MDDM Ch. 76 The Subject of a Ballad

[Dave Monroe]

"The Mountain he finds for Maskelyne will be too
regular to be natural,-- like Silbury Hill, it will
have the look of ancient Earth-Work about it.  And
'twill be Maskelyne who goes to Schiehallion, after
Mason refuses the assignment again, and becomes famous
for it, not to mention beloved of the Scots people
there, the subject of a Ballad, and presently a Figure
of Legend, in a strange Wizard's turnout bas'd upon an
actual Observing Suit he will wear whilst in
Perthshire.  A plaid one, in fact, of Maskelyne's own
Design,-- 'A Tartan never observ'd in the World,' he
explains, 'that no one Clan up there be offended.'
   "'Or ev'ry one,' Mun is quick to point out." (M&D,
Ch. 76, p. 748)

>From Derek Howse, Nevil Maskelyne: The Seaman's
Astronomer (New York: Cambridge UP, 1989), Ch. 12,
"Weighing the World--Schiehallion, 1774," pp. 129-41
...

"In his Principia of 1687, Isaac Newton pointed out
that one of the consequences of his law of universal
gravitation ought to be that, if a plumb-line were to
be suspended close to a mountain, it would not be
vertical because the plumb-bob would be attracted
towards the bulk of the mountain.  This deflection,
said Newton, might be of the order of one or two
arc-minutes--not very much, but quite enough to upset
measurements taken with astronomical instruments which
depended upon a plumb-line to give the vertical as a
zero for measurements when very precise results were
needed.
   "The French astronomers Bouguer and La Condamine
were aware of this when they were measuring the length
of a degree of latitude in Ecuador in 1738...." (p.
129)

   "The matter of the Attraction of Mountains was
raised again in considering the measurements of a
degree of latitude by Boscovich and Maire in the Papal
States in 1750, Lacaille at the Cape in 1752, and
Mason and Dixon in North America in 1766-8, all of
which demanded very precise observation of tthe
meridian zenith distances of stars to measure latitude
on the ground.  Commenting upon Mason and Dixon's
report, Maskelyne said that there was ;no room for
suspicion, that the plumb-line of the sector could be
deflected materially from its proper position by the
attraction of any mountain.'  Henry Cavendish
disagreed, however.  As a result of mathematical
investigation, he claimed that in Pennsylvania the
deflection of the plumb-line could be affected not
only by the attraction of the Allegheny mountains some
250 km to the north-west, but also by the defect of
attraction by the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to the
south-east." (p. 130)

   "When the extra work imposed by the transit of
Venus had died down, Maskelyne felt able to consider
non-routine matters once more and turned his attention
to the Attraction of Mountains ....  Perhaps a proper
experiment could be done to settle the matter once and
for all." (p. 131)

   "In mid-1772, Maskelyne read a paper to the Royal
Society entitled 'A Proposal for measuring the
Attraction of some Hill in this Kingdom by
Astronomical Observations'.  If the Bouguer experiment
were to be repeated, he said, not only would it
provide experimental proof of the tehory of universal
gravitation 'fit to convince those who will yield
their assent to nothing but downright experiment', but
it would also 'serve to give us a better idea of the
total mass of the earth, and the proportional density
of the matter near the surface compared with the mean
density of the whole earth.'  (The internal
constitution of the Earth--is it a hollow shell or is
there a solid core?--was then a matter of scientific
controversy.)  Such an experiment, he added, would do
honour to the nation in which it is made, and the
Society which executes it." (p. 131)

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0209&msg=70519&sort=date

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0209&msg=70528&sort=date

   "In the summer of 1773, Charles Mason was
engaged--at half-a-guinea a day plus expenses--to do a
tour of the Highlands of Scotland to search for
suitable hills ....  'We shall be much obliged to you
for any information...  Either an oblong hill (that
has not been a volcano), or a long valley [...] would
be proper for the purpose.'
   "On 24 January 1774, the Committee ... took note of
Mason's report:

Perthshire afforded us a remarkable hill, nearly in
the center of Scotland, of sufficient height,
tolerably detached from other hills, and considerably
larger from East to West than from North to South,
called by the people of the low country Maiden-pap,
but by the neighboring inhabitants, Schiehallien;
which, I have since been informed, signifies in the
Erse language, Constant Storm: a name well adapted to
the appearance it so frequently exhibits [...] by the
clouds and mists which usually crown its summit.[...]
(Fig 12.1)

