Reviews

The Roof-Climber’s Guide To Trinity. By G. W. Young.

(Cambridge: W. P. Spalding [1899].)

THIS vast subject is here treated of in a little pamphlet containing but 35 pages in all, and on the title page we are assured that it is “a practical description of all Routes.” Perhaps the novelty of writing on so important a topic has deterred the author from attempting in the letterpress a complete fulfilment of his promise of the title page. Or has he been so astonished at his discovery that roofs were built to climb that he has felt like

“Stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes,
He gazed at the Pacific – and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise –
Silent. upon a peak in Darien,”

and become at length only sufficiently articulate to indicate faintly, and in general outline, the sporting qualities of the roofs of the largest college in either University? Possibly he is holding much back from us; he may have anticipated a solemn meeting of the Masters and Fellows of the College, assembled to discuss his pamphlet, and he may have had visions of the appointment of a sub-committee of this learned body, whose duty it should be to take his routes seriatim
and, standing safely on the grass in the quadrangle below, to instruct the trembling porters poised upon the ladder how best to lay the cunning barbed wire so that a suggested traverse here, or a dimly-sketched chimney there, may be rendered for ever impossible to all future aspiring “stegophilists.”

The book certainly marks a new departure in literature, and as we read it we are filled with a feeling of regret that it was not given by nature to that noble breed of College cats to expend on letters some of that talent for the Muses in another form, which our ears, during the still watches of the night, so cheerfully acknowledge them to possess. Had the title run “The Roof-Climber’s Guide to Trinity, by the Head Porter’s Cat,” then indeed we should have looked for an exhaustive treatise, wherein the subject was surveyed from every pinnacle and chimney top. But the author of the pamphlet under discussion frankly admits that the complete circuit of the College roofs has never yet been achieved. It is the Great Gate that still remains the Virgin peak; the situation is “porter-swept,” and the fall-pipes, by which alone the ascent can ultimately be gained, are justly described as “rheumatic;” while to crown the difficulties (and the fall-pipes) a large overhanging cornice presents itself before the summit can be reached, an obstacle which we are assured has never yet been surmounted.

It has always been a firmly-rooted tradition that once Lord Byron, after a night of revelry, ascended to the roof of the Library and crowned the statues of the various Virtues which adorn its summit with festal garlands; but, alas, our author hints that his historical researches lead him to suppose that the poet merely passed “up the turret stairs, breaking in at a window below and out at a door above.” But the modern and more sporting method of ascent is by the “Great Chimney,” which is in reality a flue for the passage of smoke, and not a fancy article such as may be met with in Switzerland. This chimney stands some three-and-a-half feet out from the wall of the Library, and is climbed by the “back and knee ” method throughout, with occasional ledges of the slenderest description for breathing space; there are thrilling moments, as, for instance, when the climber, “bridging his body across the chimney, looks down upon the shadowy depths between his knees.”

The climbs described are, for obvious reasons, undertaken only during the night-season, and footnotes such as this – “the contiguity of the Vice-Master’s rooms calls for a respectful avoidance of all superfluous noise “- are scattered judiciously throughout the book. There is a pleasant account of the nocturnal aspect of Cambridge, as seen from the ridge of the steep-pitched roof of the Hall :-” The distant towers looming against the dark sky, lit by the flickering lamps far below; the gradations of light and shadow, marked by an occasional moving black speck seemingly in another world; the sheer wall descending into darkness at his side, above which he has been half suspended on his long ascent, the almost invisible barrier that the battlements from which he started seem to make to his terminating in the Cloisters if his arm slips, all contribute to making this deservedly-esteemed the finest view point in the College Alps.”

It is hinted in the “Introduction” that the present “leaflet” is but a precursor to a monumental work which shall include “an outline of the history and literature, ancient and modern, and an account of the laws, methods, appliances, and phraseology peculiar to the art.” It is almost unnecessary to say that climbers will await with breathless eagerness the publication of this masterpiece.

S. D. K.

By Moor And Fell: Landscapes And Lang-Settle Lore From West Yorkshire. By Halliwell Sutcliffe.

(London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1899.)

THE pleasant anticipations conjured up by the title of this book are more than fulfilled in the reading. With subtle charm the writer depicts the life and characteristics of some of the most interesting towns and districts of West Yorkshire, mingling past and present, history and legend, hard facts and sweet imaginings in a happy and original style well suited to his subject.

