Editing Encyclopedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous (section)

== Farret's Head, Scotland ==

In a book on [[mental calculators]], I read that [[George Parker Bidder]] as a young boy was asked by [[Queen Charlotte]]: "How many days would a Snail be creeping, at the rate of 8 feet per day, from the [[Land's End]], in Cornwall, to Ferret's Head, in Scotland, the distance by admeasurement being 838 miles?" (He immediately gave the correct answer of 553,080).

I tried looking up "Ferret's Head", but I couldn't find any such named location in Scotland. I would assume it is another name for [[John o' Groats]] or perhaps [[Duncansby Head]], and indeed the shortest route by car from [[Land's End to John o' Groats]] is 838 miles. Is anyone aware of such a location in Scotland named Ferret's Head? [[User:Dreykop|Dreykop]] ([[User talk:Dreykop|talk]]) 19:29, 19 May 2025 (UTC)

:After some further digging on the topic, I found that [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125012411/https://lionlocomotive.org.uk/lionsheart/LH10.pdf#page=4 some sources] actually spell it as "Farret's Head", but I still can't find any such place. [[User:Dreykop|Dreykop]] ([[User talk:Dreykop|talk]]) 19:53, 19 May 2025 (UTC)
::Possibly an egregious misreading of [[Dunnet Head]], or a mishearing / alternative spelling of [[Faraid Head]], or a confusion with Farr Point (no article)?
::[Edited to add] I favour Faraid Head myself. Depending on the source of the anecdote, it's possible that someone (perhaps unfamiliar with this remote Scottish location) misunderstood Queen Charlotte's strong German accent. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} [[Special:Contributions/94.1.170.37|94.1.170.37]] ([[User talk:94.1.170.37|talk]]) 23:04, 19 May 2025 (UTC)
:::Yes, Faraid Head sounds best, though seems to me a rather unremarkable location to be used in such a question. Makes one wonder what's so interesting about it that Queen Charlotte would know that the distance to it is 838 miles. Also, just curious, how did you know all these places? [[User:Dreykop|Dreykop]] ([[User talk:Dreykop|talk]]) 04:56, 20 May 2025 (UTC)
:::::Being an elderly Brit (who lived in Scotland for a while), I have general familiarity with the UK's geography, and I have various atlases and maps to hand. I just looked along the North Scottish coast for points and headlands with possibly relevant names. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} [[Special:Contributions/94.1.170.37|94.1.170.37]] ([[User talk:94.1.170.37|talk]]) 13:26, 20 May 2025 (UTC)
::::Presumably, some published list of trivia that Charlotte had at her disposal contained an item like, "the longest distance between any two points on the island of Great Britain is between A and B, having been admeasured to be X miles". (Google Maps gives a walking distance of 804 miles.<sup>[https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Sennen,+United+Kingdom/58.603333,-4.775833/@54.3757284,-8.5348052,5z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m5!1m1!1s0x486ab84463e35c33:0x37e8d8c886a5ad5c!2m2!1d-5.6927695!2d50.0744458!1m0!3e2?hl=en]</sup>) &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 07:19, 20 May 2025 (UTC)
:It looks like the speed of 8 feet per day was chosen to make the calculation easier and the distance of 838 miles (with the repeating digit 8) and the number of feet per furlong (with the repeating digit 6) also helps:
:<math>\frac{838\,\mathrm{miles}\times 8\frac{\mathrm{furlongs}}{\mathrm{mile}}\times 660\frac{\mathrm{feet}}{\mathrm{furlong}}}{8\frac{\mathrm{feet}}{\mathrm{day}}}=838\times660\,\mathrm{days}=(11110\times(8\times6)+1100\times(3\times6))\,\mathrm{days}=553080\,\mathrm{days}</math>
:There are only two multiplications, then some shift operations and addition of six numbers, each of which have only two non-zero digits. Although still impressive, not as impressive as it appears on first sight. Now I wonder, was this coincidence, was the queen a hobby mathematician who knew the tricks or is the story apocryphal? 8 feet per day is slow for a snail; most can cover that distance in less than half an hour. The number 838 could also be tuned. I doubt the distance was know to single mile accuracy and is was probably calculated by summing the lengths of many segments, with some intermediate rounding. [[User:PiusImpavidus|PiusImpavidus]] ([[User talk:PiusImpavidus|talk]]) 09:35, 20 May 2025 (UTC)
::Charlotte "assembl[ed] a significant library containing volumes on all kinds of intellectual pursuits, she collected natural history specimens and scientific instruments, and employed, funded or corresponded with both male and female scientists, often by means of intermediaries". See {{cite journal|last=Hansen|first=Mascha|date=6 July 2022|title=Queen Charlotte's scientific collections and natural history networks|journal=Notes and Records|publisher=The Royal Society|volume=77|issue=2|pages=323–336|doi=10.1098/rsnr.2021.0070|url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.2021.0070}}. [[User:DuncanHill|DuncanHill]] ([[User talk:DuncanHill|talk]]) 09:48, 20 May 2025 (UTC)