A Thoroughly Engrossing History Lesson, Courtesy Mark Knopfler. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon; the Mason-Dixon Line

August 07, 2018, 03:07 PM

and here's the song.

August 07, 2018, 03:13 PM

PASig

Another good one is Why Aye Man:

I had no idea that things in the UK were so bad in the early 80's that workers were actually moving to Germany to find work!

I'm guessing "Maggie" refers to Margaret Thatcher?

quote:

Why Aye Man

We had no way of staying afloat
We had to leave on the ferry boat
Economic refugees
On the run to Germany
We had the back of Maggie's hand
Times were tough in geordieland
We got work tools and working gear
And humped it all from Newcastle to here

Why aye man, why aye, why aye man
Why aye man, why aye, why aye man

We're the nomad tribes, traveling boys
In the dust and dirt and the racket and the noise
Drills and hammers, diggers and picks
Mixing concrete, laying bricks
There's English, Irish, Scots, the lot
United nation's what we've got
Brickies, chippies, every trade
German building, British-made

Why aye man, why aye, why aye man
Why aye man, why aye, why aye man

Nae more work on Maggie's farm
Hadaway down the autobahn
Mine's a portacabin bed
Or a bunk in a nissen hut instead

There's plenty Deutschmarks here to earn
And German tarts are wunderschoen
German beer is chemical-free
Germany's alright with me
Sometimes I miss my river Tyne
But you're my pretty Fraulein
Tonight we'll drink the old town dry
Keep work spirit levels high

Why aye man, why aye, why aye man
Why aye man, why aye, why aye man

August 07, 2018, 03:33 PM

CoolRich59

Great video.

One of the reasons I like Mark Knopfler is that there is a great story behind many of his songs.

August 07, 2018, 06:45 PM

TMats

Looks like I oversold my “thoroughly engrossing” bit of history

. Oh well, i thought it was neat.

August 08, 2018, 09:45 AM

henryaz

quote:
Originally posted by TMats:
Looks like I oversold my “thoroughly engrossing” bit of history . Oh well, i thought it was neat.

It was quite neat, I thought. It's amazing the techniques used for surveying back in the 18th century. When I moved to AZ from MD in 2002, I introduced myself to the Public Land Survey System, established by Congress in 1787. Most of the East remains a mish-mash of divisions (metes and bounds), but the Western states follow the PLSS, as does AZ. Neat grids of 36 square mile townships, broken into 36 sections each, each section a mile square, or 640 acres.

August 08, 2018, 10:29 AM

Sailor1911

quote:
Originally posted by TMats:
Looks like I oversold my “thoroughly engrossing” bit of history . Oh well, i thought it was neat.

Not so. Interesting bit of history. And, a good opportunity to listen to MK. Thanks for posting.