CHAPTER XX 



An Archdeacon on Cheese And on the Trinity George Gibbons 

 " Where the best Princesses come from " The Song of the Cheese. 



FEW people knew the constituents of a good 

 Cheddar cheese better than that embodi- 

 ment of the Church Militant, the Rector 

 of East Brent, the late Archdeacon Denison, so 

 some remarks of his, in a letter in my possession, 

 dated May 20th, 1887, and addressed to the late 

 Mr. George Gibbons, a kindred soul in all per- 

 taining to cheese, seem worth quoting. In re- 

 gretting his inability to attend a meeting with 

 reference to cheese-making, he says : " Many in 

 their 82nd year are much more active than I am, 

 free from stiffness of hip- joint, knee and wrist, 

 though, perhaps, it is not many who are in better 

 health generally. I was quite sure when I went 

 to bed yesterday that it would be foolish to move 

 to-day. I suppose that though there is a large 

 quantity of first-rate Cheddar, such as we generally 

 rejoiced in 20 years ago, still made among us, 

 and made nowhere else, there is a larger quantity 

 of second-rate cheese made than there used to be, 

 and this is necessarily damaging to the character 

 of the first quality. Now, if we are to see Cheddar's 

 pre-eminence restored, we must look after being, 

 as we used to be, pre-eminent in making. 



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