Glencairly Castle. By Horace G. Hutchinson. (Smith, Elder, and Co.
6s.)—Mr. Horace Hutchinson has given us a, very pleasant specimen of a very pleasant genre, the romance of the Highland shooting-box. The ingredients were mixed long ago with a masterly hand by Laurence Lockhart in novels which are far too little read nowadays, and the recipe has often enough been followed since, but somehow the dish is never stale. We have the old poor laird, the successful and comic plutocrat who leases his moor, and appropriate matches between the sons and daughters of the two. We have also—what is the chief charm of the thing—many spirited descriptions of fishing and shooting exploits, and a general im- pression of good health and good humour. None of the characters are very seriously drawn; not even the realistic conversation of Lady Mildred makes that young woman anything more than a stock figure ; but elaborate character-drawing is the last thing we look for in this class of fiction. It is enough that the narrative marches easily and pleasantly to a happy conclusion, and that the reader is always interested and never offended; while any lover of moor and river will find much to attract him besides the story.
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