M&D questions/observations - up to p.82

[andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk]

doktor at primenet.com writes:
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> Max asks:

> >1.  What about the frequent references to "Wapping?"  First noticed on p.
> >52:  "...the Hautboy-player having been one night absorb'd into that Other
> >World of which Wapping is the anteroom..."  Is this some sort of euphemism
> >for death?

> I'm sure some UK Pynheads could help us on this one, but I think Wapping is
> (or has?) a big railroad terminus in the vicinity of London...?  I recall a
> Wodehouse novel in which Bertie Wooster tries to tell a joke about a deaf
> person being asked about the train to Wapping.

The Hautboy player is the second reference to Wapping. It is first
mentioned when Mason and Dixon meet. I believe the discussion there
(which also treats of Tyburn) makes clear the significance of the
later references (I would quote/cite page numbers except that I am not
carrying M&D to and from work and so do not have the source at hand.)


Andrew Dinn
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And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
To the rushing water speak:  I am.