Mirth and Marvels 1837-40

MIRTH AND MARVELS (1837-40), by the Rev. Richard Harris Barham ("Thomas In goldsby"), a collection of tales, mostly versified and nearly all laughable, sets the standard for its kind. Other English humorous narrative verse may equal or surpass it in one quality or another —Thackeray's surpass in the delight ful employment of vulgarisms; (John Gilpin> and the in simplicity; the in bouffe irresponsibility of theme and in sureness of rhythm; Thomas Hood's poetical tales in the mingling of grim pathos with humor; but none other combines these qualities so uniformly and in so large a body of verse. Ingoldsby has other merits of its own. Its verve is unfailing. Its literary sources are extraordinarily various, ranging from saints' legends, mediwval chronicles and Kentish local traditions, down to La Fontaine's

ful technique in the details of narrative and de scription is in the tradition of Sterne; and its rollicking masculine fun is the peculiarly Eng lish fun of a by-gone day of roast-beef, pud dings, and ale, a hierarchical social order, and a gentlemanly acquaibtance with the classics. Its defects are the often flippant handling of themes essentially serious; the rarity of its genuine wit or humor— their place being gen erally occupied by fun and volubility; its em ployment of digression beyond the point where digression ceases to amuse and begins to bore; and its outworn insularity and prejudices. These penalties it pays for smacking so racily of its time and its land; Ingoldsby takes the gauge of early Victorian England relaxing over the nuts and wine; yet, all deductions made, does it so excellently well as to make itself the permanent model of its genre. Va rious editions are illustrated by Cruikshank, and by Leech and Tenniel. Early issues are now in request. Consult 'The Life and Let ters of the Rev. Richard Harris Barham,' by his son, R. H. D. Barham (London 1870).

SA Id UEL LEE WOLFF.