> "How many miles to Babylon? > ... may it perhaps be a reference to the > duration of the Babylonian Captivity caused by Nebuchadnezzar holding the > Jews captive in Babylon till released after 70 years in 536 BC.? Thanks very much John Barton for his thoughts on the nursery rhyme. I hope I will be forgiven for digressing for a moment to tell the following. "Babylon" is a West Indian criminals' term of abuse for The Authorities in general and the Police in particular. It is relevant to mention that the level of education in my Caribbean island is pretty pathetic. A friend of mine whose son is a policeman, had his house burgled by teenage schoolboys. Finding a photo of a uniformed policeman, they trashed the young man's bedroom and wrote on the walls in two places "Babylon". Well, at least they meant to. They got the first part right, but apparently believed that the second half referred to a land, so the word written on the walls - such a gross insult - was "Babyland". Sort of spoiled the effect. Gordon Barlow