related by the Nennian chronicler and the old Welsh historical poems. Yet not only do they disappear from the solid earth, but the very districts with which they are associated are, by Professor Rhys's process of hud a lledrith, dissolved into a veritable Scotch mist. Rheged becomes the limbo of the Celtic departed, and even Catraeth "sounds every whit as mythic as the Irish Murias."

Upon one point, it being archæological, we may be able to throw a little light. Dealing with the incident in Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lancelot (dating, according to M. Gaston Paris, from the last years of the twelfth century), where that hero, after many chivalrous encounters, brings his wife Iblis to Arthur's court at Caradigan, Professor Rhys observes:

"At first sight one would have said that Caradigan was the town of Cardigan; but this name is a form of Keredigion, 'Cardiganshire', and we have not been able to ascertain how early Cardigan became the name of the town called in Welsh Aber Teivi, which literally means the 'Teivi's mouth'. On the other hand we are assured by Mr. Phillimore that Caradigan, standing probably for Caradignan, must have meant Cardinham, near Bodmin, in Cornwall, where the remains of a great fort are well known" (p. 132, note). And an additional note (p. 392) informs us that "the substance of Mr. Phillimore's communication may now be read in the Cymmrodor, xi, 46."1

We are unable to state the date at which the name Cardigan first appears; it was certainly early in the struggle with the Normans. However, the "sapient commentators" who conceived that Caradigan might stand for Cardigan were, unluckily for their modern critic, quite correct in their surmise, for the form "Caradigan" was in early use as well as that of "Cardigan". In the 11th Henry III, the King "concessit hominibus de Karadigam quod habeant singulis septimaniis unum mercatum apud Caradiga'," etc., the town, of course, being meant.

We have noticed Prof. Rhys's volume from one point of view alone, and that probably not the most important point of view. The introduction of fresh and fruitful elements into the great stream of English literature was, it may be, of greater moment than the existence of any mortal. All fair critics must concede that the author of the present work has conclusively set forth the superlative part played by Celtic genius in moulding and enriching our imaginative literature, though nowhere in the volume do we get a clear idea of the genesis of the Arthurian saga, or of the causes that led to its rapid development. Some one must arise who will enter into Prof.

1 Mr. Phillimore's note, so far as it relates to the word in question, is as follows: In Cornwall we have the tautological form Cardinham, anciently called Cardinam, and in the Romances (in which it is named as a place where King Arthur held his court) Caradignan, Caradigan, or the like, forms which our sapient commentators have conceived to stand for Cardigan."

Rhys's labours; who, while assimilating the details that have been so laboriously collected, will perform such a service to the Arthurian cycle of romance as did Mr. Matthew Arnold to Celtic literature generally by his celebrated course of lectures. The hour has not yet come, nor, consequently, the man. Much yeoman's service still remains to be done in the clearing, sifting, and arranging of the enormous mass of heterogeneous material, and in that work Prof. Rhys has borne an important part. His book cannot be termed creative, nor will its publication mark an epoch; but it is a contribution to the disentanglement of the Arthurian question which no future writer upon the sources of our early literature and its ever increasing influence can afford to overlook.

THE BOOK OF SUNDIALS, by Mrs. ALFRED GATTY. Third Edition. Edited by H. K. F. EDEN and ELEANOR LLOYD; with an Appendix on the Construction of Dials, by W. RICHARDSON. London: George Bell and Sons. 1890. Small 4to. Pp. 578. Illustrated.

It speaks well for the popularity of the late Mrs. Gatty's Book of Sundials, that it should have reached a third edition, especially as the subject is one which appeals to the cultured few rather than to the general reader, who can hardly be expected to improve his mind at his own expense as long as the provident portion of the community enables him to sit in a comfortable chair, throughout the day, at a free library, following with breathless interest the adventures of "Three Men in a Boat", or falling asleep over Ouida's impossible heroes.

