96 NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. iv. JULY 29, 1911.
Columbine" (needless to say, in long skirts). Nevertheless this pantomime has escaped enumeration by all the writers who have compiled lists of plays.
Ralph Thomas.
"O for the life of a soldier!" (11 S. iv. 29.)—I think the following are the words of the song asked for by D. K. T. They are as sung by a late brother-officer nearly 40 years ago:—
The Life of a Soldier.
When I was a youngster, gossips would say
When I grew older I'd be a soldier;
Rattles and toys I threw them away,
Except a drum and a sabre.
When I was older, as up I grew,
I went to see a grand review;
Colours flying set me dying
To embark in a life so new.
Chorus.
R-r-r-r-roll, my merry drums, march away,
Soldier's glory lives in story,
His laurels are green when his locks are grey,
Then hurrah for the life of a soldier!
Enlisted to battle, we march along,
Courting danger, to fear a stranger,
The cannon keep time to our marching song,
And make each heart a hero's.
"Charge!" our gallant leaders cry,
Up like lions then we fly,
Blood and thunder! Knock foes under!
Then hurrah for victory!
Chorus. Roll, &c.
Who so merry as we in camp?
The battle over, we live in clover;
Care and his cronies are forced to tramp,
And all is social pleasure.
Then we laugh, we chaff, we sing;
Time flies merrily on the wing;
Smiles of beauty lighten duty,
And each private is a king!
Chorus. Roll, &c.
C. Haggard.
"Agasonic" (11 S. iv. 28).—Agaso is the Latin for a groom, found in Livy, Persius, and Horace. "'Buggy' is the nearest a groom can get to biga" is the meaning of Mr. Forrest Morgan's quotation.
John R. Magrath.
Agasonic is formed from the Latin agāso, groom, ostler, muleteer, and in itself would not seem to be any more "weird" than "thrasonical." The Latin word appears to have left no representative in Romance languages with the possible exception of the Sardinian basone, cited in a note of Meyer-Lübke's in the 'Thesaurus Linguæ
Latinse,' s.v. agāso. Edward Bensly.
[T. N. also thanked for reply]
"Haywra," Place-Name (11 S. iii. 487; iv. 35).—I note that Mr. Forrest Morgan states that Palgrave renders this as "Hurry," and asks where is the place. 'Cassell's Gazetteer,' 1896, gives "Hurry, hamlet, parish of Ronaldkirk, North Riding of Yorks, 6½ miles N.W. of Barnard Castle." W. B. Gerish.
"Souchy" (11 S. iii. 449; iv. 13).—The following lines from 'The Ingoldsby Legends' apparently indicate the pronunciation of this now unfamiliar word:—
Apologized much for their plain water-souchy.
'Sir Rupert the Fearless.'
F. A. W.
The Cuckoo and its Call (11 S. iii, 486; iv. 30, 75).—I should like to refer those as interested as myself in this mysterious bird to a charming book on the subject by Dr. Japp (London, Burleigh), which gives more information as to the habits of the bird than I have been able to obtain elsewhere. From this it appears that the female is polygamous, and is generally attended by six "cavaliers." The male bird only cries "cuckoo"; the female emits a curious bubbling or gurgling sound, generally from a thicket when about to lay an egg.
In conclusion, may I ask if any readers of 'N. & Q.' have ever heard its familiar note out of Europe? D. K. T.
I should like to add my testimony to that of Mr. Ratcliffe. At the end of last April I was crossing an open field between Winchmore Hill and Edmonton (Middlesex) and heard a cuckoo in the immediate neighbourhood. Directly afterwards a pair of these birds flew overhead, one only uttering the call three times, in quick succession, a short pause following. The "cuckoo"-ing continued in this way until the birds were out of sight and hearing.
Charles S. Burdon.
Cuckoo Rimes: Heathfield Cuckoo Fair (11 S. iii. 465; iv. 31).—Mr. Vaughan Gower will find the legend of the cuckoo being released annually at Heathfield in Sussex recorded in 'Highways and Byways in Sussex,' by Mr. E. V. Lucas; in the same author's preface to 'Heathfield Memorials,' 1910 (A. L. Humphreys), and in the body of that work; and in the Sussex Archæological Collections, vol. xiii. p. 210. It is also the subject of a poem by Mr. Rudyard Kipling
