‘The brede of good & strong Horsis’: zooarchaeological evidence for size change in horses from early modern London

SUMMARY: Almost 200 horse bone measurements from 38 sites excavated across the city of London, dating to the period AD 1220–1900 were analysed. Results identified three main phases of size change: a reduction in size in the mid 14th to 15th century, and size increases in the mid 15th to 16th century and the 17th century. The decline in size testifies to the disruption of horse breeding in the wake of the Black Death, whilst the increases reflect purposeful attempts to increase the size of horses in England through a combination of regulated breeding and the importation of new bloodlines.     

Special friendships: The early career of François Mitterrand

Péan, P., Une jeunesse française: François Mitterrand 1934–1947 (Fayard, 1944), 616pp., 160F.     

Sacred Wells in Wales

GUIDE D'ÉTUDE DIRECTE DES COMPORTEMENTS CULTURELS. By M. MAGET. Paris, 1953. Pp. xxxv, 260 ; 16 plates and drawings Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

TOBIAS TOMAMICHEL, Bosco GURIN, DAS WALSERDORF IM TESSIN. Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkskunde (G. Krebs Verlagsbuchhandlung). Basle, 1953. Pp. 155, illustrated. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CELTIC FOLKLORE, Stornoway and Oban, October 5th–13th, 1953. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

MY GYPSY DAYS : RECOLLECTIONS OF A ROMANI RAWNIE. By DORA E. YATES. Pp. 192, 9 plates. 8vo. London, Phoenix House, 1953. Price 16s. Reviewed by E. O. Winstedt.

WORD FOR WORD. AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF BEER. Vol. X I in the Whitbread Library. 1953. 5s. Reviewed by Leslie F. Newman.

RADNORSHIRE. By W. H. HAWSE. E. J. Thurston, Hereford. Price l6s. 6d. Reviewed by Lilian H. Hayward.

CURIOUS CUSTOMS OF SEX AND MARRIAGE. An Inquiry Relating to all Races and Nations from Antiquity to the Present Day. By GEORGE RYLEY SCOTT, F.Ph.S. (Eng.) F.Z.S., F.R.A.I., Torchstream Books, London, 1953. Reviewed by B. Z. S.