From: "Alex David Groce" <adgroce@eos.ncsu.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) Ollifant & Castile?
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 09:40:18 

Peter Westlake said:
> It's an area of London across the river from the Houses of Parliament,
> complete with famous pub - and Underground railway station.
> 
> The name comes from that time of British history when mispronouncing
> pub names seems to have been a national pastime. "God Encompasseth Us"
> became the "Goat and Compasses", for instance, and the "Infanta of
> Castile" became "Elephant and Castle", which is an even better name.
> So now you need to find Spanish Infanta connections ... is Contessa
> a Spanish title? :-)

And, to further boost the theory, we know Wolfe has been in England (one of the
letters reprinted in CASTLE OF DAYS), and hated the roads--so, if he'd been in
London (and if you go to England and don't see London something is odd), he'd
have certainly used the tube as much as possible.  Anyway, the "Infanta of
Castile"->"Elephant and Castle" transition would be a very Wolfe-ish thing.
Now, we need to scour the BOTNS & BOTLS (in case he used it as a parallel) for
any connections between compasses and goats--after all, "God Encompasseth Us"
would be a reasonable encoded message for either work.  :)
	Maybe on his bee farm the old autarch also kept goats?  Connect that in
some way to "The Map" (which clearly implies a compass) and you have it!
-- 
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." - John 8:32
--
Alex David Groce (adgroce@eos.ncsu.edu)
Senior (Computer Science/Multidisciplinary Studies in Technology & Fiction)
'98-99 NCSU AITP Student Chapter President
608 Charleston Road, Apt. 1E (919)-233-7366
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~adgroce

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