Many thanks chaps ...
Armed with a couple of cups of strong tea ... I've now read the material you guys posted ... what a fascinating topic
A special thanks to Courtney for the Wednesday afternoon maths workout ... which was a bit painful in places.
So in short summary ...
It would seem an important aspect of close-coupled canard/foreplanes is the production of vortices which interact/excite/energise other vortices (eg wing generated) to benefit, amongst other positives at sub/supersonic speeds, the max angle of attack achievable which in turn provides the aircraft with extensive post stall maneuvering capabilities. It would seem that the use of anhedral or dihedral applied to canard/foreplanes has a lot to do with positioning/optimising these vortices.
Some very complicated trade offs and compromises appear to be at work
For those interested ORAC's reference ... see "Aerodynamics" section which covers the topic in more depth (which I suspect is a lift from other work).
Best ...
Coff.