Posted by Ed Kiser on January 04, 2003 at 06:00:40 from 152.163.188.167 user Kisered.
In Peter Duck Chapter 11, they sing the song, "Away to Rio"
"Away to Rio.
Away to Rio.
Oh, fare you well,
my bonny young maid,
for we're bound for Rio Grande!"
In We Didn't Mean to Go To Sea, Chapter 24, Daddy is singing
that same song:
"Away to Rio... Away to Rio...
Oh, fare you well, my bonny young maid,
For we're bound to Rio Grande..."
In one, it is "FOR Rio Grande", but in the other, it is "TO Rio
Grande."
In Swallows and Amazons, the explorers had decided to name the
little town that was just north of Holly Howe something other
than the name the natives used. The name they selected IS NOT
RIO! They referred to that town as "Rio" in their conversation,
they may have written it on their map as "Rio", but when they
made the decision to name it, they actually called it something
else, "RIO GRANDE", (reference Swallows and Amazons, Chapter 3),
like the name referenced in the song, "Away to Rio." The name,
"RIO GRANDE" is NEVER used again other than when it is announced
what they decided to call that town. Having decided to do so,
they NEVER did again call it "RIO GRANDE", only the simple "Rio."
Even on the map inside the front cover of the several books
showing that town, the name given there is only the simple
version, "Rio", but THAT is NOT the name they had decided to call
that town.
Interesting to note that having decided to name that town, they
never again referred to the town by that exact name, only the
abbreviated version of that name.
These are the ONLY three places in all these stories that the
name, "GRANDE" is mentioned: two, in the song, "Away to Rio",
and the third being where they decided what to name the town.
A name they never used.
How about that...
Ed Kiser, South Florida