Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] Willie's Bar & Grill

Kate Parker Adams kate@dnki.net
Mon, 06 Oct 2003 21:30:50 -0400


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At 08:22 PM 10/6/03 -0400, Virgil Thomas Alexander Morant wrote:
>For instance, at the beginning of the chapter "The night they drove old 
>Dixie down" Hirst puts an epitaph from Kosciuszcko, which seems fitting 
>for a chapter that seems to be about life south of the Mason-Dixon.  I 
>would guess, though, that very few outside of Australia have any idea what 
>this song is all about.

I haven't read the book, but I did know who Kosciuszko was when I first 
heard the song. My father, a history buff who trained himself to be a civil 
engineer while working as a laborer on road building crews, holds the great 
man in very high esteem.

A designer of fortifications during the Revolutionary War in the US, 
Kosciuszko was apparently as brilliant a tactician and mass-escape artist 
as an architect, leading several critically effective retreats across 
tricky rivers and terrain intended to stall pursuing redcoats.  He returned 
to Poland after the US was formed and was exiled after leading a failed 
revolution.  He fled from prison to Philidelphia after he agreed to 
permanent exile and received a hero's welcome for his contributions to 
revolutionary escapes and victories - including in Virginia and the Carolinas.

There is a lot more about Kosciusko's contributions to the US at 
http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_kosciu.htm , among other places.


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Kate Parker Adams
kate@dnki.net
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"She's gonna dream up the world she wants to live in,
She's gonna dream out loud" - U2 (Zooropa)
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go Out Of Mind ... http://www.dnki.net/blog
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At 08:22 PM 10/6/03 -0400, Virgil Thomas Alexander Morant wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="Times New Roman, Times">For
instance, at the beginning of the chapter &quot;The night they drove old
Dixie down&quot; Hirst puts an epitaph from <i>Kosciuszcko</i>, which
seems fitting for a chapter that seems to be about life south of the
Mason-Dixon.&nbsp; I would guess, though, that very few outside of
Australia have any idea what this song is all about.&nbsp;
</font></blockquote><br>
I haven't read the book, but I did know who Kosciuszko was when I first
heard the song. My father, a history buff who trained himself to be a
civil engineer while working as a laborer on road building crews, holds
the great man in very high esteem.<br><br>
A designer of fortifications during the Revolutionary War in the US,
Kosciuszko was apparently as brilliant a tactician and mass-escape artist
as an architect, leading several critically effective retreats across
tricky rivers and terrain intended to stall pursuing redcoats.&nbsp; He
returned to Poland after the US was formed and was exiled after leading a
failed revolution.&nbsp; He fled from prison to Philidelphia after he
agreed to permanent exile and received a hero's welcome for his
contributions to revolutionary escapes and victories - including in
Virginia and the Carolinas.<br><br>
There is a lot more about Kosciusko's contributions to the US at
<a href="http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_kosciu.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_kosciu.htm</a>
, among other places.<br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Kate Parker Adams<br>
kate@dnki.net<br>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
&quot;She's gonna dream up the world she wants to live in,<br>
She's gonna dream out loud&quot; - U2 (Zooropa)<br>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
go Out Of Mind ... <a href="http://www.dnki.net/blog" eudora="autourl">http://www.dnki.net/blog<br>
</a>----------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></body>
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