[Magdalen] For those of us US'ers (& maybe even Canadians)...

[M J _Mike_ Logsdon]

>>>I shouldn't forget the penmanship which was light-years better than the average in the USA
at this time.<<<

But from the 19th century backwards it can be mind-numbing to many of us moderns.  About 15 years ago I was tasked at work (being the only English major on staff) with "translating" some surveyor's notes from the 19th century for a specific road in northern San Luis Obispo County (where our Nacimiento Reservoir is).  It was incredibly fun, but I had to indicate so many "possiblies" about what a word or sentence was, that it felt like more was unclear than clear.  But I was praised nonetheless.  (It was a couple years before being promoted to what I am now.)

I learned a surveyor's measurement term that I still laugh about:  chain.  A chain is 66 feet.  Gotta love that.  I can only imagine how it was invented (and no, I haven't looked it up yet, so there could be something truly smart about it, and most likely is).  "Hey, Boyd, you got something to measure with?"  "Got a length chain here."  "How long is it?"  "'Bout 66 feet."  "That'll do."