Many thanks to all Mailbase members who responded to my queries. (a) 'Indian peeris' and (b) Vickery's surname - quite definitive answers. (c) 'Up and down the line' - Who would have thought this would be so contentious? Not me! Perhaps it was colloquial after all. As a Lancastrian when I lived in the North it was always 'up' to London and as one member says 'down' to the shops, wherever they were located. I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion. Doreen Huebler