MDDM Ch. 76 A Strange Wizard's Turnout

[Dave Monroe]

"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)

"a strange Wizard's turnout"

Cf. ...

"In the Crepuscule, Maskelyne's Observing Suit is
edging into Visibility." (M&D, Ch. 16, p. 172)

>From Derek Howse, Nevil Maskelyne: The Seaman's 
Astronomer (New York: Cambridge UP, 1989), Ch. 10,
"Early Years at Greenwich, 1765-9," pp. 99-112 ...

"... a letter to Edmund [Maskelyne] in India dated 15
May 1766 ... has a tantalizing finish:

I shall be obliged to you for a little callico on your
return, if you have room; a little that would suit a
lady may possibly be useful some time or other.

"One wonders for whom the calico was intended: Nevil
was not to be married for another eighteen years.  But
a quilted astronomer's 'observing suit' still
survives--coat, waistcoat, and trousers (Fig.
10.1)--which was presumably brought back when Clive
and Edmund did return from India in July 1767." (p.
100)

And, on the facing page ...

"Fig 10.1.  Nevil Maskelyne's Observing Suit, quilted
silk waistcoat, jacket and trousers, sent by Robert
Clive from India, probably about 1765, now in the
possession of Nigel Arnold-Forster, Esq." (p. 101)

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0111&msg=62735&sort=date


"A Tartan never observ'd in the World"

http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/history/material_culture/rmclean/html/trad.htm

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0209&msg=70567&sort=date


"Mun"

"Maskelyne may also feel the weight of Family
Tradition, his brother Edmund, known as Mun ..." (M&D,
Ch. 21, p. 131)

Nevil's older brother, named for their father ...

"Nevil Maskelyne, the fifth Astronomer Royal, was,
like Bliss, a close friend of Bradley's. He was the
third son of a wealthy country gentleman, Edmund
Maskelyne, of Purton, in Wiltshire."

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/bookman/library/ROG/ROG03.HTM
 
"Alice Maskelyne's brother Edmund was the father of
Margaret Maskelyne, the wife of 'Clive of India'" ... 

http://www.tcb.co.uk/gene/notes.htm

"Maskelyne, Nevil 1732-1811, astronomer royal, was the
third son of Edmund Maskelyne of Purton in Wiltshire
...."

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/mason-dixon/extra/maskelyne_bio.html

Nevil in turn named his son Edmund ...

http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal19750

And see as well ...

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9707&msg=18176&sort=date

And thanks for listening.  Might bat a little clean-up
over the coming few weeks, and, after that, hope to se
y'all in Slow Learner.  Or Vineland.  Or ...

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