The opening chapters are devoted to Haworth and its enveloping moors grim and stern, and they present a vivid picture of the village and its sturdy inhabitants as well as of the outlying hamlets and isolated farmsteads hidden in the recesses of the moors. A great deal of the interest of Haworth centres around the Brontés, but by no means all of it. Mr. Sutcliffe says on this point :-

“Strangers come and go, thinking that the Brontés gave Haworth all its charm; but we who know it, whose father knew it before it was in touch with the outer world, have no sense of this sort; for before the Brontés, crept into its life, to observe, and shiver a little, and reproduce, the village was hoary with storm and legend, instinct with the glamour which to-day is strong upon its children.” Yet he gives them all their due, and shows how great a legacy they left Haworth. We are sorry that the Haworth folk; do not cherish their memory in a less harsh spirit, though we must not expect the rough-hewn children of the moor to over “foreigners” who wrote “printed books,” or regard with too much favour the latter-day pilgrims to their shrine, not all of whom, we fear, treat the moor and its denizens with the respect the latter think is their due.

Leaving Haworth reluctantly, we are taken by a pleasant path to Bingley, and, after being beguiled with Bingley lore and Bingley revels, we are quickly transported – having in some magical way missed grimy Keighley – to grand old Skipton, the old-time and present-day capital of Craven, round whose castle are gathered some of the most stirring memories of the North of England. What volumes of romance could be written of the Cliffords, the family that took so large and so noble a share in the making of England from Edward the First’s time down to the Civil War, when, as if worn out with the long centuries of strife, it died away like the Royalist cause which Skipton fought for to the last. But, “though the Cliffords have crept into the shadows, their name lives yet, clear in the memory as if we had passed the time of day with each one of the line, from Clifford of Armada fame to the Shepherd Lord, from the Shepherd Lord to him who fell at Bannockburn.” History can produce nothing more stirring than the struggle between the North of England and the Scots, from Bannockburn to Flodden Field, and the Cliffords and the staunch men of Craven who followed them into battle were ever in the thick of the fray. Loyal to the Crown always, the Cliffords resisted the terror of the “Pilgrimage of Grace,” and successfully held their castle against the horde led by Lawyer Aske. We do not agree that this rising can be so easily disposed of as our author seems to think, or that all who took part in it were rogues and “refuse of the kennels.” The suppression of the religious houses, with its attendant robbery, dealt a cruel blow to the poor, and in a lesser degree to all other classes. And as nothing was done to supply the want created by the sudden extinction of the abbeys, we can hardly think that the blow struck in defence of the old order was altogether unworthy.

We have other pictures too of Skipton, pictures of the days of Edmund Kean and of the Duchess of St. Albans visiting the Devonshire Arms, and her meetings with those who knew her in the old days as Harriet Mellon. What times those old days must have been, when players such as these graced the boards of the old theatre. At Grassington, too, and Threshfield, did the dales farmers enjoy the drama. They were no mean judges of the Stage these dales-people, many of whom knew how to take their places in the cast as well.

The book takes us away north from Skipton to Buckden, and we get glimpses of many a bonny village by the way. The whole country is full of romance and beauty, and in the book the fells and people are all put before us in such a way that we feel we are walking and conversing with them ourselves. Not only the people of to-day, but past generations of fell folk come before us, and we hobnob with them all, entering fully into the joy and pathos of their toilsome yet restful existence. Not always restful, though, for we hear the cry of “The Scots! the Scots!” more than once, and we are fearful till the women and bairns are safe with the cobblers of Thorp. Anon, we are with the Cliffords at Bannockburn and Flodden, and sometimes we are engaged in little affairs with other clans in our own county, or even attending to little feuds at home. Then we return again to tending sheep on the fell sides, building walls and laithes and houses, and getting in the hay harvest. Of course there is time for a little sport and play; what with the deer that used to roam over the fells, the fish in the Wharfe and its merry tributaries, and the birds flying over all, everything, in fact, from poaching to play acting, there is no time hanging heavily on our hands.

Not one of these fell villages is without its romance. For example there is Rylstone, with its tale of the fighting Nortons who perished in Elizabeth’s reign; who does not know something of the old ballad of Percy, and who has not heard of the “White Doe of Rylstone”? Then there is Appletreewick, and the tale of the friendless lad, William Craven, who was sent away in a carrier’s cart to London, and who set to work earnestly and steadfastly with the object of gaining enough to return to his well-loved home. Right well he worked, too, until he attained his end, and rich was his reward. He amassed wealth, became Lord Mayor of London, and was knighted, and, best of all, had his heart’s desire. He returned to his native village and spent the evening of his life among the scenes he loved so well, doing so much good with his wealth that every generation since has had cause to bless his name. From the life stories of his sons, some of whom attained eminence in the land, and from those of many other children of the fells, we might cull many a story sweet as fresh-blown roses on a June morning; and the book is full of their fragrance.

