_Black as a Mourning Colour._--Can any of your correspondents kindly inform me when black was first known in England, as the colour of mourning robes? We read in _Hamlet_: "'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, That can denote me truly." W. W. Malta. _The Word "Mardel," or "Mardle," whence derived?_--It is in common use in the east of Norfolk in the sense of _to gossip_, thus "He would _mardel_ there all day long," meaning, waste his time in gossiping. J. L. SISSON. _Analogy between the Genitive and Plural._--In a note by Rev. J. Bandinel, in Mr. Christmas' edition of Pegge's _Anecdotes of the English Language_, 1844, the question is asked at p. 167.: "Why is there such an analogy, in many languages, between the genitive and the plural? In Greek, in Latin, in English, and German, it is so. What is the cause of this?" Can you point me to any work where this hint has been carried out? H. T. G. Hull. _Ballina Castle._--Where can I see a view of Ballina Castle, in the county of Mayo? and what is the best historical and descriptive account of that county, or of the town of Castlebar, or other places in the county? O. L. R. G. _Henry I.'s Tomb._--Lyttleton, in his _History of England_, quoting from an author whose name I forget, states that no monument was ever erected to the memory of this king in Reading Abbey. Man, on the contrary, in his _History of Reading_, without quoting his authority, states that a splendid monument was erected with recumbent figures of Henry and Adelais, his second wife; which was destroyed by the mistaken zeal of the populace during the Reformation. Which of these statements is the true one? And if Man's be, on what authority is it probably founded? PEMBROKIENSIS. _"For man proposes, but God disposes."_--This celebrated saying is in book i. ch. xix. of the English translation of _De Imitatione Christi_, of which Hallam says more editions have been published than of any other book except the Bible.--Can any of your correspondents tell me whether the saying originated with the author, Thomas A. Kempis? A. B. C. _Garrick Street, May Fair._--In Hertford Street, May Fair, there is fixed in the wall of a house (No. 15.) a square stone on which is inscribed: "Garrick Street, January 15, 1764." I shall be glad to know the circumstances connected with this inscription, which is not in any way alluded to in the works descriptive of London to which I have referred. C. I. R. _The Forlorn Hope._--The "Forlorn Hope" is the body of men who volunteer first to enter a besieged town, after a breach has been made in the fortifications. That I know: but it is evidently some quotation, and if any of your readers should be able to give any information as to its origin, and where it is to be found, I should, as I said before, be much obliged. FENTON.