Difference between revisions of "Chapter 26: 257-265"

Revision as of 14:09, 2 October 2009

Page 257

November 15, 1763

Page 258

Whorekill Road
In 1672, Lord Baltimore declared Maryland included the settlement of Whorekills on the west shore of the Delaware Bay, an area under the jurisdiction of the Province of New York. A force was dispatched which attacked and captured this settlement. New York could not immediately respond because New York was soon recaptured by the Dutch. Maryland feared the Dutch would use their Iroquois allies to recapture the settlement. This settlement was restored to the Province of New York when New York was recaptured from the Dutch in November, 1674. From WIKI

Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, Delaware. Off the coast on the bay side are two lighthouses, called the Harbor of Refuge Light and the Delaware Breakwater East End Light. From WIKI

See Vineland, pg. 316-317: Harbor of Refuge & Delaware Bay similarity

New Castle
New Castle, Delaware was originally settled by the Dutch West India Company in 1651, under Peter Stuyvesant on the site of a former Indian village, "Tomakonck" ("Place of the Beaver"). The original name of New Castle was Fort Casimir. This was changed to Fort Trinity following its capture by New Sweden on Trinity Sunday, 1654. After its recapture by the Dutch the following year, the name was changed to Nieuw Amstel. Under Sir Robert Carr, the British routed the Dutch in 1664 and changed the name to New Castle. The Dutch again seized the town in 1673 but it was returned to Great Britain the next year under the Treaty of Westminster. In 1680 it was conveyed to William Penn by the Duke of York and was Penn's landing place when he first set foot on American soil in 1682. This transfer to Penn was contested by Lord Baltimore and the boundary dispute was not resolved until the survey conducted by Mason and Dixon, now famed in history as the Mason-Dixon Line. From WIKI

Dock Creek
Society Hill district is named after the 18th century Free Society of Traders, which had its offices at Front Street on the hill above Dock Creek. Located close to both the Delaware River and Philadelphia's civic buildings, including the Independence Hall, the neighborhood soon became one of the city's most populous areas. From WIKI

Pynchon was in the Navy for a spell and "single up all lines" is a common nautical term. Ships are docked with lines doubled — that is, with two sets of ropes or chains holding the vessel to the dock. To "single up all lines" is to remove the redundant second lines in preparation to make way.

"single up all lines" also appears in V., p.11; The Crying of Lot 49, p.31; Gravity's Rainbow, p.489; Against the Day, p.3; and Inherent Vice, p. 119.

Swab
A nautical term for a yarn mop, while also a term for the lowest form of sailor, since the most inexperienced members of a ship's company were assigned to this task. From WIKI.

Page 259

Pills Balsamic and Universal
The promotion of patent medicines was one of the first major products highlighted by the advertising industry, and many advertising and sales techniques were pioneered by patent medicine promoters. Patent medicine advertising often talked up exotic ingredients, even if their actual effects came from more prosaic drugs. One memorable group of patent medicines — liniments that allegedly contained snake oil, supposedly a universal panacea — made snake oil salesman a lasting synonym for a charlatan. From WIKI

the Spadger hops
A sparrow, WIKI

Page 260

Old Q, the Star of Picadilly
William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry KT (16 December 1724 – 23 December 1810) was a Scottish nobleman. Queensberry was a liberal patron of Italian opera, although, it was said, more out of interest in the prima donnas and dancers than in the music. Latterly known as Old Q., he was notorious for his escapades and dissolute lifestyle and was a member of the Hellfire Club. Raikes, in his Journal, said of 'Old Q': He was a little sharp-looking man, very irritable, and swore like ten thousand troopers. Mackenzie, in Anecdotes and Egotisms claimed that he was a disciple of Epicurus but without the virtue of the Epicurean system; and he had none of the hypocrisy of pretending to virtue or disinterestedness. Although he had a number of illegitimate children, he never married, and his titles were dispersed on his death. From WIKI

Graziana... Daughter of Naples
Graziana is a genus of gastropod (snails/slugs) in the Hydrobiidae family. Seems like the kind of woman a "Dodman" may fall for.

Scamozz'
Seems to be a reference to Vincenzo Scamozzi (September 2, 1548 - August 7, 1616), an Venetian architect and writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Venice area in the second half of the 16th century. From WIKI

single up all lines
See p.258, above

Whitefield
George Whitefield, also known as George Whitfield, (December 16, 1714 - September 30, 1770), was an Anglican itinerant minister who helped spread the Great Awakening in Great Britain and, especially, in the British North American colonies. His ministry had tremendous impact on American ideology. From WIKI

Page 261

The New Religion
A reference to the 'First Great Awakening'.

Page 262

the way ev'rything, suddenly, has begun to gravitate towards B-flat major
B flat major is the easiest key for many wind instruments and therefore very popular for hymns and anthems, as well as later on for jazz.

To Anacreon in Heaven
Then a British drinking song; later to become "The Star-Spangled Banner". [1]

Page 263

As to journey west...grow older, and die...to turn Eastward...defy death
Journeying westward as following the "Stream of the Day" makes turning eastward a turning "Against the Day", as it were. The Reverend's story, as a means of travelling into the past, is also bound "against the wind".

Page 264

Percussion
First recorded in 1544, "a striking, a blow," from L. percussionem (nom. percussio), from percussus, pp. of percutere "to strike," from per- "through" + quatere "to strike, shake." Reference to musical instruments is first recorded 1776. [2]

Annotation Index