humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

> > On Apr 11, 3:48 pm, Tom Veal wrote:
> > >
> > > Better yet, S&K claim that Strachey plagiarizes from Captain John
> > > Smith when the two men describe the same object, Chesapeake Bay,
> > > as having *different* widths (Smith: 18 to 20 miles;
> > > Strachey: "seven leagues", i. e., over 23 miles).

> On Apr 11, 4:29 pm, Tom Reedy wrote:
> >
> > I dunno, I get confused on this. If they are both
> > using nautical measurement, they aren't that far apart.
> > 7 nautical leagues = 21 nautical miles.
>
> > But neither were sailors, and they could have both been using
> > statutue miles, in which case 7 leagues is still 21 miles,
> > but the miles are shorter.
>
> > The actual distance between the capes is a bit over 14 statute miles,
> > or about 12 1/3 nautical miles. The mouth rapidly opens up, and the
> > bay is ~30 miles at its widest point.
>
> > But yet another problem is that Smith is describing the width of the
> > mouth of the bay; Strachey is giving the distance between capes.
> > Both are wrong.
-------------------------------------------------
Tom Veal wrote:
>
> I'm no sailor either. Perhaps I was misled by S&K's article,
> which states (footnote 20), "One league = 3.3 miles".
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The Red-Herring League
-------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_(unit)
.
<America, although no longer an official unit in any nation. The league
most frequently expresses the distance a person, or a horse, can walk
in 1 hour of time (usually about 3.5 miles or 5.5 kilometres).
.
. Different definitions
.
. The English-speaking world
.
In English units over the past couple of centuries or so, the league
was most often considered to be 3 miles, or about 4.8 to 5.6 km,
depending on the mile being used - most commonly either the nautical
mile (1852 m) or the statute mile (now about 1609 m, but varying
slightly through history). However, English language usage also
includes use of this word for any of the various leagues mentioned
below (e.g., in discussing the Treaty of Tordesillas).
.
. Ancient Rome
.
The league was used in Ancient Rome, where it was defined as being 1.5
Roman miles (i.e., 7500 Roman feet). The origin is the "leuga
gallica" (also: leuca Gallica), the league of Gaul.
.
See also: Ancient Roman units of measurement.
.
In Argentina, a league is a distance of 5 km.[citation needed]
.
In Brazil, the league is still used occasionally in the country, where
it has been described as equivalent to 6 km.[citation needed]
.
The French lieue - at different times - existed in several variants:
10,000, 12,000, 13,200 and 14,400 French feet, about 3.25 km to about
4.68 km. Its use overlapped the metric system for a while but is now
long discontinued.
.
In Yucatan and other parts of rural Mexico, the league is still
commonly used in the original sense of the distance that can be
covered on foot in an hour, so that a league along a good road on
level ground is a greater distance than a league on a difficult path
over rough terrain.
.
The Spanish League or legua was originally set as a fixed unit of
distance of 5,000 varas ( 0.82 m each ), about 2.6 miles or 4.2 km.
Officially the league was abolished by Philip II of Spain in 1568, but
it is still in use unofficially in parts of Latin America, with exact
meaning varying in different countries.
.
In the early Hispanic settlement of New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado, a
league was also a unit of area, defined as being equal to 25,000,000
square varas or approximately 4428.4 acres. This usage of league is
referenced frequently in the Texas Constitution. So defined, a league
of land would encompass a square that is one Spanish league on each
side.
............................................
. Use in fiction
.
* The seven-league boots are a magical prop in European folk tales.

* Several fantasy authors have used the league to measure distances in
their work. One example is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R.
Martin.

* Jules Verne used this unit in the title of 2 novels:
o Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
o Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon

* Measurements in the Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R.Tolkien, are
expressed in leagues.
----------------------------------------------------------
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
-------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer