The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #130305 Message #2931865
Posted By: Dave the Gnome
21-Jun-10 - 07:05 AM
Thread Name: Why fifty fanes and which are they?
Subject: Why fifty fanes and which are they?
In Conan Doyles poem HMS Foudroyant he mentions 'fifty fanes'. Apart from it rhymes with St Clement Danes, why is there fifty fanes? I have discovered a fane is a temple or church or at least a place consecrated to some diety so it fits the context. Is there 50 such places similar to St Clement Danes? Was the term in use more in ACDs time? Anyone any idea?
BTW - If you do a google search make sure you exclude 'clement danes' or you will just get loads of hits on the poem in question.