_Diary_ (the last edition) I find the following notice:--

"18th, Went to Beverley, a large town with two churches, St.
John's and St. Mary's, not much inferior to the best of our
cathedrals. Here a very old woman showed us the monuments,
and being above 100 years of age, spake _the language of Queen
Mary's days_, in whose time she was born; she was widow of a
sexton, who had belonged to the church a hundred years."

Will any of your readers inform me what was the language spoken in
_Queen Mary's_ days, and what peculiarity distinguished it from the
language used in _Evelyn's_ days?

A learned author has suggested, that the difference arose from the
slow progress in social improvement in the North of England, caused by
the difficulty of communication with the court and its refinements. I
am still anxious to ascertain what the difference was.

FRA. MEWBURN.

Darlington.


_Vault Interments_.--I shall be very glad of any information as to the
origin and date of the practice of depositing coffins in vaults, and
whether this custom obtains in any other country than our own.

WALTER LEWIS.

Edward Street, Portman Square.