Why is it the Three Compasses?

Question

We went to a gret pub in Hertfordshire this weekend called the Three Compasses. There are so many pubs called this around and about. This got us to wondering why it is three and not another number of compasses, or even one. We are thinking that this related to some ancient nautical practice. Can someone fill me in?!

Thanks

KESTON,

Answer 1

It's a popular name, common in other Euro cities too.

Answer 2

could be

three compasses on a ship..the master.in the chart house... the one in the binnacle that the helmsman steered by and one over the captains bunk ( the telltale compass) so the skipper could see what was happening even from his bunk

or there are three ways of describing courses....

.true, which is the bearing of one point to another on a map;

magnetic, which is the bearing of one point to another with local variation thrown in ( compasses don't point to true north but magnetic north; so in the UK a compass's north is actually pointing well west of  "map north", over towards the magnetic north pole in Arctic Canada......

and compass, which is adjusted for the local effects on the compass on a ship; large blobs of metal..like an engine on a GRP boat ...will affect the compass and you have to allow for it

trying to remember a map of the British Isles off the top of my head.......say on a map London to Glasgow is due North, or 000 degrees......you can find from a map or chart that the variation for England is , say 15 degrees West.....so to go from London to Glasgow you don't drive 000 but 015 on the compass.....if you drove 000 you might end up in Belfast..

Answer 3

I didn't have a solid answer, but I suspect they took the name from an older pub.

These three web pages seem related.

http://www.tetburyfamilies.co.uk/html/th...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_...

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-goa1...