book. Types of Irish Protestant clergy. The writer’s sympathy seems to waver between Catholicism and Protestantism, but the heroine rejects both. The servants’ talk in conventional brogue. ⸺ IMPERIAL RICHENDA. Pp. 313. (_Alston Rivers_). 6_s._ 1908. Scene: a small watering-place near Dublin. A fantastic comedy, somewhat vulgar in places, but on the whole amusing, abounding as it does in bright dialogue, and in absurdly comical situations. Some shrewd strokes of satire are aimed at Dublin Society, and there are piquant sayings on other subjects. The central figure is a young lady who takes a situation as waitress in a small hotel. Her character is so equivocal that the book cannot be recommended for general reading. =LARMINIE, William. B.= 1849, in Co. Mayo. D. at Bray, 1900. Was many years in the Civil Service. He is better known as a poet, Author of _Glanlua_ and _Fand_, than as a folk-lorist. ⸺ WEST IRISH FOLK-TALES AND ROMANCES. Pp. xxvi. + 258. (_Elliot Stock_). 3_s._ 6_d._ 1898. Taken down, by the editor, between 1884 and 1898, word for word in Irish from peasants in Galway (Renvyle), Mayo (Achill), and Donegal (Glencolumbkille and Malinmore), and translated literally. Interesting introduction on the origin and sources of folk-lore. At the end are some remarks on phonetics, which do not show a deep knowledge of the Irish system of orthography, and specimens of the tales in Irish written phonetically. The book is primarily for folk-lorists and some naturalistic expressions render it unsuitable reading for the young. There are eighteen stories in all. N.B.—The Author tells us (introduction) that besides the tales in this book, he has in his possession many others not yet published. This collection, a large one, is preserved in safety, but still awaits publication. =“LAUDERDALE, E. M.”; Mrs. Moore.=