2»d s. VI. 143., Sf.pt. 25. '58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



257 



at Londonderry, &c. It also afforded curious il- 

 lustrations of the arbitrary powers practised by 

 the Court. A waiter at an inn in Tower Street 

 had been caught kissing the maid behind the door. 

 He was ordered to be flogged on his bare breech 

 by the beadle, which was at once done in the 

 presence of the Court ! Finding that the volume 

 had been lost by the Company, I restored it to 

 their archives. A Report of a Committee, ap- 

 pointed to examine these estates, is occasionally 

 printed by the Corporation. The Ironmongers 

 partake of the benefits. B. S. should apply for 

 information to Mr. Alchin, the talented and in- 

 dustrious librarian at Guildhall. G. Offoe. 



Parodies on Scott and Byron (2°* S. vi. 206.)— 

 Of these parodies, 5. Jokehy, a Burlesque iipon 

 Rohehy, was written by Mr. John Roby, M.R.S.L., 

 afterwards a banker in Rochdale, and author of 

 four volumes of Traditions of Lancashire. 7. The 

 Lay of the Poor Fiddler was also attributed to 

 him ; and he lived, it was said, to be ashamed of 

 both these effusions of his youthful muse. 



F. R. R. 



Royal Regiment of Artillery (2"* S. ii. 51.) — 

 G. L. S. refers R. R. A. to a history of his regi- 

 ment at J. W. Parker's establishment in the 

 Strand. Is there such a history ? On this sub- 

 ject, I only know of a MS. paper of historical 

 notes, which may be seen in the office of the De- 

 puty Adjutant General of Artillery in London. A 

 transcript of these notes (in part), from 1748 to 

 1759, is my possession ; which I shall be glad to 

 show R. R. A., should he not obtain access to the 

 notes in the D. A. G.'s office. 



G. L. S. also refers to Kane's History of the 

 Royal Artillery, in the Garrison Library at Wool- 

 wich. Kane never wrote a history of the regi- 

 ment. He compiled what is briefly known as 

 Kane's List ; a work filled with a series of elabo- 

 rate tables, concluding with a string of extracts 

 and memoranda relative to the dress of the officers 

 and men, &c. 



John Kane, the compiler, was a lieutenant and 

 adjutant in the Royal Invalid Artillery, to which 

 he had risen from the rank of sergeant. His Li-ft, 

 in foolscap folio, published at Greenwich in 1815, 

 contains 99 pages ; and possesses, perhaps, the 

 most wire-drawn title on record. 



As the work is but little known, it may not be 

 out of place to append its title to these notes : — 



" List of Oflicers of the Royal Regiment of Artiller}', as 

 they stood in the j-ear 17(;3, witli a contiiiu.ition to the 

 present time ; containing the dates of their Regimontul and 

 Hrevet Promotions; with the dates of the Appointments 

 of such OfHcers as held Civil or Mixed Situations under 

 the (Jnhiancc. Also, a Succession of Master-Uener.ils, 

 Lieulfnant-Gcncrals, Colonels Commandant, Command- 

 ing Olhcers of tlie Garrison of Woolwicli, Regimental and 

 Uattulion Start', ke., Sec, with a List of tlie Omcera of the 

 Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers, since the cstahlislimcnt 

 of the Corps in 1793 j specifying those who were ap- 



pointed to the Riding House Troop ; and of the Officers 

 of the Military Medical Department of the Ordnance, 

 since 17G3; with a List of the Chief Commissaries, Com- 

 missaries, and Assistant Commissaries, of the Field Train 

 Department of the Ordnance, since 1793; to which is 

 added an Appendix, containing several Tables relative to 

 the gradual Increase and Establishments of the Regi- 

 ment, at diiTerent Periods ; the Establishments and Dis- 

 tribution of Companies ; Extracts and Memoranda relative 

 to the Dress of the Officers and Men," &c., &c. 



M. S. R. 



The Tin Trade of Antiquity (2"'^ S. vi. 209.) — 

 The passage relating to Indian tin in Diodorus 

 occurs in a general description of India, and it 

 has no special reference to a period anterior to 

 the discovery of the western tin islands. Dio- 

 dorus states that India contains veins of various 

 metals ; namely, much gold and silver, not a little 

 copper and iron ; also tin (ii. 36.). All that this 

 passage proves is that, according to the belief of 

 Diodorus, tin had been imported into Europe 

 from India before his time. M. van Lennep does 

 not advert to the negative argument derivable 

 from the Periplus of Arrian, composed in the 

 first century after Christ, which mentions tin im- 

 ported into the ports of the Red Sea an<l of Wes- 

 tern India, from the West, and not from the East. 

 See ]Movers, das Phonizische Alterthum, vol. iii. 

 1. p. 62-5., » N. & Q." 2"'! S. vi. 4. L. 



La Faqon de Birabi (2"^ S. v. 513., vi. 100.) — 

 The old refrain or burden to which your corre- 

 spondents allude is far anterior to the game of 

 biribi ; it may be found in songs belonging to the 

 sixteenth century, and is to be written thus : — 



" A la faijon de Barbari (not Birabi), 

 Mon ami." 



By way of illustration I quote a stanza from a 

 satirical song written against M. de Chauvelin (of. 

 Journal de Barbier, vol. iii. pp. 71, 72.) : — 



" Si tu savois conime h, Paris 

 Un chacun le regrette, 

 Les grands autant que les petits 

 Faches de sa retraite, 

 Chantent tons sur le meme ton 

 La Faridondaine, la Faridondon, 

 Chauvelin n'est plus, Dieu merci ! 



Biribi, 

 Qu'a la fa9on de Barbari, mon ami," 



GusTAvE Masson. 



Dust on Books and Effect of Damp (2°^ S. vi. 

 159.)— In reply to S. M. S., I beg to add, re- 

 garding dust on books, that I have seen and tried 

 the method adopted ; which for open shelves is 

 good, either combined with or without other aids: 

 the only thing against its universal adoption 

 being the irregular heights of volumes. The best 

 covering for books is certainly glass : glazed 

 frames to slide sideways upon grooves at the top 

 and bottom are preferable to doors opening into 

 the room ; as not only do they not protrude, but 

 always keep a large space covered, and that with- 



