468 NOTES AND QUERIES, passage . . . 'furnishes a lively speci- men of the flippancy and other qualities which characterize her [Mrs. Macaulay's] work," evidently meaning to praise. The passage (vol. vii., p. 273) is certainly not flippant in our sense. H. C N. " GOOD OLD." It is interesting to note the occurrence of the phrase " good old " used in a jocular sense in Miss Eden's
- Letters,' p. 121 (Letter from Hon. E. ]
Eden to Miss Villiers, Dec. 13, 1826) : | " Good old George arrived to-night, which is payment for everything," i.e., her still young brother, Lord Auckland. Has it been noted how much light Miss Eden's letters throw on the character of | Lord Goderich (Prime Minister in 1827) ? J. BATY. Tokyo, EARLY REFERENCES TO CHEDDAR CHEESE. The 'N.E.D.' notes two refer- ences to this cheese dated 1684 and 1666. In the volume of the Historical MSS. Commission dealing with the Earl of Egmont's papers, there is recorded, under date Jan. 20, 1638/9, a letter from Sir Philip Percivalle at Dublin, which Prays his cousin to bestow what surplus there may be from rents in the purchase of old cheese of the country (which, as he remembers, is called Cheddar Cheese), the supply from Chester being stopped. In the * Calendar of State Papers,' Domes- tic Series, 1635, under date Nov. 16, in a letter from Viscount Conway to Lord Poulett we read, " Reminds him of a ' cheese of Cheddar ' he was to send the writer." Under date Nov. 30, 1635, Lord Poulett, in reply states, "Has sent to take up all; the cheeses at Cheddar for him," and under date Dec. 13, 1635, Lord Poulett advises Viscount Conway that he Sends a Cheddar Cheese and apologises for sending but one. They were wont to be common in that county, till now they are grown to be in j such esteem at the Court, that they are bespoken before they are made. R. HEDGER WALLACE. SORS IERNICA. The present troubles in Ireland may suggest to the seekers of ominous coincidences a couplet of a well- known Latin hymn if written thus : Dies I.B.A.E., dies ilia, Soluet saeclum in fa villa. MARRIAGES (see 12 S. v. 262; viii. 188, 367). In continuation of my Notes at the above references, the following information may be found useful : At Edinburgh, Oct., 1789, John Hen- derson, late of Jamaica, to Miss Helen- Leslie, dau. of Geo. Leslie, merchant in Aberdeen. At Dublin, Oct., 1789, Dr. Mackay to Mrs. Dixson, with a fortune of 30,000. ' At Chester, Oct., 1789, Captain Forbes to Miss Limery of Chester. At London, Oct., 1789, Alexander Geddes*. Esq., of the 31st Regiment, to Miss Easton,. dau. of Mr. Alderman Easton of Salisbury. At London, Oct., 1789, Captain Dyer, of the Marines, to Miss Innes, dau. of Rear- Admiral Innes. At Edinburgh, Oct. 19, 1789, William McCunn, merchant in Greenock, to Mis Susannah French. At Tynemouth, Oct., 1789, Robert Hod- shon Clay, Esq., advocate, to Miss Liddle, of Dockwray Square, North Shields. At Aberdeen, Sept. 24, 1789, James Melles of Newhall, Esq., to Miss Janet Barclay, dau. of the late Walter Barclay of Pitachop, Esq. JAMES SETON-ANDERSON. 39, Carlisle Road, Hove, Sussex. (Queries. WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct. Cambridge. J. P. POSTGATE. INSCRIPTION IN OLD HOUSE AT ST. ALBANS. A mural painting has recently come to light in one of the old houses in St. Albans, which was probably erected circa 1400, and the interior walls of which have been covered with whitewash and sub- sequently covered with paper a number of times. The inscription, which is upon a lath-and-plaster wall, was found to be in an extremely bad condition a leak in the roof, combined with patches in the wall, having obliterated considerable portions. Two of the members of the St. Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeo- logical Society, consisting of a Vice-Presi- dent, Sir Edgar Wigram, Bart., and myself, have, by very careful treatment extending over the past fortnight, removed the white- wash, thus revealing an inscription in black
