Varieties of Durham (Part 1 of 2)

We are All Boat People

Start here.

You could look it up, but I'm here so you don't have to. 

The word "Durham" should invoke more than the surname of the DOJ Special Counsel whose work triggers both sides of the political echo chamber.  

True, from a corporate mass media perspective, that's the first bell rung when you hear a reference to Durham. 

Etymologically, the combination of Olde English "dun" (hill) and  Scandinavian "holmr" (city) was adopted by 1st century Normans. 

City on a hill? Hmm.

They eventually stopped adding the letter -r- because, the Anglo-French quite often lost or combined words containing the letters -l-, -n-, and -r-.  They just couldn't properly pronounce "dunholmr."

Geographically, there are two primary locations called Durham. One Durham is a city and county bordering the North Sea in England (pop. ~511,000). The other Durham is a city located northwest of Raleigh, North Carolina. Durham, NC is the home of the minor league baseball team popularized by the 1988 movie Bull Durham. Oh, and the Blue Devils.

I'm gonna fart.

There is also a hybrid cow, the "Red Durham," registered as a mix of the Red Angus and Shorthorn cattle breeds. No, I'm not going to talk about anthropomorphic global warming.

Finally, a "Durham" is the type of boat like the one in the painting above. The photo was taken at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The painting, as most of you recognize, is titled "Washington Crossing the Delaware." The artist is a German-American painter, Emanual Leutze, who completed the work in 1851.The subject commemorates the Christmas Day surprise attack and victory over the King's troops at the Battle of Trenton

    Here are 5 Quick Facts about Washington Crossing the Delaware:

1. Washington crossed the Delaware River to execute a surprise attack on an isolated Hessian (German mercenary) garrison located in and around Trenton, New Jersey. The enemy consisted of about 1,400 soldiers. After several war councils, Americans needed to boost sagging morale, and encourage more recruits to join the Revolution. The crossing took place Christmas night, 1776.

2. The original plan provided for 3 separate crossings. Only one made it. Colonel Cadawaler and General Ewing were to strategic support for Washington's main force, but did not make the ice-filled crossing. Despite a three-hour delay, Washington managed to cross the river north of Trenton, at McConkey's and Johnson's ferries. The 2,400 Continental soldiers surprised the Hessians that morning.

 3. ENEMY SPIES AND TRAITORS had informed the British and Hessians that the attack was likely to take place. Makes you wonder how history is changed by the way one responds to intelligence. The Hessians ignored the intel and were unprepared.

Take Me To The River

 4. THE BOATS. Yes, those "Durham" boats. Washington had the foresight to commandeer all available watercraft along the Delaware, denying the British use of the craft, making them available only for American crossings. Durham boats are shallow draft cargo boats ranging from 40 to 60 feet in length. These stout craft were designed to haul iron ore and bulk goods down river to markets around Philadelphia. The high side-walls helped the vessels make it through the ice-choked river. For horses and heavy artillery pieces, they used large flat-bottomed ferries and other such vessels. The bottom of the Durham boats were neither comfortable nor dry, which explains why so many of the soldiers were portrayed standing up.

 5. Colonel John Glover's MARBLEHEAD REGIMENT INCLUDED MANY SAILORS from New England who provided lots of muscle and skill to make the perilous nighttime crossing. Also, watermen from the Philadelphia area had congregated in the area who had extensive experience and were familiar with that exact stretch of the river.

There are other details about the 300 YARD crossing, such as the terrible winter WEATHER delays and the fact that the attack was ALMOST CANCELLED. 

Interestingly, the canvas itself measures approximately 21' x 12'. That's a lot of acrylic paint!

Anyways, that's only the tip of the ice floe (get it?) when someone mentions Durham.

***

Meme Lady

Now, circling back to the most prominent public usage of the word Durham. Clearly, it is DOJ Special Counsel John Henry Durham. I would simply remind the boomers out there to stand strong ... there is a difference between what is a true fact and what is intentional deception. For non-boomers, be patient, we're almost there. Mr. Durham's wiki-bio does not do justice to this topic, nor to the man, nor to his body of work. 

Justice, indeed.

Honestly, you don't have to have had a cellphone-free childhood to accept the premise that seeking justice is is a good thing, right?

For now, disregard our generational bias. Let's look at the things that none of us can deny -- hard, cold, FACTS. They are annoying things we cannot ignore and should willingly acknowledge. FACTS -- those observable events, established as true, verifiable, stipulations --the places from where each of us, boomer and millennial alike, can together reclaim, nay, brandish, our ability to reason in 5G, seeing through the forcible inoculations of corporate media trash, post-Donald Trump, and pre-American Renaissance. Let's just call them helpful signposts; things to know for future guidance.

Let's get to the fucking facts. Stay tuned. And Subscribe!

(Addendum) January 14, 2021: Obviously, there are more Durhams out there than I mentioned in the post, and I apologize for the incomplete research. Shout out to my homies in Durham, Ontario, CANADA and any others that I may have unsuspectingly failed to list. Peace, out. RBS)

 © 2022 by Roy Santonil