Bygone Church Life in Scotland Part 17

_Crown 8vo., 3s. 6d. Ill.u.s.trated._

In bygone times the Miracle Play formed an important feature in the religious life of England. To those taking an interest in the history of the Church of England, this volume will prove useful. The author has given long and careful study to this subject, and produced a reliable and readable book, which can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader.

It is a volume for general reading, and for a permanent place in the reference library.

CONTENTS:--The Origin of Drama--The Beginnings of English Drama--The York Plays--The Wakefield Plays--The Chester Plays--The Coventry Plays--Other English Miracle Plays--The Production of a Miracle Play--The Scenery, Properties, and Dresses--Appendix--The Order of the York Plays--Extract from City Register of York, 1426--The Order of the Wakefield Plays--The Order of the Chester Plays--The Order of the Grey Friars' Plays at Coventry--A Miracle Play in a Puppet Show--Index.

"Mr. Clarke has chosen a most interesting subject, one that is attractive alike to the student, the historian, and the general reader.... A most interesting volume, and a number of quaint ill.u.s.trations add to its value."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._

"The book should be useful to many."--_Manchester Guardian._

"An admirable work."--_Eastern Morning News._

"Mr. Sidney Clarke's concise monograph in 'The Miracle Play in England' is another of the long and interesting series of antiquarian volumes for popular reading issued by the same publis.h.i.+ng house. The author briefly sketches the rise and growth of the 'Miracle' or 'Mystery' play in Europe and in England; and gives an account of the series or cycle of these curious religious dramas--the forerunners of the modern secular play--performed at York, Wakefield, Chester, Coventry, and other towns in the middle ages. But his chief efforts are devoted to giving a sketch of the manner of production, and the scenery, properties, and dresses of the old miracle play, as drawn from the minute account books of the craft and trade guilds and other authentic records of the period. Mr. Clarke has gone to the best sources for his information, and the volume, ill.u.s.trated by quaint cuts, is an excellent compendium of information on a curious byeway of literature and art."--_The Scotsman._

A Book About Bells.

BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A.,

Author of the "Historic Dress of the Clergy," etc.

_Crown, cloth extra, 6s._

CONTENTS:--Invention of Bells--Bell Founding and Bell Founders--Dates and Names of Bells--The Decoration of Bells--Some Noteworthy Bells--The Loss of Old Bells--Towers and Campaniles--Bell-Ringing and Bell-Ringers--The Church-Going Bell--Bells at Christian Festivals and Fasts--The Epochs of Man's Life Marked by the Bells--The Blessings and the Cursings of the Bells--Bells as Time-Markers--Secular Uses of Church and other Bells--Small Bells, Secular and Sacred--Carillons--Belfry Rhymes and Legends--Index of Subjects, Index of Places.

THIRTEEN FULL-PAGE PLATES.

"A most useful and interesting book.... All who are interested in bells will, we feel confident, read it with pleasure and profit."--_Church Family Newspaper._

"A pleasing, graceful, and scholarly book.... A handsome volume which will be prized by the antiquary, and can be perused with delight and advantage by the general reader."--_Notes and Queries._

"'A Book About Bells' can be heartily commended."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

"An excellent and entertaining book, which we commend to the attention not only of those who are specially interested in the subject of bells, but to all lovers of quaint archaeological lore."--_Glasgow Herald._

"The book is well printed and artistic in form."--_Manchester Courier._

"'A Book About Bells' is destined to be the work of reference on the subject, and it ought to find a home on the shelves of every library."--_Northern Gazette._

"The task Mr. Tyack has set himself, he has carried out admirably, and throughout care and patient research are apparent."--_Lynn News._

"We heartily recommend our readers to procure this volume."--_The Churchwoman._

"An entertaining work."--_Yorks.h.i.+re Post._

"'A Book About Bells' will interest almost everyone. Antiquaries will find in it an immense store of information: but the general reader will equally feel that it is a book well worth reading from beginning to end."--_The News_, Edited by the Rev. Charles Bullock, B.D.

"An excellent work."--_Stockton Herald._

"It is a well-written work, and it is sure to be popular."--_Hull Christian Voice._

"Covers the whole field of bell-lore."--_Scotsman._

"Most interesting and finely ill.u.s.trated."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._

Legal Lore: Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.

EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.

_Demy 8vo., Cloth extra, 7s. 6d._

CONTENTS:--Bible Law--Sanctuaries--Trials in Superst.i.tious Ages--On Symbols--Law Under the Feudal System--The Manor and Manor Law--Ancient Tenures--Laws of the Forest--Trial by Jury in Old Times--Barbarous Punishments--Trials of Animals--Devices of the Sixteenth Century Debtors--Laws Relating to the Gipsies--Commonwealth Law and Lawyers--c.o.c.k-Fighting in Scotland--c.o.c.kieleerie Law--Fatal Links--Post-Mortem Trials--Island Laws--The Little Inns of Court--Obiter.

"There are some very amusing and curious facts concerning law and lawyers.

We have read with much interest the articles on Sanctuaries, Trials in Superst.i.tious Ages, Ancient Tenures, Trials by Jury in Old Times, Barbarous Punishments, and Trials of Animals, and can heartily recommend the volume to those who wish for a few hours' profitable diversion in the study of what may be called the light literature of the law."--_Daily Mail._

"Most amusing and instructive reading."--_The Scotsman._

"The contents of the volume are extremely entertaining, and convey not a little information on ancient ideas and habits of life. While members of the legal profession will turn to the work for incidents with which to ill.u.s.trate an argument or point a joke, laymen will enjoy its vivid descriptions of old-fas.h.i.+oned proceedings and often semi-barbaric ideas to obligation and rect.i.tude."--_Dundee Advertiser._

"The subjects chosen are extremely interesting, and contain a quant.i.ty of out-of-the-way and not easily accessible information.... Very tastefully printed and bound."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._

"The book is handsomely got up; the style throughout is popular and clear, and the variety of its contents, and the individuality of the writers gave an added charm to the work."--_Daily Free Press._

"The book is interesting both to the general reader and the student."--_Ches.h.i.+re Notes and Queries._

"Those who care only to be amused will find plenty of entertainment in this volume, while those who regard it as a work of reference will rejoice at the variety of material, and appreciate the careful indexing."--_Dundee Courier._

"Very interesting subjects, lucidly and charmingly written. The versatility of the work a.s.sures for it a wide popularity."--_Northern Gazette._

"A happy and useful addition to current literature."--_Norfolk Chronicle._

"The book is a very fascinating one, and it is specially interesting to students of history as showing the vast changes which, by gradual course of development have been brought about both in the principles and practice of the law."--_The Evening Gazette._

Antiquities and Curiosities of the Church.

EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.

_Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Ill.u.s.trations._

CONTENTS:--Church History and Historians--Supernatural Interference in Church Building--Ecclesiastical Symbolism in Architecture--Acoustic Jars--Crypts--Heathen Customs at Christian Feasts--Fish and Fasting--Shrove-tide and Lenten Customs--Wearing Hats in Church--The Stool of Repentance--Cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle--Pulpits--Church Windows--Alms-Boxes and Alms-Dishes--Old Collecting Boxes--Gargoyles--Curious Vanes--People and Steeple Rhymes--Sun-Dials--Jack of the Clock-House--Games in Churchyards--Circular Churchyards--Church and Churchyard Charms and Cures--Yew Trees in Churchyards.

"A very entertaining work."--_Leeds Mercury._

"A well-printed, handsome, and profusely ill.u.s.trated work."--_Norfolk Chronicle._

"There is much curious and interesting reading in this popular volume, which moreover has a useful index."--_Glasgow Herald._