Sir John Fenn gave us the delightful Paston Letters--of which Horace Walpole said that 'they make all other letters not worth reading.' Walpole described 'Mr.Fenn of East Dereham in Norfolk' as 'a smatterer in antiquity, but a very good sort of man.' Fenn, who held the original documents of the Letters, sent his first two volumes, when published, to Buckingham Palace, and the King acknowledged the gifts by knighting the editor, who, however, died in 1794, before George Borrow was born.

His widow survived until 1813, and Borrow was in his seventh or eighth year when he caught these notable glimpses of his 'Lady Bountiful,' who lived in 'the half-aristocratic mansion' of the town.

But we know next to nothing of Borrow in East Dereham, from which indeed he departed in his eighth year.

There are, however, interesting references to his memories of the place in _Lavengro_.

The first is where he recalls to his author friend, who had offered him comet wine of 1811, his recollection of gazing at the comet from the market-place of 'pretty D----' in 1811.[23] The second reference is when he goes to church with the gypsies and dreams of an incident in his childhood: It appeared as if I had fallen asleep in the pew of the old church of pretty Dereham.