ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
STUDY AND STUDIO.
Rachel M. Westlake (New Zealand).—Many thanks for your pleasant letter.—1. The joyous keeping of Christmas itself (for which see Chambers’s Book of Days) is responsible for the sending of Christmas cards. Just as we send birthday cards to greet our friends on their birthdays, so we send cards to greet those to whom we cannot personally wish “A happy Christmas.” We do not think there is any ancient origin of the custom.—2. Boys at public schools are “taught so much about the heathen gods and goddesses” because to understand Greek and Latin literature it is necessary to understand mythology. Homer, for instance, cannot be understood without knowing about Zeus, Pallas Athênê, and the other inhabitants of Olympus “who hold the wide heaven.” The whole subject of the value of classical education is far too vast to enter upon here.
St. Patrick.—1. We will consider your request as to the article on “Burnt Wood Work.”—2. We are afraid there is no way of restoring the colour in question; but careful washing will do much to prevent its conversion into green in the first instance.
An Ignorant Musician.—1. There is no royal road to success in reading music at sight. The only way is to practise constantly reading new music. A distinguished professor, whom we know, advises also reading the notes by the eye, without the piano.—2. Both your methods of treating the bass chords are equally correct, but you should beware of consecutive octaves.
If “Country Lass” were to write to Mrs. Sole, Crudwell Rectory, Malmesbury, she might receive help of a practical kind.
A Reader Abroad (New Zealand).—We are glad to tell you something of what we know about Berry Pomeroy Castle. It is said to have been founded by Ralph de la Pomeroie, one of William the Conqueror’s knights, who received from his sovereign fifty-eight manors in all, among them that of Berry, in Devonshire. The castle remained in the possession of the Pomeroy family until the middle of the sixteenth century, when Sir Thomas Pomeroy, who had been a ringleader in the Rising in the West, and had as a punishment for rebellion been deprived of many of his estates, sold it to Lord Seymour. The Seymour family built an imposing structure within the older part of the castle, but never brought it to perfection. A fire, caused by lightning, so injured the building in the early part of the eighteenth century that it was abandoned to decay. Prince, the author of The Worthies of Devon, describes the castle as very magnificent, and so vast “that it was a good day’s work for a servant but to open and shut the casements.” It is now, owing to the luxuriant setting of thick foliage and ivy and its beautiful situation, one of the most picturesque of English ruins; and it is interesting to observe the difference in architecture of its composite parts. We advise you to apply for a photograph to Crauford’s Library, Dartmouth; or Westley’s Library, Torquay.
Ellen.—The sentence, “There is sorrow on the sea,” occurs in a verse of the Bible—Jeremiah xlix. 23.
G. R. and Mary Priscilla Cunningham.—G. R. inquires for a “Practising Society,” and Miss Cunningham writes at the same time to mention one, so we commend our correspondents to each other. The “Honour Bright” Practising Society encourages regular practice, awards prizes, and levies fines. Address, for a copy of rules, the Secretary, Miss Cunningham, 1, Bloemfontein Villas, Dalling Road, Hammersmith, W. We may add for G. R.’s benefit that she will see other Practising Societies mentioned if she scans this column for the past few months, e.g., Mrs. Walker’s, Litlington Rectory, Berwick, Sussex, and Miss Isabella Kent’s, Lay Rectory, Abington, Cambridge.
Opal.—1. Your quotation is not correctly given. The verse—