How Many Miles to Babylon? How Many Miles to Babylon? "How Many Miles to Babylon" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 8148. The accepted modern lyrics are: <poem>How many miles to Babylon? Three score miles and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, and back again.. If your heels are nimble and your toes are light, You may get there by candle-light.</poem> A longer Scottish version has the lyrics: <poem>King and Queen of Cantelon, How many miles to Babylon? Eight and eight, and other eight. Will I get there by candle-light? If your horse be
Horses in the Middle Ages travel 30 miles a day. However, there were exceptions: stopping only for a change of horses midway, Richard II of England once managed the 70 miles between Daventry and Westminster in a night. For breeding, war and travel purposes, it was also necessary to be able to transport horses themselves. For this purpose, boats were adapted and built to be used as horse transports. William of Normandy's invasion of England in 1066 required the transfer of over 2000 horses from Normandy. Similarly, when travelling to France in 1285–6, Edward I of England ferried over 1000 horses across the English Channel