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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Here in the English west country, through whose ports so much of the US E caost was settled, 'down' is used in a very vague way. 'Down Marlborough way' simply means 'towards or in the vicinity of Marlborough', with no specifc implications about directional relationships. Could this not then simply be a bit of English regional vernacular that 'stuck'? Jon > Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 09:36:29 +0000 > From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [M-R] TAN: "down east" (WAS: Re: [M-R] orientation of churches) > To: [log in to unmask] > > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Until 1820 Maine was part of Massachusetts (which latter circumstance, for > those of us interested in feasts, is at the origin of Maine's celebration of > Patriots' Day, the originally Massachusetts-only holiday commemorating the > battles of Lexington and Concord). Almost all ports in Maine lie to the > east of the ports in Massachusetts. > > The more troubling part of the phrase "down east" is "down". My assumption > is that the reference is nautical, with Maine being downstream (in terms of > Atlantic currents) from Massachusetts. > > Best, > John Dillon > > > '"down" somewhere' is a common expression in colloquial English. I wouldn't > make too much of it. > > 'Down' railway lines are the tracks to London, be it from Canterbury, > Plymouth or Edinburgh. > > > Anne > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html _________________________________________________________________ Have more than one Hotmail account? Link them together to easily access both http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394591/direct/01/ ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html