Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/236

 190 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 S.IX.SHPT. 3,1921. WELSH. Information is desired on. the life of Louise Welsh, the daughter of John Welsh, Minister of Ayr, 1600-1605. She is mentioned in her mother's will of 1625. A. G. r_" MIXED TRAIN." In Wilkie Collins's novel ' No Name ' the following sentence occurs in scene i. ch. 2, para. 6 : I'll give your mother written warning and go back tojmy friends by the mixed train at twelve-forty. I should like to find out of whut a " mixed " train in 1847 consisted. Does the word refer to one half goods, half passen- ger ? Or did some trains consist of one class of carriage only, instead of three classes ? (Miss) W. D. BEAL. ENGLISH CHEESES. In Thorold Rodgers's '^History of Agriculture and Prices ' the following cheeses are noted : Cream, selling at Is. each in 1686. Cheshire, valued in 1655 at 6<Z. per lb., 3%d. in 1705 and l$d. in 1793. Cosley, Wilts, at 2Jd. per lb. in 1761. Essex, at 2d. per lb. in 1594. Gloucester, at 2$d. per lb. in 1594 and 3d. per lb. in 1714. Double Gloucester, at 6cZ. per lb. in 1774-76. Gruyere, at 10s. 10d.(? per lb. or stone) in 1791. HaU, at 2fd. per lb. in 1705. Hants, at 2d. per lb. in 1761. Holland, at 4d. per lb. in 1608. Morning's Milk, at 2Jd. per lb. in 1636. New Milk, at 5d. per lb. hi 1768. Old Milk, at 3|d. per lb. in 1774. Lansdown, at 2|d. per lb. in 1761. Newbury, at 2$d. per lb. in 1707. Norfolk, at 2Jd. per lb. in 1712. Parmesan, at 12s. 9d. (? per lb. or stone) in 1791. Suffolk, at 4eL per ib. in 1655. Stilton, at Is. 2d. per lb. in 1771. Warwick, at 2d. per lb. in 1709. Are there any references which will pro- vide further information as to the Cosley, Hall, Hants, Lansdown, Newbury, Nor- folk and Warwick varieties of cheese ? R. HEDGEB WALLACE. VARIETIES OF SCOTCH CHEESE. In the Preface to vol. i. of ' The Easchequer Rolls of Scotland, 1264-1359,' it is stated that : The dairy was an object of attention in For- farshire, where much of the crown rents was paid in cheese. The demesne lands of For- far, Glammis, and Kingaltewyn together re- turned about 1,600 stone of cheese annually, cheese generally selling at sixpence the stone, but the superior quality of the cheese of Cule insuring it a higher price. These Exchequer Rolls show that cheese rents were also obtained from Kilmarnock, Galloway, Brechin, Methven, Kinross, Kincardine, Tarbet and Crail, to name a few points. What was the kind of cheese made at these various places ? What were their sizes and weights ? Were they hard cheeses ? The entry in the Rolls is simply " Caseo." Curiously enough the first ap- pearance of " Butiro " in the Rolls is in 1384. It is stated that when in the summer of 1263 the Scotch King and Queen spent 29 weeks at the Castle of Forfar, sixty stone of cheese were consumed. These Scotch thir- teenth-century cheeses would not be similar to the only Scotch variety now known the Dunlop as according to a tombstone at Dunlop these sweet milk cheeses were first made in the time of Charles II. by Barbara Gilmour, who learnt how to make such cheeses in Ireland. R. HEDGEB WALLACE. HOUSE BELLS. The ' Memoirs ' of the Due de Saint-Simon referring to the early life of Mme. de Maintenon (or Mme. Scarron as she then was) say : She was completely at the beck and call of her hosts ; now to ask for fire- Wood ; now if a meal were ready. . . and so on, with a thousand little commissions which the use of bells, a long time afterwards, differently disposed of. When were bells introduced into houses in England and in France ? What form of mechanism was used to operate these early bells ? Were bells at front doors introduced prior to or after the introduction of bells inside the house ? Where can one obtain further information on this matter ? J. M. O. THE SWAN'S DYING SONG. What is the origin of this belief, and what basis of fact does it possess ? Erasmus, in his * Adagia ' (1120), explains and disposes of it thus : Cygnea Cantio. Id est, Cygnea Cantilena. Con- venit in eos, qui supremo vitae tempore facunde disserunt. Porro Cygnos instante morte mirandos quosdam cantus edere, tarn omnium literis est celebratum, quam nulli vel compertum vel credi- tum. Dulcia defecta modulator carmina lingua, Cantator Cygnus funeris ipse sui. J. B. McGOVEBN. St. Stephen's Rectory, C.-on-M., Manchester. CABOLS. I should be glad to knowsome* thing of this subject. What books would help me ? I refer to carols, not to the sugary stuff we too often hear at Christmas. JOHN NEWTON. 84, Southgate, Bury St. Edmunds.