Upstate/downstate

[Douglas G. Wilson]

> >Yet apparently someone
>in Bletchley would think of going "up" to London and "down" to return to
>Bletchley.  Can one of our British correspondents check this out, please?
>
> >One of Reverend Spooner's famous sayings was "You have hissed my mystery
>lectures.  You have tasted an entire worm.  You will leave on the next town
>drain."  What is a "down train"?  Is there a corresponding "up train"?<
>~~~~~~~~
>It's always "up" to London, wherever you are in Gt Britain, I believe.
>Remember The Oak & the Ash:
>
>A north country lass
>Up to London has strayed,
>Although with her nature
>It did not agree......?
>
>The Rev Spooner's missing student might be being "sent down" (kicked out)
>of University.

More generally, "up" is generally "toward the big city". Trains in India
for example are routinely referred to in this way (although there are other
conventions, and exceptions): so a train from Bombay to Madras (please
forgive my conservative toponymy) would be a down train (from Bombay) until
it reached some point where its designation would change and it would
become an up train (to Madras). At least that's the way it seemed to be
when I researched it a few years ago.

-- Doug Wilson