10 SEPTEMBER 1988, Page 51

AFORE YE GO

Leaves from the commonplace book of Wallace Arnold

I RATHER think that it was my delightful old chum and quaffing-partner Godfrey Smith who first coined that glorious phrase `The Tingle Quotient'. At first, he limited it solely to food. `Mmmmm!' he would chortle while digging his chops into, say, a leg or two of lamb. 'This verily merits my Tingle Quotient.' But from roast lamb with all the trimmings, Godders was encour- aged by close friends to extend the Tingle Quotient to Jane Austen, Mozart, Renoir and even the Bard himself. 'If you feel that tingle down your spine', quoth Godders, `you know you could do with another helping.'