"One if by land, and two if by sea"?

Question

a. What do the "one" or "two" refer to (i.e.
"one" or "two" of what)?

b. What does "by land" or "by sea" refer to
(i.e. what is happening either "by land" or "by
sea")?

Answer 1

A. They were lanterns hung in the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston during the Revolutionary War (the Church has been there since 1723). One meant the British troops were coming by land, two meant they were coming by sea. Remember, there were no other means of getting the word across other than by messenger. The signal told the horseback messengers (most famous of whom was Paul Revere) to ride from town to town and get the American soldiers (minutemen) to prepare for battle.

B. See above!

hope that helps you with your homework! You can Google any of the information above to get much more info if needed.

Answer 2

This is from Paul Revere's Midnight Ride

One light if the British were coming by land, 2 if there were coming across the river.

His famous "Midnight Ride" occurred on the night of April 18/April 19, 1775, when he and William Dawes were paid by Dr. Joseph Warren to ride inland from Charlestown to warn the militias at Lexington and Concord of the approach of British army troops from Boston. Robert Newman and Captain John Pulling held the two lanterns in the Old North Church, indicating that the British soldiers were crossing the Charles River.

Answer 3

Milk and honey are two of the main assets of something called the Secondary Products Revolution. An offshoot of the beginnings of agriculture and domestication of animals, these are food products and resources that were not reliably available to hunter-gatherers, and had a major impact on the survivorship and quality of life of early agricultural communities. Another benefit of this revolution is the availability of animals for labour - using cattle to pull plows and carts, etc. - that made tasks previously difficult or impossible for humans much easier. So the metaphorical "land of milk and honey" doesn't necessarily represent a disgusting mix of actual milk and honey, but rather a land of plenty, where there are abundant herds and hives to provide for all of man's needs - no need to laboriously scour the countryside hoping to find a rabbit or some berries to stave off starvation for the tribe for another day.

Answer 4

This is in refernece to Paul Revieve and the men who rode with him. The numbers refer to lanters. If the British were comming by land there would be one lantern lit when they rode throught the streets and if the were comming by boat in the sea then two lanters would be lit.

Hope this helped

Answer 5

I believe that had to do with the American Revolution. I think, like, there were lanterns or something put somewhere (or maybe I'm thinking of Paul Revere's ride), but whatever it was, there would be one if the British were coming by land, and two if they came by boat.

Answer 6

It was the signal in the Old North Church to alert the minute men how the British were going to attack (the church was the only building high enough to see for a distance).

One lantern in the steeple meant the British were hiking to them over land.

Two lanterns meant they were coming on ships.

Answer 7

It was a signal, one light shone if the troops were coming by land, 2 lights shone if they were coming by sea.

Answer 8

The lines, "Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;" appears in Longfellow's poem, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." The peom tells the whole story. The lanterns were to be used as a signal so Paul Revere would know what to tell the people when he rode to warn them of the advance of the British.

THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF PAUL REVERE


Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.


He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."


Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.


Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street
Wanders and watches, with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.


Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.


Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,--
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.


Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.


A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.


It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.


It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.


It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.


You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.


So through the night rode Paul Revere;=
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Answer 9

i not quite sure about that one. that's one of those questions that makes you go "hmmmm".