In the present edition of The Book of Sundials, although "a considerable amount of scientific and archæological information has been added, its main intention remains the same, namely, that of treating sundials chiefly from their moral and poetical aspect." The bulk of the volume is, in fact, occupied by a collection of mottoes occurring on sundials, numbering 738, together with 129 more in the Addenda, making 867 in all. The mottoes are in several different languages, Greek, Latin, English, French, German, Italian, Welsh, Manx, etc., and are all arranged alphabetically; which is convenient for reference, but leads to endless repetition, because the same motto appears over and over again under a new letter of the alphabet when in a different language. A great amount of condensation might be effected in a future edition by taking English as the standard language, and mentioning the instances where each English motto is to be found in foreign languages. There would only be a small residue of foreign mottoes unknown in English. It would also, we think, be an advantage to incorporate the Addenda with the rest, as no particular object seems to be gained by placing the new ones at the end. The same remark also applies to the

Introduction, the Introduction to the Addenda, and " Further Notes on Remarkable Sundials", all of which might be combined.

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Mrs. Gatty tells us that "the present collection of dials, with their mottoes, was begun about 1835. Perhaps the presence of a curious old dial over our church porch (Catterick), with something like a punning motto, Fugit hora, ora', may have had something to do with originating the idea. As to these dial-mottoes, there may, perhaps, be as many differences of opinion as there are differences of character in those who read them. We, who have studied them for many years, feel with Charles Lamb, that they are often 'more touching than tombstones', whilst to others they seem 'flat, stale, and unprofitable'. One correspondent describes them as ‘a compendium of all the lazy, hazy, sunshiny thoughts of men past, present, and in posse', and says 'the burden of all their songs is a play upon sunshine and shadow.' But this is no fair description. So far from the burden of all their songs being a play upon sunshine and shadow', one of the most fertile subjects of thoughts is the sun's power as being his own time-keeper, which he certainly is, whilst the mottoes constantly assert the fact."

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It would be a matter of considerable interest to make an analysis of all the mottoes, showing the ideas underlying them, and the literary or other sources whence they were derived.

After reading through the collection, it appears to us that the number of ideas suggesting the mottoes is surprisingly small, although the phraseology varies considerably, as the following examples will show :

The sun's motion.-" From the rising up of the sun unto the going down of the same."

The motion of the shadow." Our days pass like a shadow."
The passage of time.-" Labuntur Anni.'

Light and darkness.-" Post Tenebras Lux."

The importance of the present moment.-" Carpe diem."
The past, present, and future.-"Aspice, Respice, Prospice."
The hour of death.-" Forte ultima."

Eternity. On this moment hangs eternity."

Different parts of the day." Dawn, the golden hour."

Measuring time."Learn to number thy days."

Forward motion of time.-"I go forward."

Silent motion of time.-" Noiseless falls the foot of time."
Rapid motion of time.-" I tarry not for the slow."

Light necessary for work." The night cometh when no man can work."

The practice of placing mottoes on sundials is probably a survival of the system of moralising after the fashion of Æsop's fables, which was so common in the Bestiaries and other works of a similar kind

in the middle ages. The sombre, religious tone of the sentiments expressed is, no doubt, to be traced to Puritan influence. Very few of the mottoes are witty or secular, and in some cases they have

been turned to account to glorify the Church, as in No. 333, " Nescit occasum lumen Ecclesia", or its doctrines, as in No. 321,

"Mulier, amicta sole, ora pro nobis,

Sancta Dei Genitor."

