25 JANUARY 1890, Page 22

Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition. By Lord Archibald Campbell.

(David Nutt.)—This volume contains the first instal- ment of a work which is, we suppose, to be somewhat prolonged, for it is entitled "Argyllshire Series." It contains some curious stories, as notably that of the overworked housewife who found her appeal for help answered by an embarrassing number of fairies, and that of Michael Scott's journey to Rome on the back of a fay who boasted that she was "as swift as a maiden's thought between two lovers." There ia a somewhat similar thing in the Faustus legend. The three spirits Oahu the speed of the wind, the arrow, and the thought of man. The Celtic form gives a touch of romance. It is curious to find Robert Bruce, the.Norman knight, using the words of a Gaelic song.