MDDM Ch. 72

[jbor]

694.5 Duck-Boards - duckboard n. a board or boards laid so as to form a
floor or path over muddy ground (but cf. also Armand and the duck. Armand
tells a large chunk of the narrative too, now that I recall, and he keeps
cropping up every now and then in these latter parts of the narrative: NB
the paragraph back at 379-380, and 380.5-11 in particular)

694-5 i.e. Mason is bored to (death).

695-6 NB A continuation of the parlour discussion about "truth" and history.

696.7-14 Slavery, love (i.e. "Hate's Corollary"), and S&M

700.23 the York Road, the deeply magnetiz'd Fields to either side  ? (cf.
the deposits of lead "in the Hills 'round Cheat and Monongahela" described
by Jonas Everybeet at 547-8)

700-701 The "Chances of Night" hymn  ? (cf. Roger and Jessica in Kent for
the Advent service in GR)

702.3 "I am a student of 'Blind Jack' Metcalf ... "

http://www.knaresborough.co.uk/history/blindjack/

702.26 NB Zhang preempting particle physics, Schrödinger et. al.

703 Mason writes his own epitaph. Rebekah visits.

703.7 St. Brendan's Isle

http://home.gci.net/~mboesser/voyager.html

St. Brendan is a Celtic saint who was born in what is now County Kerry,
Ireland, about 486 A.D., approximately 25 years after the death of St.
Patrick. He was taken from his family at a very young age and raised by St.
Aida of Killeedy under the patronage of Bishop Erc of Kerry. He bercame a
monk, then a priest and finally an abbot. He had a very strong influence on
the Cel tic church, which at the time was poorly organized, and is regarded
as one of Ireland's most important saints. He was responsible for founding a
number of abbies and monastaries, including the one at Clonfert in Galway,
where he died about 578 A.D.

He is known as Brendan the "Voyager" or the "Navigator" because of the many
voyages he made around the British Isles and to the coast of Brittany. Even
skeptics concede that he visited the Holy Isle of Iona on the west coast of
Scotland where he met with St. Columba. However, the voyage for which
Brendan is best known is schrouded in the midst of legend. This is the story
of his search for the Land of Promise, far away in the west..

It seems that Brendan was visited by another Irish monk who told him about
this land far across the ocean. Thoroughly intrigued, Brendan decided to see
for himself. He built a special boat out of oak- bark tanned oxhides
stretched over a framework of ash, provisioned it for a voyage of 40 days,
and set off with 17 other monks.

[...]

Various destinations were suggested for Brendan if he in fact ever made a
voyage at all. These were all close to the British Isles, although some did
think he might have reached the Canary Islands.

However, in the l970s Tim Severin became fascinated with the Brendan story.
He studied maps and charts and did extensive research before coming up with
his Stepping-Stone Route. He maintained that, byt using prevailing winds and
currents, it would be possible for a small boat to travel from Ireland to
North America. He also maintained that the only way to prove it was to do
it.

704.25 Lenses of Revenance or Haunting - revenant n. something, especially a
ghost, that returns [19th C. from French: ghost, from *revenir*, to come
back, from Latin]

703-4 the "Stranger" in the "Slouch Hat"  -  slouch hat n. any soft hat with
a brim that can be pulled down over the ears, for example:

http://www.collectorsarmory.com/slouch_hats.htm

So, a ghost from the future, a premonition of their Line's legacy?

best