The Washington times., 1904-01-30
GLASGOW DIALECT.
,NK RS. M'LERIE" is new book

IN n RS. MLERIE'' is a new book
M OF Scotch stories by ]. ].
\ l. Bell. the young author who
leaped into fame by the writing of Wee
Macgreegor." While Glasgow dialect is
no longer the startling and delicious
novelty that 1t was when that inimitable
urchin appeared upon the scene. Mrs.
M'Lerie is quite as delightful and fully
as artistically done. The book is a tiny
one. with a charming cover design. and
the single Illustration is perfect. Mr..
Bell and the publishers seem to have
agreed to prove that a nice thing can
be done without being Immediately over
done.
Mrs. M'Lerie is the quaintest, sweet
est most homely of old DANES. and
seems Immediately to become a sort of
adopted grandmother to the reader.
With her little shoulder shawl, her old
fashioned glasses, her cap and apron.
and her housewifely cares-one knows
them all from the first page-she steps
right into ones heart and stays there.
She Is no philosopher and no moralist;
only a dear. chimney-corner old Scotch
woman. and her one axiom. "Aweel. it's
a yin" (ail the same). points rather TO
serene ignorance than to any system OF
! philosophy.
Indeed, a sweet confusion in the mind
may sometimes be pleasing, as well as
/ in the dress. and while Mrs. MLerie's
costume, one is certain, is always ire
proaehable in neatness and prim precis-
ion. her haziness in the use of the Eng
! Iish language is one Of the funniest and
most delightful things in the book. We
| find her quite sure that one of the
stuffed birds in her glass case is "a
nOstreech.'' and clinging to the hope
that even though "ostriches Is large
| beasts wi long legs like hens. WI os-
trich feathers In their tails" her par
/ ticular bird might be "a young yin jist
| oot o. the egg" We find her repeatedly
discussing "rattles" instead of ''raffies. .
and "Jungles' instead Of 'jumbles, -
and we feel that. 50 far as she is con-
cerned its a Ufn." We sympathize
| with her sufferipgs at the "surree," a
| form of entertainment distantly related
70 the "swarry" OF Dickens day, as
thus detailed by herself:
II wis that affrontit wi Mistress
Gardner, ga, ye never seen sic a thing
| Mistress Munro. She wis pour
in oot the tea frae yin O. thom things
an
. 'Ye mean the urn
4 SEe WIS Hlilu ntI ain Cup
when she beyond to sneeze. and pu'd
back her haun' quick, we ken2 But her
finger wis catched In the wee handle. an
she pu ed over the hale afrair an broke
two cups an a saucer, an drookit a
her pastries. an soakit her claes, an
lgey near droondit wean wha wis
sittin' aside heri But that wisna whit
affrontit me. Afore 1 kent whaur
wis. she had siippit out the door-we
wis sittin' near a door, ye ken, an she
never cam back. An near a the folk
thocht 1 had made the messl'
Who says there are no old ladies in real
life? We have them in fiction at any
rate. One would be quite willing tc
listen TO twice as many stories as there
are here. told I'm the quavering sweet
old voice. 50 guilelessly and unsus-
picously. There is in these stories
no worldly auditor, only Mr.. Munro
and two or three neighbors' ''weans.
and that is just as well. Mrs. NJ Lerie
could never have talked for publica-
ton. New York: Che Century Com
pany-)