2«dS. VI. 143., Sept. 25. -58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



251 



from one race of soldiers to another. Possessing 

 no intrinsic merit as compositions, it is not sur- 

 prising that they have never been considered 

 worthy of preservation in any other than a 

 verbal form. That we want a Tupper to make 

 new themes for our Calls, or to rectify what has 

 hitherto sprung from the feeble but prompt effort 

 of martial intellect, will be abundantly proved by 

 the subjoined specimens, which, nevertheless, may 

 assist Le Tambock, and amuse the curious : — 

 Quarter Drum. 

 " Fifteen minutes to live, to live ; 

 Fifteen minutes to live." 



This is a warning beat, indicating that the parade 

 will form in a quarter of an hour. 



Sergeants' Call (for parade). 

 " Sergeants all, sergeants all. 

 Don't you hear the sergeants' call ? " 



This would imply that the sergeants are too 

 obtuse to recognise their own call, but of course 

 it is a libel on the rank to say so. 

 Fatigue Call, 

 " Shoulder your shovel and s — t come dig; 

 Shoulder j-our shovel, John Todd. 

 Shoulder your shovel, ne'er think of the hod, 

 And work with a will, John Todd." 



The first two lines, commending themselves to 

 young memories by the unfortunate occurrence 

 of that displeasing little word, supplied in its two 

 omitted letters with a dash, are repeated with 

 gusto by every urchin, within or without the 

 barracks, if the sound of the call reaches his 

 sharp-set-ears. The two latter lines are not so well 

 known, and are very generally omitted, or made 

 up by repeating the two first lines. 

 No Parade. 

 " There is no parade to-day ; 

 There is no parade to-day, 

 There is no parade, 

 For our brigade. 

 For our brigade. 



To-day." 



The music C?) of this call is decidedly the pret- 

 tiest in the service ; and is used whenever any 

 circumstance, such as a storm, necessitates the 

 suppression of the parade and its consequent 

 drills. In the Guards, and other cracic regiments, 

 this call is never omitted when the occasion needs 

 it ; but it is remarkable, in the Royal Engineers, 

 this neat little theme, consigning the troops to a 

 slight interval of leisure, has not been heard of 

 in the squares of that corps for more than twenty- 

 five years. 



Dinner Call. 

 " Come; pick them up, pick them up — 



Hot potatoes ; hot potatoes : 



Pick them up, pick them up ; 



Hot potatoes, hot potatoes — all." 



Simply a satire on the fact. The potatoes are 

 never very hot, you may rely on it. A cold dinner 



is as much a rule for the stomach, as the balance 

 step is the first invariable attempt at marching. 



Working Call. 

 '• I call'd him, I call'd him — 

 He wouldn't come, he wouldn't come : 

 I call'd him, I call'd him — 

 But he wouldn't come at all." 



And no wonder ; for men are loth to drudge for 

 nothing, or for barely sufficient recompense to 

 cover the wear and tear of clothes injured by toil 

 or disfigured by mire. It may be mentioned 

 here, that the old Sapper corps had, according to 

 the testimony of rival soldiers, a sullen, tardy 

 pace on going to work, and an amusingly accele- 

 rated one on coming from it. 



One more specimen, and these notes must 

 close. 



Stable Call. 

 " Oh ! come to your stable — 

 Work while you're able — 

 Water your horses and give them some corn. 

 If you don't do it, 

 The Colonel shall know it ; 

 And you shall be punish'd according to law. 

 So, come to j'onr stable — 

 Work while j'ou're able — 

 And water your horses, and give them some corn." 



M. S. R. 



Brompton. 



" GULLIVER S TRAVELS. 



(2°^ S. vi. 123. 215.) 



Me. Henbukt's remarks and queries cannot be 

 very briefly disposed of; but I must do my best. 

 First "it must surely be understood" that Swift 

 is using popular language : but this is the charge, 

 not an answer to it. In satirising mathemati- 

 cians, he ought to have used strict terms, to pre- 

 vent their being able to show that he was out of 

 his depth. The laws of satire, as generally under- 

 stood, give victory to the party satirised the mo- 

 ment he shows any proof of the satirist's ignorance 

 of the subject : and it is a rule that the smart 

 man is held bound to be very correct; he must 

 not aim his shaft at a beam until he is clear of 

 every mote. I appeal to the fact that the laugh 

 — the first object of humorous* satire — is always 

 turned against the man who stands on his supe- 

 riority, no matter in what way, by a very slight 

 shake of his tripod. Years ago a physical philoso- 

 pher turned his attention to medicine, and in due 

 time passed his examination before the College of 

 Physicians. The dons of that institution, knowing 

 who they had before them, led the examination to 

 an elementary point connected with the action of 

 the heart, on which the examinee, after descrip- 

 tion, said, " it is exactly the principle of the fire- 

 engine." " Could you not say at once," said one 

 of the e.xaminers, with the manner of one who 

 feels be has caught his bird, " that it depends on 



