LANG, Andrew, English author: b. Sel kirk, 31 March 1844; d. 20 July 1912. He was educated at Saint Andrews and at Balliol Col lege, Oxford; was elected Fellow of Merton, Oxford, in 1868. He was probably the most versatile writer of his time, and was recognized as an authority on many subjects, including Greek, French and English literature, anthro pology and folklore, Scottish history (especially the Jacobite period), telepathy and physical research. His wide learning appears in his prose rendering of the 'Odyssey) (1879; with Butcher), and the 'Iliad) (1882; with Myers and Leaf), and 'Homer and the Epic' (1893), a defense of the unity of the poems; in his works on comparative mythology and religion, 'Custom and Myth' (1884), 'Myth, Ritual, and Religion) (1887; new ed., 1899) ; 'The Making of Religion) (1898), and 'Magic and (1901) ; and in his studies of Scottish history, such as 'A History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation) ; 'The Mystery of Mary Stuart' and 'Prince Charles Some of the most interesting of his work is to be found in 'Letters to Dead Authors' (1886) ; 'Letters on Literature' (1889) ; 'Angling Sketches) (1891) ; 'Essays in Little' (1891); 'Adventures Among Books' (1904). He pub
lished also volumes of verse, 'Ballades in Blue China) (1880) ; 'Rhymes a la Mode) (1884); 'Grass of Parnassus) ; 'Ballads of Books) (1888) ; 'Ban et Arriere Ban' (1894). Mention should also be made of 'Cock-Lane and Common Sense) (1894), a discussion of the spiritualistic question; 'John Knox and the Reformation' (1905) ; 'A Defence of Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy) (1910) ; and the biographies of Lockhart (1896) and Tennyson (1901). See LErrms TO DEAD AUTHORS.