H.H.B.

Highways And Byways In Yorkshire. By Arthur H. Norway.

(London: MacMillan & Co. 1899.)

IN this volume Mr. Norway has given us what is, in our opinion, the best of the excellent “Highways and Byways” series. To be sure, all Yorkshiremen will say that this is as it should be, their glorious county containing, as it certainly does, a measure of picturesque and historic interest fully proportionate – or even more than proportionate – to its size. In less skilful hands, however, this very abundance of material might have been so dealt with in the comparative limited space as to spoil the effect of the book. But the author wisely lays down a guiding rule to commence with, namely, that no attempt shall be made to describe, or even to mention, every “worthy” of Yorkshire. He reserves the right to pick and choose what he pleases, and leave the rest. The result is admirable, and though he adheres to his guiding principle he sets before us a comprehensive and faithful description of the county as it appears to-day. The book, of course, is not a topography, or a guide book, and it is hardly necessary to say that accounts of the manufacturing towns and the mining districts, with statistics of the rise and progress of their various industries, together with dimensions of buildings, heights of mountains, distances, times, and routes, are all absent from its pages. The style is fresh and original, and the readers’ interest is fully sustained from beginning to end by the charming word-pictures of every place of interest visited by the author during his extended tour. If he rides a hobby he never lets it run away with him, and consequently his strong sense of the beautiful and the romantic, his knowledge of history and folklore, and his sympathy with the traditions of the North Country – though he is himself a southerner – all harmonise in the happiest manner.

Any person wishful of obtaining a fair impression of Yorkshire could hardly improve upon the tour described, especially if time had to be taken into consideration. It begins at Bawtry, and the route followed leads by Doncaster, along the Great North Road through the happy hunting ground of Robin Hood and his merry men – as also of his descendants down to the highwaymen of the late coaching days – to Pontefract; thence by pleasant byways to Towton and York. From York it proceeds to Beverley and Hull, and continues along the coast as far as Scarborough; then a wide détour inland takes in Malton, Helmsley, and Pickering, and the coast is again reached at Whitby. From here the cliffs are followed until the sea is finally left at Staithes. From Staithes the route is continued through Guisborough, Cleveland, past Northallerton, Richmond, to Rokeby and Barnard Castle. Returning to Richmond, Swaledale is ascended, then the Ure – or, as we prefer it, the Yore – is traced from its source to Ripon and Boroughbridge. By way of Harrogate the Wharfe is reached at Ilkley, and left at Barden for a scamper into Craven and an ascent of Ingleborough. After a hasty glance at Ribblesdale, where Henry VI, was some time in hiding, a return is made to Skipton, and after passing down Airedale to Kirkstall Abbey the county is left by way of Wakefield, Barnsley, and Sheffield.

We quite agree that the chief beauty of Yorkshire is in the dales. There the scenery is the richest and the most varied, and there are principally to be found the landmarks of history – many of the finest churches, and certainly the most important abbeys and castles, round which are wrapped the stirring memories of a thousand years. Yes, it is to the dales we must go, and to the Vales of Mowbray and York, if we would see the plainest footprints of the great host that has gone before us, and catch something of the glamour of the past. We have not space to speak further of the historical ground covered than to mention the curious fact that, while the period of the Roman occupation receives a fair share of attention, the Saxon and Danish periods are passed over almost in silence, though our county possesses no inconsiderable remains of those days, and though it formed the chief part of that kingdom of Northumbria, where the fiercest struggles of the two contending races – including the last bloody battle of Stamford Bridge – took place. And this is all the more remarkable as the welding together of these nations -‘the Saxon with the Norse – produced those characteristics of the Northern folk so much dwelt upon by the author, which marked them off, and still distinguish them from Southerners, and those qualities which stood them in such good stead during the Middle Ages, when they ranged themselves under the banners of Balliol, Scrope, Percy, Clifford, Fairfax, and many another noble name.

As we have already remarked, the author lays no claim to completeness, and he leaves still untouched a very wide field in this – roughly the central – part of the county. He admits that the bridges with comfortable parapets to lean upon, and the other restful influences of the dales villages, induced him to abandon his projected visits to many interesting spots, including Adel and Harewood. He might, indeed, have given us a long list of names equally suggestive of the beautiful in art and nature in Yorkshire, as, for instance: Selby, with its noble abbey-church, ranking next after Beverley and Ripon; the less well-known Birkin, with its unique gem of Norman architecture; Campsall, Kirkdale, and a hundred other famous churches, not to mention other features of equal interest.

