M&D Deep Duck: Section 4 summary

Mon Jan 19 13:11:42 CST 2015

England’s loss of control over the Channel was rare but when it happened it was ugly for awhile,  and England remembered.  The Channel is the easiest way to get down the west coast of Europe without going all the stormy way around the whole British Isles.  The southwest coast of England has much better coastline for landing and invading.  

So-ooo,  historically,  first came the Celts (I think),  then the Romans,  then the Vikings, and then the French who all conquered England or parts of it - for awhile anyway.    

But in the 11-14th centuries the England solidified and they and the French went back and forth at each other via the Channel vying for control of the parts (Normandy, Gascony, Brittany, more, and Scotland, ).  But they also battled for control of the Channel because that was the key.  Piracy and village raids were common in these centuries - piracy even partially sanctioned.  

In 1588 the Spanish Armada hit the channel to be able to access Holland and there was swift and immediate reaction by the English via Sir Francis Drake and the weather.  This was remembered.  

Between  1754 to 1763 the 7-Years War (fought for 9 years - heh) was fought and the French dearly wanted to seize the Channel because of the easy access to the ocean.  They actually thought it was a good idea to just invade and take over England in general.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_French_invasion_of_Britain_(1759)

The American French and Indian War kicked off the 7-Years War.  It was France against England for parts of North America.  Then France and her allies went up against England and her allies and they escalated everything until it was fought in Central Europe, Portugal, India, South America, and West Africa.  

Mason & Dixon were out in that in 1761 - only 2 years after the French lost some major battle and decided not to actually attack England.  

Btw, the value of the Channel has not changed - Napoleon wanted it badly, but was discouraged by losses elsewhere, because it’s not very wide.  The submarines of Germany in WWI tried (and failed) to use it and then tried to take the ports to the Channel (Flanders).  Also, because of the distance, airplanes (including bombers) could manage their way across the Channel.  Drones can probably do it now.  

Bekah 
with more than you wanted to know - 

> On Jan 19, 2015, at 9:37 AM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
> 
> The Seahorse was in defensive mode, the l'Grand the aggressor. It's hard to get any sense of how attuned, at the time, anyone was to the likelihood of attacks in the Channel, as opposed to out in the open seas. The British Navy had trounced the French on numerous occasions, and France was not about to cross the Channel to mount any invasion. Also, the fact that this was a scientific expedition implied (regardless of later paranoia by Pynchon's characters) that Captain Smith wasn't spoiling for a fight.
> 
> The Channel doesn't seem to be a site of many naval skirmishes. Anyone who knows more history than me able to confirm or deny this?
> 
> Laura
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
>> Sent: Jan 18, 2015 11:13 PM
>> To: P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> Subject: Re: M&D Deep Duck: Section 4 summary
>> 
>> I love chapter summaries. Huzzah! The only question I would have would be whether the fight was that one-sided. The next chapter has them speculating that the French were hard after them possibly because of the transit mission.  The battle is told from their POV and says little about damage to the French vessel, but the L'Grand did give up after a serious attack. Maybe I am missing a textual clue here. Tere was also something about Smith hiring skilled rear gunners.
>> 
>> Interesting tidbit about the Captain being required to pay for his own victuals.
>> 
>> 
>> On Jan 18, 2015, at 4:42 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> My summary. Please, everyone, point out and attack my misreads.
>>> 
>>> Part 4:
>>> 
>>> Cherrycoke reminisces to his assembled audience -- which includes his niece Tenebrae, her brothers Pitt and Pliny, their father LeSpark, who we now learn made his fortune in weapon sales, and LeSpark's nephew Ethelmer -- on break from Princeton. Cherrycoke is reminiscing about traveling with Mason and Dixon on the frigate Seahorse, en route to Sumatra, to observe the Transit of Venus. But an event occurs -- well-known already to Cherrycoke's assembled audience -- which he now relates to us.
>>> 
>>> Mason and Dixon are annoyed to discover that they're apparently being charged for their passage by Captain Smith. It turns out to be a misunderstanding, and Dixon warms up to the Captain when he discovers he enjoys a drink. But there's impending doom on the horizon -- we and Cherrycoke's immediate audience know that the French warship l'Grand is lurking in the Channel. Mason, in particular, seems to sense it. It turns out Ben Coolen (their destination on Sumatra) has fallen to the French, and the Captain's been warned by the Admiralty not to sail for it. So they’re going to head for the Cape of Good Hope instead.
>>> 
>>> As the ship sails through the Channel -- considered the most dangerous body of water in the world by some of its sailors -- we learn something of both the captain and his ship. Smith, captain of a near-warship (it lacks the full complement of guns) is, himself, no man of war. He'd prefer to be sharing a drink and having a philosophical chat with the two Men of Science on board. The ship, though, has a proud military record, having served with distinction in Quebec. While the sailors sing a chanty wherein they rhyme Sumatra with Cleopatra, Cherrycoke discourses on the meaning of the ship's motto, Eques Sit AEques, which he translates as "Let the Sea-Knight who would command this Sea-Horse be ever fair-minded." At which point the l'Grand appears on the horizon, and, being a French ship, its intentions are clearly hostile.
>>> 
>>> The l'Grand proceeds to kick the shit out of the Seahorse. Cherrycoke, Mason and Dixon, terrified, are dispatched below to serve as makeshift medical aides as the casualties pile up. Finally, the l'Grand stops the mayhem and moves on. Cherrycoke's never been sure what transpired, and he speculates that either the French captain realized there were men of science aboard, signaling: France is not at war with the sciences. Or maybe he just realized that the Seahorse was not a worthy foe: You are leetluh meennow -- I throw you back. Captain Smith, distraught over the dead and wounded lashes out at M and D: Are you two really that important? On deck, Mason and Dixon commune over a couple of bottles of grog. Dixon: More like a Transit of Mars ...? And the Seahorse limps back to the dockyard.
>>> 
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