If the bones are indeed Pulaski’s and if he was in fact intersex or female, that’s a very good explanation for why he wanted to be taken aboard the Wasp, rather than being treated by an army physician ashore, where his secret would have been discovered and made public.
Haym Salomon—“The Financier of the Revolution.” A Polish Jew with a talent for banking, Salomon was one of the most important contributors to the success of the American Revolution, as time after time he succeeded in obtaining loans that kept Washington’s army afloat.
St. John’s Island—Was later named “Prince Edward Island,” as it’s called today. This is where Jocasta MacKenzie Cameron Cameron Cameron Innes and her fourth husband, Duncan Innes, moved after the beginning of the Revolution.
The City Tavern was an actual tavern in Salisbury and was actually called “City Tavern.” （For the benefit of sharp-eyed readers who will be thinking to themselves that “city tavern” shouldn’t be capitalized …） The Salisburyites were apparently a pragmatic lot, given the names of local attractions such as “Town Creek” and “Old Stone House （1766）。” “Great Wagon Road” is about as romantic as it got in that neck of the wood—and Salisbury didn’t name the road, just abutted it.
Colonel Johnson of the Southern Department （Indian agents）—There were two Johnsons who headed the department, one succeeding the other, though I don’t think they were related.
Non-English Figures of Speech
a vos souhaits / a tes amours—The traditional French Canadian blessing upon hearing someone sneeze. Translated literally, it means “to your dreams / to your loves.” （A little more graceful than “Gesundheit” or the onomatopoetic “Blesshu” perhaps …）
stercus—“Excrement” （Latin）。
filium scorti—“Son of a bitch” （Latin）。
cloaca obscaena—“Obscene sewer” （Latin）。
“tace is the Latin for a candle”—This is a common tag in eighteenth-century conversation among the upper classes （who spoke Latin）。 “Tace” is the imperative meaning “keep silent,” and the candle is symbolic of light. Ergo, the expression means （essentially） “keep it dark”—in other words, “be discreet and don’t say anything regarding what we’ve been talking about.”
pozegnanie—“Farewell” （Polish）。
Gáidhlig phrases and figures of speech are defined in the text.
William Butler Yeats—The Lake Isle of Innisfree
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
Miscellany
Shreddies—RAF-issue underwear. So called, apparently, because the woven pattern of the cloth from which they were made strongly resembled the appearance of a Shredded Wheat biscuit.
Part Three’s Heading is derived from a quote by the novelist Florence King:
“In social matters, pointless conventions are not merely the bee sting of etiquette, but the snake bite of moral order.”
—FLORENCE KING
Black Freemasons—At one point, Claire wonders whether there are black Freemasons. In fact, there were. Prince Hall, a well-known abolitionist and black leader, established Prince Hall Freemasonry （Boston）。
Haitian Navy
You see frequent references in historical accounts to the “Haitian Navy” Chasseurs-Volontaires, who fought with the Americans during the Siege of Savannah. In fact, Haiti didn’t exist as a polity at this point in history, and these black volunteers were actually from Saint-Domingue （later the Dominican Republic） and other places, and their background is fascinating, but not something I was able to go into during my discussion of the Battle of Savannah. The following details, however, are from the blackpast.org website and give a fuller picture:
D’Estaing’s troops were mainly composed of colonial regiments coming from various locations such as Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint-Domingue. The 800 men from the French Caribbean colonies were organized into a regiment called Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue. These soldiers were des gens de couleurs libres （free men of color） who voluntarily joined the French colonial forces. The gens de couleur were mixed-race men of African and European origin from Saint-Domingue. They were born free and thus were distinct from free slaves, or affranchise, who were born enslaved or became enslaved during their lives and then freed themselves or were freed. This distinction allowed the gens de couleur a higher social and political role in the French colonial West Indies. According to the 1685 French Black Code, they had the same rights and privileges as the white colonial population. In practice, however, strong discrimination by white French colonial residents impeded the gens de couleurs from fully exercising them.