He has also left untouched a wealth of material in Upper Wharfedale, in Nidderdale, and many other districts, including the highly interesting country bordering Lancashire and Westmorland from Clitheroe to Sedbergh; and, perhaps above all, the Craven Fells. Enough, and more than enough, remains for another volume. Is it too much to hope for a second series of “Highways and Byways in Yorkshire?” At any rate we shall welcome any further addition to the literature of the county from Mr. Norway’s pen.

The volume is illustrated with numerous sketches by Mr. Joseph Pennell and Mr. Hugh Thomson. It is sufficient to say that these are in the best style of the two artists. But surely the sketch on page 351 entitled “Ingleborough from near Settle” presents a view of Pen-y-Ghent from near Horton Station!

H. H. B.

The Climbs Of Norman-Neruda. Edited, And With An Account Of His Last Climb. By May Norman-Neruda.

(London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1899.)

THIS, in many respects charming, addition to Alpine literature will possibly appeal more strongly to climbers than to the general reader. In some of the more exciting descriptions of rock climbing, where on a solitary ascent occurs the phrase “one inch false and I must have fallen,” the uninitiated may be pardoned if he asks “Is the game worth the candle?”

Mr. Neruda’s reputation as a fearless expert rock climber is well known, and his recollections of the minor details of some of his climbs are so marvellous that it is difficult to put down the book once one has begun some of the chapters. The peak which seemed to hold him magnetised, and upon which he spends much description, was the tragic scene of his last climb. Indeed, the Dolomite region seems to have been a lode star which year after year drew him to explore its chimneys and fastnesses, and the graphic accounts of the short but sporting climbs to be obtained there will doubtless attract more English people to the beauties of its scenery.

The pathetic circumstances under which the book is issued disarm adverse criticism, but after careful perusal of the chapter “Alone on the Dent Blanche,” we are still of opinion that solitary climbing is not to be commended. A man may come through it safely – the odds are that he will – but the risks are so great, not from inability to overcome “technical difficulties,” but from the many minor accidents of life, e.g., a broken leg, a sudden faintness in an awkward corner – which are of small account with one or two more at hand, but may be fatal alone – that for one out for his summer holiday to voluntarily incur them would seem unwise. The story of the climb is well told, and with pardonable pride; still, there might have been no story to tell.

To the majority the chapter on “technical difficulties” in mountaineering will come as a revelation. Hitherto the word “technical” has been a phrase highly prized by advocates of the New Education. It would seem now to have stormed the Crags of the mountains and fathomed the depths of crevasses. We have been spread-eagled on a rock face, or glued in a “kamin,” we have hung ignominiously at the end of a rope in a crevasse, from all these passing discomforts we have been extricated as we best could, unconscious we were overcoming “technical difficulties.” This is a progressive age!

The account of a modern fashionable peak is distinctly refreshing, containing as it does some sensible and well-put remarks on the foolish craze for notoriety which causes so many incapable people to attempt difficult peaks for the sake of entertaining the table d’hote
with a description of their valour.

We have said that the book will appeal more to climbers than to the general reader. To this statement exception must be made in the author’s description of the Alps out of season. Apart from the first chapter – which has a charm and pathos peculiarly its own, and at once arrests and holds the reader spellbound – the “Alps out of season” reveals the mountaineer in his best mood. He is no longer the gymnast or survivor of hair-breadth escapes; he sees and depicts, as well as pen can depict, the true glories of the Alps, and enables those who have hitherto not seen these effects to realise in some degree the strong chain which season after season draws the climber to gaze upon them.

We can well understand the work of preparing the manuscripts has been “a Labour of Love.” The result has justified that labour. The book would have been read with pleasure in the author’s lifetime; that it comes to us after his last climb, prepared by one associated with him in the closest ties, lends to it a fascinating interest.

L. S. C.

Catalogue Of Books In The Library Of The Alpine Club.

(Edinburgh University Press: T. & A. Constable. 1899.)

We are indebted to the Alpine Club for a copy of this Work. Readers of the Alpine Journal of recent years may have noticed, from the lists given therein, how rapidly additions are being made to the Club’s large collection of mountaineering literature. Not only have gaps on its shelves been filled by scarce Alpine works, but many less important books of travel in mountainous countries have been added, and these, together with the large number of recently published Alpine books acquired by the Club, have made this new catalogue very desirable. It is useful to men other than members of the Alpine Club, as the index of subjects, and the cross references to authors’ names which it contains, form excellent guides for those who wish to know what has been written on – for example – any one part of the Alps.