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0209&msg=70659&sort=date

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0209&msg=70621&sort=date

   "The obvious peron to carry out the experiment was
Mason himself, and the Committee offered him a guinea
a day plus the costs of travel and carriage of
instruments.  Perhaps he felt the miserly terms were
not good enough.  Perhaps he was tired of astronomy in
the field ....  Whatever the reason, he
refused--which, with hindsight, was sad from his point
of view.
   "Maskelyne then suggested the name of Reuben
Barrow, who had been his assistant until the previous
September.  Burrow accepted.... however, the Society's
Committee of Attraction had second thougght and begged
Maskelyne to direct the operation personally .... 
Makselyne reluctantly agreed ...." (p. 132)

"By 30 June, when Maskelyne arrived, all was prepared:
... a temporary hut (called a 'bothie' in Scotland)
erected ..." (pp. 134-5)

"... the drama of the fire in the bothie.  There is a
tale that has been handed down ... that, when
Maskelyne had completed his observations ... he
decided that he should give a farewell party on the
mountain to than the many local people who had helped
him and Burrow over the last six months.  He sent
young Dunacn Robertson, who cleaned and cooked for him
in the hut, down to Kinloch Rannoch to collect the
necessary supplies, including a keg [!] of whisky. 
Donneaha Ruadh, red-haired Duncan, was a fine fiddler,
and his playing and singing had helped pass many long
evening hours during the summer and autumn.
   "It must have been quite a party, because the hut
caught fire and Duncan's fiddle was destroyed.  Duncan
was heartbroken at the loss, but the story goes that
Maskelyne consoled him, saying: 'Never mind, Duncan,
when I get back to London, I will seek you out a new
fiddle and send it to you.'
   "And so it was.  The new violin reached Duncan a
few months later and he was so pleased with its tone
that he composed a song, A Bhan Lunnainneach Bhuidhe
... of which these are a few verses in translation.

    The yellow London lady
1.   On the trip I took to Scheihallion
   I lost my wealth and my darling;
   There was not like her in Rannoch
        Though before I was mournful
        This year I am joyful
        I have recieved the yellow London Lady
        and she is the instrument for music.

2.   It was in Italy that she was reared;
   And she came across the sea to London,
   To give musicv to king and queen
   And to the high gentry of Europe

3.   She came of a precious family
   From the company of genteel rpyalty,
   From the high astronomer of the kingdom
   Who paid for her with his gold.

[...]

12.  It is Mr Maskelyne, the hero,
   Who did not leave me long a widower,
   He sent to me my choice treasure
   That will leave me thankful while I live

"The reference to Italy in verse 2 is explained by the
fact that a paper label, now lost, with the words
'Antonio Stradivarius, 1729', was found in the
original violin." (pp. 137-8)

"On 26 July 1775, Maskelyne presented to the Royal
Society his paper giving the results of the experiment
..." (p. 139)

   "The very next day, the Royal Society Council met
with one member missing--Maskelyne.  The proposal of
the President, Sir John Pringle, that Maskelyne should
be given the Society's highest award--the Copley Meadl
for 1774--was adopted nem.con. (The rule that the
Copley Medal should not be awarded to a member of the
Council was on this occasion broken....)" (pp. 139-40)

"One feels rather sorry for Charles Mason: if he had
accepted the assignment when it was offered to him, he
might today be known for the Mason experiment as well
as for the Mason-Dixon line." (p. 141)

Maskelyne, Nevil.  "A Proposal for Measuring the
   Attraction of Some Hill in this Kingdom by
   Astronomical Observations,"  Phil. Trans. of the
   Roy. Soc., Vol. 65 (Dec. 1775 ): 495-99.

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ilej/image1.pl?item=page&seq=2&size=1&id=pt.1775.x.x.65.x.495

__________.  "An Account of Observations Made on
   the Mountain Schiehallien for Finding Its
   Attraction,"  Phil. Trans. of the Roy. Soc.,
   Vol. 65 (Dec. 1775): 500-  .

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ilej/image1.pl?item=page&seq=2&size=1&id=pt.1775.x.x.65.x.500

And see as well Appendix E, "Schiehallion instruments
and equipment," pp. 232-4, e.g. ...

Provost John Stewarts bills for sundry
   necessaries sent from Perth, including wine &
   other liquors                             29. 1. 6

There are Reasons I choose the chapters I've chosen to
host.  Just gotta get organizized, is all ...


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