764-1: Feedback, notes and comments

Errors Many keen-eyed readers pointed out that The Sun's nickname should better have been written Currant Bun rather than Current, since the newspaper has never been that electrifying (In 1999, the paper set up an online portal to give free access to its content and gave it the name CurrantBun.com. The site is still registered to News International, but is no longer in use.)

Others told me that I had misquoted Mrs Thatcher. Anthony Massey of BBC News chidingly e-mailed thus: "The playwright Ronald Millar, who wrote this speech for Mrs Thatcher, came up with a neater turn of phrase. What she actually said was: 'To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: you turn if you want to.' (Pause for the laughter and applause that Millar expected and which duly occurred.) 'The lady's not for turning'. The relevant clip is, inevitably, on YouTube (you tube if you want to ...)"

Two readers queried the pronunciation that I gave two weeks ago for siccity. On going to dictionaries of the nineteenth century, the most recent that included a note on how to say it, I found that they gave it as /ˈsɪksɪtɪ/, roughly "sik-sity". I've corrected the website's piece.

Beat Many readers were surprised that the ancient parish ceremony of beating the bounds wasn't mentioned in the piece. In the days before maps, the only good way of keeping boundaries fresh in the minds of inhabitants was to make a regular formal circuit, stopping at key landmarks. Boys armed with willow or birch rods beat the landmarks to help them remember their importance. Sometimes the boys were themselves beaten to reinforce their memories. Though the ceremony no longer has any useful function it is maintained in a few places as a tradition. It is unclear to what extent, if at all, beating the bounds contributed to the idea of the regular beat of a police officer.