One often talks about the heart of Africa, of course, or the bosom of Europe. How wonderful that Boston gets a neck. Fortifications were built across the neck to protect the city from a land attack, I suppose a bit like a heavy necklace, or a handsome neck brace. When the Siege of Boston began in 1775, Governor Gage ordered that the fortifications be expanded and strengthened - they became known as "Gage's Lines".