Let R be a commutative ring with unity and let M(R) be the multiplicative group of 4 x 4 triangular matrices (a ij ) over R, where a 11 is a unit element of R and a ii = 1 for i = 2, 3, 4. If V(=AN 2 ∧ N 2 A) denotes the variety of groups which are both abelian-by-class-2 and class-2-by-abelian, then it is routine to verify that M(R) ∊ V. Here we prove the following,
Theorem. Let F(V) denote the free group of finite or countable infinite rank of the variety V. Then for a suitable choice of R, F(V) is embedded in M(R).