Chapter 23: 228-237
Page 228
"...it's old Back-to-Front"
Emerson wore his shirt back to front and his legs wrapped in sacking so as not to scorch them as he sat over the fire.
Porter
Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. From WIKI.
Cult of Feng Shui
Feng shui is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to use the laws of both Heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive qi. The original designation for the discipline is Kan Yu. The term feng shui literally translates as "wind-water" in English. This is a cultural shorthand taken from the following passage of the Zangshu (Book of Burial) by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty: Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water. Traditional feng shui practice always requires an extremely accurate Chinese compass, or luo pan, in order to determine the directions in finding any auspicious sector in a desired location. From WIKI
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preferring 365 and a Quarter
Roughly the length of a year (or the number of days it takes for the earth to rotate the sun).
Page 232
Thornton-le-Beans
Thornton-le-Beans is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The village has one pub called The Crosby behind which there is a campsite. In 2007 the Pub won best Pub Grub in the Flavours of Hambleton Awards. From WIKI
days of the '45
Refers to the Jacobite rebellion/uprising in 1745 led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. See WIKI.
the Young Pretender
Charles Edward Stuart (31 December 1720 – 31 January 1788) was the exiled Jacobite claimant to the thrones of Great Britain and Ireland. He is commonly known to the English and the Scottish as Bonnie Prince Charlie. Charles was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart who was in turn the son of James II and VII, who had been deposed in the Revolution of 1688. The Jacobite movement tried to restore the family to the throne. After his father's death, Charles was recognised as Charles III by his supporters; his opponents referred to him as The Young Pretender. From WIKI
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Staindrop Church
Staindrop is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the east of Barnard Castle. Lord Barnard of Raby Castle also resides on the border. The village has one of the long greens typical of County Durham. The mediaeval church is impressive and contains fine effigies of the Neville family. From WIKI
Pearl of Wearside
Wearside is an unrecognised conurbation in North East England, mostly referring to the City of Sunderland, but also including parts of County Durham including Seaham. The people of Wearside often refer to themselves as "Mackems". The principle settlement of Wearside is Sunderland. Other areas of the conurbation are Washington, Durham, Chester-le-Street, Houghton-le-Spring, Easington, Hetton-le-Hole and Seaham. From WIKI
Arts of Pluto
Pluto was originally the Roman god of certain metals and fish, but because these materials are mined he also took on the role of god of the underworld. Although Hades was seen as somewhat merciless, Pluto was worshipped by the Romans for some of his kinder attributes. From WIKI
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Pizza... Mount Vesuvius
Authentic Neapolitan pizzas are made with local ingredients like San Marzano tomatoes, which grow on the volcanic plains to the south of Mount Vesuvius. From WIKI Here's another good LINK on the origins/evolution of pizza.
Torpedo
Torpedo is a group of rays, commonly called electric rays or torpedoes. It is the only genus in the family Torpedinidae, in the order Torpediniformes. They are slow-moving bottom-dwellers capable of generating electricity as a defense and feeding mechanism. There are between fifteen and twenty-two extant species. From WIKI
"Neopolitans, Cicinielli... And Cheese?
End of 18th century, Neopolitans had several recipes of pizza: pizza with garlic and olive oil, pizza with small cicinielli fish, and pizza with anchovy and mozzarella cheese brought to Italy shortly before (mozzarella was invented by the Hindu in the 7th century - they made it using cow (buffalo species) milk only). Paraphrased from LINK
Stilton
In 1730, Thornhill discovered a distinctive blue cheese while visiting a small farm near Melton Mowbray in rural Leicestershire - possibly Quenby Hall in Hungarton. He fell in love with the cheese and made a business arrangement that granted the Bell Inn (in Stilton) exclusive marketing rights to blue Stilton. Soon thereafter, wagon loads of cheese were being delivered to the inn. Since the main stagecoach routes from London to Northern England passed through the village of Stilton he was able to promote the sale of this cheese and the legend of Stilton rapidly spread. From WIKI
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Nynauld
Dr. Jean de Nynauld wrote De la Lycanthropie, Transformation, et Extase des Sorciers, published in Paris 1615, a tractate that countered the views of a previously published book by Jean Bodin, that explained how the Devil could transform a man into a wolf. Nynauld's views were that this could not happen, and any ideas of it were pure hallucination.
