More re-read notes

[regshoe]

Originally posted here on Tumblr.

• When the gentleman gives Stephen the orb, crown and sceptre, the narrator makes a point of telling us that the orb is decorated with one of the gentleman’s own symbols, rather than a cross as one belonging to the King of England (for example) would have. In other words, Stephen isn’t just attired as a king—he’s attired as the king of Lost-hope. Subtle!
  
• I really appreciate that in the little Mansfield Park re-enactment, the role of Henry Crawford is played by Lascelles, generally agreed to be a terrible person, and he’s unambiguously in the wrong for the whole thing. I feel vindicated in my hatred. (I do wonder whether Lascelles has a sister, however…)
• John Uskglass’s kingdom ‘encompassed Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire and part of Nottinghamshire’ (the part north of the Trent, apparently). This list really ought to include Westmorland, and I’m not sure why it doesn’t (Westmorland doesn’t exist as an official county anymore, but it did at the time the narrator is supposedly writing—and it was combined with Cumberland to make the new county of Cumbria, so a list that includes Cumberland should definitely include Westmorland too). I’m also a bit surprised Cheshire isn’t there, though that was presumably deliberate. Perhaps Uskglass just didn’t want to deal with another border.
• One of Jonathan Strange’s horses is called Starling. I wonder if he did that on purpose?

Tags: the exact location of the north/south border is the subject of much debate in real england, mostly because both northerners and southerners ignore the midlands, i suppose uskglass probably helped to resolve the question in-universe