•2na S. VI. 151., Nov. 20. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



419 



It is even probable that the present standai-d was 

 used by the Anjjlo- Saxons and Auglo-Ilomans. 

 In the reign of Edward I. (a.d. 1300),. it was 

 called "the old Standard of England." — Ending, 

 i. 11. 



The alloy of gold and silver is needful for the 

 preservation of coins (Ruding, i, 10.). The maxi- 

 mum hardness of silver is obtaintd by twenty per 

 cent, of alloy of copper {^Penny Cyc. xxii. 25.), 

 but too much dross would be thereby mixed with 

 coin, which, if practicable, should be perfectly 

 pure. Centuries of practice have proved that 

 seven and a half per cent, of alloy suffices for the 

 preservation of our silver coins. An inspection 

 of the shillings issued in 1817 by George III. will 

 show that on the average they still retain distinct 

 impressions ; and before they are generally re- 

 duced to the same defaced condition as the coins 

 called in in 1817, a century or more from that 

 date will probably elapse. The coinage replaced 

 in 1817 was that of William and Mary and Wil- 

 liam III., issued more than 120 years previous. 

 (Jacob's Precious Metals.) T. J. Bdckton. 



Lichfield. 



I send the following for the information of Mr. 

 Eastwood, with reference to standard silver. 

 Roger Ruding, in his Annals of the Coinage of 

 Great Britain, says : — 



" The Anglo-Saxon penny, as well as the Anglo-Nor- 

 man, was eleven ounces of fine silver and eighteen dwts. 

 of alloy. . . . The earliest accounts of this standard of 

 fineness which can be found, even in the reign of Edward 

 the First, always speak of it as of high antiquity, and 

 distinguish it by the title of the Old Standard of England." 



I have before this observed, that I consider that 

 silver has fluctuated less in value than most com- 

 modities ; for should this country adopt a silver 

 standard, instead of a gold one, the standard of the 

 reign of Elizabeth would be applicable to the pre- 

 sent time; viz. 11 oz. of fine silver and 18 dwts. 

 of alloy, and the pound of metal to be cut into 

 sixty-three shillings. W. D. H. 



Your correspondent will, I think, find the in- 

 formation he desires on this subject in an excellent 

 little book written by Mr. Ryland of Birmingham, 

 entitled Essay on Gold and Silver Wares : an Ac- 

 count of the Laivs relating to Standards, ^-c, Lon- 

 don, Smith and Elder, 1852. J. Pr. 



WORDS ADAPTED TO BEATS OF THE DRUM. 



(2"" S. i. 94. ; ii. .339. ; vi. 250. 336.) 



I know, comparatively, but few drum-beats or 

 calls, wiiich have words adapted to them. C/Udo 

 \iA.vi) evidently possesses a monopoly of this kind 

 of information, which I should like to share with 

 him. It would, I think, be an advantage, if a 



corner were occasionally given in " N. & Q." to 

 embody, in a permanent form, what now is simply 

 lip-lore, depending for existence on imperfect 

 memories, and consequently often altered to suit 

 personal tastes, or to mend misty passages which 

 tradition, in its own foggy way, has either ob- 

 literated or broken. 



Different regiments, seemingly, have their own 

 words for the calls ; at least, they are variously 

 constructed, though possessing links to connect 

 them with the parent stanzas. I say this because 

 the version I have of the " first bugle- call for 

 dinner " ditfers from that which C^do Illud has 

 supplied. My lines run thus : — 



" Officers' wives get puddings and pies, 

 And soldiers' wives get skilly ; 

 But skilly-go-lee 

 Won't do for me ; — 

 So all the cold meat 

 That you can't eat, 

 Pray give to Little Kitty." 



No doubt she wants it, poor girl ; but there is 

 too much reason to fear (although the soldier 

 sings his wish with joyous fervour every time the 

 call recurs), that Little Kitty is none the better 

 for the importunity, unless, indeed, she has the 

 entree of the kitchen, and can pay, on delivery, 

 the current price, in hard coppers, for " cold 

 meat," to give diversity to her humble meal, and 

 make palatable her cup of skilly. 



The repeated line, " Rations and pies," in CjEDO 

 Illud's stanza, does not correspond with the 

 notes of the call. In the strain above given, the 

 last three lines appear, from some default in tra- 

 ditional transmission, to have been tacked to the 

 preceding lines, by some genius other than the 

 original poetaster, with a view to complete the 

 call, and, perhaps, avoid the repetitions so usual 

 in military adaptations. 



Here is an amusing verse, owning, no doubt, a 

 drummer for its author. Its chief incident, very 

 probably, was derived from his personally suf- 

 fering the retribution said to follow the neglect 

 he alludes to. It is just what might have been 

 expected from a knowing parchment- thumper, 

 with the rod always flickering in his eye, or on 

 his quivering breech : — 



Drummer's Call. 

 • " The Drum-major calls me here, 

 The Fife-major calls me there, 

 And if I don't come, 

 He'll tickle my b — m, 

 And make me cry with fear." 



To hear, when the call is clangouring in the 

 square, and tearing gentle ears into shreds, some 

 two or three dozen voices, shrill in youth and 

 exuberant in spirit, singing, in chorus, this slightly 

 indelicate effusion, is a scene as lively as laugh- 

 able. That small monosyllabic at the end of the 

 fourth line, in which (not to outrage the sensi- 

 bilities of your readers) one letter is suppressed, 