In addition to the mottoes, Mrs. Gatty gives notes accompanying each, many of which are of great interest, and every here and there an illustration. The sundial at Trelleck, Monmouthshire (p. 108), will attract the attention of Welsh archæologists. "It was erected in 1648 by the Lady Maud Probert, widow of Sir George Probert, and on three sides are represented, in relief, the three marvels of the place, viz., 1, a tumulus, supposed to be of Roman origin, and above it the words, 'Magna mole, O quot hic sepulti'; 2, three stone pillars, whence the name 'Tri-llech' (the town of the three stones), with the inscription, 'Major Saxis', the height of the stones being also given, 8 ft., 10 ft., and 14 ft., as well as 'Hic fuit victor Harold'; 3, a representation of the well of chalybeate water, and two drinking cups, 'Maxima fonte', and below, Dom. Magd. Probert ostendit.'”

Amongst the mottoes there is one only in Welsh (Addenda, No. CXXIX), from St. Cybi's Church at Holyhead,

"Yr hoedl er hyd ei haros

A dderfydd yn nydd ac yn nos."

("Man's life, although be prolonged it may,
Draws to its close by night, by day.")

"The Rev. H. E. Williams, Rector of Llanaelhaiarn, has discovered the interesting fact that the lines are the last two of a stanza on December, written by a Welsh bard named Aneurin Cawdrydd, who lived about A.D. 510."

The Editors of The Book of Sundials do not seem to have had their attention called to the sundial at Whitford Church, Flintshire, seen during the Holywell Meeting of the Cambrian Archæological Association. It is inscribed "Gwel ddyn mewn gwiwlan ddeunydd mae ffo heb dario mae'r dydd." ("Behold, O man, the day it flieth without tarrying.")

Seven Manx mottoes are given, viz., Nos. 74, 320, 331, 446, 567, 668, and 731.

In the portion of the book which deals with "remarkable sundials" will be found descriptions and illustrations of, perhaps, the "most complete series of examples of ancient sundials that has yet been brought together, including Greek, Roman, Saxon, Irish, mediæval, and post-Reformation ones. Many of the churches in England have rude sundials scratched on the dressed stones of the doors, windows, and buttresses, which deserve more attention than they have yet received. They seem to fill the apparent gap between the more elaborate dials of the Saxon period and those of the sixteenth century.

The Appendix, on the construction of sundials, will, no doubt, prove useful to persons who wish to study the mathematical part of the subject, although it is hardly necessary to include such elementary directions as "how to set off a given angle", or to explain the meaning of the terms tangent, sine, secant, etc. For this the reader should be referred to text-books of geometry and trigonometry.

The only index given at the end of the volume is one of places. The omission of a general index detracts very much from the usefulness of an otherwise excellent work. Although Mrs. Gatty's Book of Sundials by no means exhausts a subject which it professes, all too modestly, to deal with from one point of view only, it contains so much information not to be obtained elsewhere, that its careful perusal must be a necessity for every one interested in this particular class of objects.

The fact that Messrs. George Bell and Sons are the publishers is a sufficient guarantee that the book is printed and illustrated in a way that leaves nothing to be desired.

Archaeological Notes and Queries.

CARDIGANSHIRE INSCRIBED STONES.'-Mr. J. Romilly Allen points out, in his article on the newly discovered stones in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, the necessity that exists for an accurate record of the inscribed stones of South Wales. Valuable as Professor Westwood's work is, he would be the first to admit that the illustrations of the stones in the Lapidarium Wallic leave much to be desired. Until we have a series of photographs of each of the stones we shall be without what is really required. I have felt this so strongly that I have begun to make a set of photographs of the Cardiganshire stones, and I hope in the course of next year to have it done. The difficulties are, however, far greater than at first sight appear. Many of the stones are so placed that it is no easy task to photograph them; others are so worn that it is very difficult to get any photograph to show the inscription.

Of the forty odd Cardiganshire stones already drawn, I have got about half done; but I am convinced there are many more that are not described still in existence in the unrestored churches, and I hope to notice some of them shortly. I now want to direct attention to one or two of the stones that are described, and to show how the photograph varies from the published description.

1 We hope, when Mr. Willis-Bund has completed his survey of the Cardiganshire stones, to publish a catalogue of them with illustrations from his photographs.-EDD.