MDDM Ch. 53: She is Accomapanied ...

[Dave Monroe]

Okay, back to the book ...

--- jbor <jbor at bigpond.com> wrote:
> 
> 518-521 Sisters Blondelle, Grincheuse, Crosier  ?

"S. Blondelle is a Gypsy, a child of the Sun, who men
keep mistaking for the very Type of the Britizh Doxy,
blowsy and cheeky as any who's ever delighted us in
Story, or upon the Stage.  For a while indeed she
worked as a Covent Garden Sprite, finding herself in
the company of every sort of man imaginable and not so
[...] it did not take her long to accumulate a great
Spoil-Heap of Mistrust for the Breeched Sex." (M&D,
Ch. 53, p. 518)

Blonde + elle ...

"Blonde hair, big blue eyes and a big smile, Joan was
the wisecracking working girl who was usually the best
friend of the lead. Born into Vaudeville to a stage
comic named 'Eddie Joan Blondell' was on the stage
when she was three years old. For years, she toured
the circuit with her parents and joined a stock
company when she was 17. She made her New York debut
with the Ziegfeld Follies and appeared in several
Broadway productions. She was starring with James
Cagney on Broadway in 'Penny Arcade' (1929) when
Warner Brothers decided to film the play as Sinner's
Holiday (1930). [...] While Warner Brothers made
Cagney became a star, Joan never rose to that level.
In gangster movies or musicals, her performances were
good enough for second leads, but the studio would not
consider her for the first lead. In the 30's she made
a career playing gold-diggers and happy go lucky girl
friends...." 

http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Blondell,+Joan

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Blondell,+Joan

http://homepage.mac.com/mhall600/jb.html

Main Entry: doxy 
Variant(s): also dox·ie  /'däk-sE/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural dox·ies
Etymology: perhaps modification of obsolete Dutch
docke doll, from Middle Dutch
Date: circa 1530
1 : FLOOZY, PROSTITUTE
2 : MISTRESS 4a

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

Covent Garden

http://www.coventgardenlife.com/

http://www.covent-garden.co.uk/

http://www.coventgarden.org.uk/

http://www.coventgarden.uk.com/


"She is accompanied by a couple of Sisters" (p. 519)

"Sister Grincheuse" (p. 519)

The French verb "grincer" is used most often in the
phrase "grincer les dents" -- to grind one's teeth; it
can also mean to grit the teeth, as in pain; another
meaning is to produce an acute, prolonged,
disagreeable sound. "Grincheuse" came into usage in
1844, according to Petit Robert, as a person "d'humeur
maussade et reveche" -- ill-humored, crude.

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/mason-dixon/alpha/g.html


"the quiet and dewy Sister Crosier" (p. 519)

Main Entry: cro·sier 
Pronunciation: 'krO-zh&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English crocer crosier bearer, from
Middle French crossier, from crosse crosier, of
Germanic origin; akin to Old English crycc crutch --
more at CRUTCH
Date: 15th century
1 : a staff resembling a shepherd's crook carried by
bishops and abbots as a symbol of office
2 : a plant structure with a coiled end

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

Crosier

(Or PASTORAL STAFF). 

The crosier is an ecclesiastical ornament which is
conferred on bishops at their consecration and on
mitred abbots at their investiture, and which is used
by these prelates in performing certain solemn
functions....

[...]

The crosier is symbol of authority and
jurisdiction....

[...]

The origin of the pastoral staff is at times
associated with the shepherd's crook.  Whether the
usage was borrowed from this source is doubtful. Some
writers trace an affinity with the lituus, or rod used
by the Roman augurs in their divinations ...
 
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04515c.htm

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