MAD3PAD 28-30

[Toby G Levy]

        Mason and Dixon are forced to take their leave of Hepsie because
a long line of fortune seekers has accumulated behind them.  They are
enumerated in a song (that presumably Wicks is singing to the children).


"She warned Ramillies sailors Beware of the Bolt" refers to a 1760 naval
disaster wherein 700 lost their lives. Read all about it at:

http://www.devonlife.co.uk/sections/mag/article.cfm?id=234&yid=10

"And the Corsica-bound of Pa-oli's revolt" refers to the patriot
Pasquale Paoli, who successfully revolted against Genoan rule in 1755.

        Bodine reconnoiters with Mason and Dixon and asks what they
learned. They tell him of the prediction of a French attack and Bodine
says Hepsie told Mauve this same prediction for free.  Mauve is a
prostitute who is a neighbor of Hepsie.  Bodine is not afraid of the
French and brags of a previous engagement with the enemy.

vw#10: rondure - a circular or gracefully rounded object

Bodine is distracted by the "rondures" or buttocks of a passing "Poll"
or young lady.

        Mauve tells Mason and Dixon that they can count on Hepsie's
predictions to come true.

        Chapter 3 closes with Mason searching the rest of his time
ashore for the dog and Hepsie and nobody will admit to knowing them.
The ship leaves England on January 9th, 1761.


        Chapter 4 starts on page 31 with Wicks telling the children that
it was prayer that got them through their confrontation with the French
at sea.  But in his mind he has his doubts as to how useful the prayers
were.

        It is revealed that another listener to Wick's tale is Cousin
Ethelmer, on holiday break from college in New Jersey.  Tenebrae is
clearly attracted to Ethelmer.

vw#11: Pollicate - Having a curved projection or spine on the inner side
of a leg joint; - said of insects. (not in my dictionary but found at
www.thefreedictionary.com).

        "Ethelmer smiles and amiably pollicates the Revd..." Is Pynchon
saying that Ethelmer shows a "lack of spine" here?

Toby