Newfoundland, Ferryland, Maryland , Dixieland; Mason and Dixon, Baltimore, Penn. Whoa! What sort of mix-up is going on here? Well, a little history, perhaps, will serve to sort it out. Since my recent reading matter included Wayne Johnston's book "Baltimore's Mansion", I've been put in mind to gather some by-the-wayside facts pertaining to the "mix-up".

Fact number one is that oh-so-familiar date, 1583, when Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for 'Good Queen Bess'. Following on, then, is fact number two: that Elizabeth's successor granted a charter to George Calvert, Ist Baron Baltimore to found a colony in Newfoundland for Catholics. Geoge C. rose from local boy to secretary of state to King James I. As Lord Baltimore he had a mansion built (Kiplin Hall) in Yorkshire and one in Ferryland. In 1621 he took a party of Catholics from Kiplin Hall to Ferryland. George C. was defeated in his attempt to develop his colony at Ferryland by pirates, fog and persecution. The following spring, he deserted the new mansion house, leaving all its contents and furnishings behind. In 1632 he was presented with a new charter to develop another colony to the south. He, thus, founded the City of Baltimore and a State to be named after the king's wife: Maryland. (University students from Maryland are accommodated yearly at the now restored Kiplin Hall). Due to a bout of muddleheadness by the reigning English monarch, a charter was granted in 1681 to William Penn to found a State in America to be named Pennsylvania. Unfortunately this included much of Baron Baltimore's land! In 1682 the [Good Old] Duke of York was delegated to strike a boundary arc of twelve miles around the town of New Castle in the State of Delaware, and three years later to develop, what turned out to be, a totally unworkable division of the territory. There the matter lay for eighty years while the descendants of the two families laid claim and counter-claim.

In 1750 the two families agreed to a master plan. They appealed to the Royal Society in London; the Astronomer Royal chose his team of Jeremiah Dixon and Charles Mason to lay out a satisfactory border. Mason and Dixon were experienced at working together having been dispatched to observe several eclipses in parts of the world. In November 1763, the two astronomers landed in North America and immediately set out to pursue their mandate. They laboured for four years, measuring the distances with rods, setting up mile stones (imported from England) and hiring survey crews. In all, they mapped out approximately 230 miles. The distance was never completed due to hazardous interference from Indian bands [not dixie-land bands!]. They presented their notes to the Royal Society in 1768. Dixon remained in England, and Mason returned to Philadelphia. A curious fact here is that the notes were lost and turned up in a pile of paper garbage in the basement of Government House in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1860.

The Mason-Dixon line (referred to as "down under" in jive-talk) eventually became a precipitant to the American Civil War as it became an emotional symbol in the sectional dispute over the concept of slavery. It separated the so-called free states from the so-called slave states. At about this time (1859) a new minstrel song was published by Daniel Decatur Emmett titled 'I Wish I Was In Dixie's Land'. The song caught on and became a favourite of both leaders and armies. So the interesting question is: who or what was 'Dixie'? 'Dixie', in showman's imagery stood for a sort of halcyon place, somewhere where a paradise on earth existed. There also existed a kindly slave-owner on Manhattan Island called Dixie or Dixey whose slaves lamented the loss of Dixie when sent south. Folks have given credence to the New Orleans bank note with Dix (for ten) printed on it, but there is little support for that theory. And, as you have already guessed, the prime contender- since 'Dixie's' is the genitive case - is Dixon of Mason and .... But then ask "why not Mason"? By all accounts, Dixon was a quiet unassuming Yorkshireman, whereas the leader appeared to be Mason and the more likely of the two to be forward and nameworthy. Incidentally, if you translate 'Dixie's Land' into latin it becomes terram dixonis. The name 'Dixie' as used by Emmett in I Wish I Was In Dixie's Land was predated by its appearance in a children's game common in New York before the Civil War called "Tom Tiddler's Ground", and in another song by Emmet himself called 'Jonny Roach'. There is substantial evidence that Emmett did not actually write the 'I Wish I Was....' song but 'borrowed' it from a coloured man in his community. The name Dixie appeared in a play about that time, with a Negro character: the title was United Sates Mail And Dixie In Difficulties. Al Jolson used to sing a song called 'Is It True What They Say About Dixie?' Be that as it may, there exists an unsolved problem, as we shall never know the truth. So, there lies a curious path from Ferryland to Dixieland: be that as it may! Incidentally, you can call up Mason and Dixon on the internet!