Sailing to Philadelphia - Mason Dixon Line crossing US Route 1 - Immortalized in Lyrics on Waymarking.com

In the ballad "Sailing to Philadelphia" Mark Knopfler, sometimes accompanied with James Taylor, tells the story of the pair of surveyors who were sent to the American Colonies to resolve a border dispute between the Colonies in North America. The story is narrated alternately by Dixon and Mason.

Between 1763 and 1767 Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed the line that defined the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia (now West Virginia). The Mason-Dixon Line came to be regarded and the boundary between the slave owning states of the south and the free states of the north and ultimately between the northern states and the southern states.

In the song Dixon reflects upon his fate:

"It was my fate from birth
To make my mark upon the earth..."

and Mason reflects upon his fate:

"A stargazer am I
It seems that I was born
To chart the evening sky"

Their mission is summed up as follows:

"We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
The Mason-Dixon line"


US Route 1 crosses the Mason-Dixon line in northeastern Maryland/ southeastern Pennsylvania.

Musician: Mark Knopfler Name of Song: Sailing to Philadelphia Relevant Verse: We are sailing to Philadelphia A world away from the coaly Tyne Sailing to Philadelphia To draw the line The Mason-Dixon line Location website: [Web Link]

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