We congratulate the Honorary Librarian on the work, in the compilation of which he acknowledges he has received much help from the Assistant Secretary of the Club.

RECENT BOOKS.

The Climbs Of Norman-Neruda
. Edited, and with an account of his Last Climb, by May Norman-Neruda. With Portrait and 29 illustrations. Size 8? by 53/4, pp. 12. and 335. (London ; T. Fisher Unwin. 1899. Price 21s.)
Reviewed on p. 150

The Valley Of Light
: Studies with Pen and Pencil in the Vaudois Valleys of Piedmont. By W. Basil Worsfold. With a map and illustrations. Size 8? by 53/4. pp. x. and 335. (London: Macmillan and Co., Limited. 1899. Price l0s. net.)

Alpine Memories
. Being a Translation of Emile Javelle’s “Souvenirs D’Un Alpiniste.” By W. H. Chesson. With a Biographical and Literary Notice by Eugéne Rambert. Portraits and 3 illustrations. Size 8 x 51/2, pp. 444. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1899. Price 7s. 6d.)

The Alps To The Andes
. Being the Autobiography of a Mountain Guide. By Mattias Zurbriggen. With 8 portraits and 47 illustrations. Size 8? x 5?, pp. xvi. and 269. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1899. Price l0s. 6d. net.)

The Highest Andes
. By Hallwell Sutcliffe. With 77 illustrations by George Hering. Size 71/4 x 5?, pp. vi. and 360. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1899. Price 6s.) . [By G. W. Young] Containing a practical description of all routes. With plan and sketch illustrations. Size 71/4 x 4?, pp. 35. (Cambridge: W. P. Spalding [1899]. Price 1s.) . By J. A. Lees. joint author of “Three in Norway.” With 63 illustrations from sketches and photographs by the Author. Size 73/4 x 51/4, pp. xii. and 378. (London : Longmans, Green . A record of the First Ascent of Aconcagua and Tupungato in Argentina, and the exploration of the surrounding valleys. By E. A. Fitzgerald. With Chapters by Stuart Vines, and Contributions by Prof. Bonney and others. 51 illustrations, a panorama, and 2 maps. Size 91/4 x 6?, pp. xvi. and 390. (London: Methuen & Co. 1899. Price 30s. net.)

Peaks And Pines: Another Norway Book
. By Hallwell Sutcliffe. With 77 illustrations by George Hering. Size 71/4 x 5?, pp. vi. and 360. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1899. Price 6s.) . [By G. W. Young] Containing a practical description of all routes. With plan and sketch illustrations. Size 71/4 x 4?, pp. 35. (Cambridge: W. P. Spalding [1899]. Price 1s.) . By J. A. Lees. joint author of “Three in Norway.” With 63 illustrations from sketches and photographs by the Author. Size 73/4 x 51/4, pp. xii. and 378. (London : Longmans, Green & Co. 1899. Price 6s.)

The Roof-Climber’S Guide To Trinity
. By Hallwell Sutcliffe. With 77 illustrations by George Hering. Size 71/4 x 5?, pp. vi. and 360. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1899. Price 6s.) . [By G. W. Young] Containing a practical description of all routes. With plan and sketch illustrations. Size 71/4 x 4?, pp. 35. (Cambridge: W. P. Spalding [1899]. Price 1s.)
Reviewed on p. 143
.

By Moor And Fell: Landscapes and Lang-settle Lore from West Yorkshire
. By Hallwell Sutcliffe. With 77 illustrations by George Hering. Size 71/4 x 5?, pp. vi. and 360. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1899. Price 6s.)
Reviewed on p. 145
.

Highways And Byways In Yorkshire
. By Arthur H. Norway. With a route map, and 110 illustrations by Joseph Pennell and Hugh Thomson. Size 73/4 x 5?, pp. xiv. and 384. (London: Macmillan and Co. 1899. Price 6s,)
Reviewed on p. 148
.

Catalogue Of Books In The Library Of The Alpine Club
>. Size 8? x 51/2, pp. 223. (Edinburgh University Press: T. & A. Constable. 1899.)
Reviewed on p. 152
.

The Scientific Study Of Scenery
. By John E. Marr, M.A., F.R.S. With 21 illustrations and numerous diagrams. Size 71/4 x 4?, pp. ix. and 368. (London : Methuen & Co. 1900. Price 6s.)