A Stone's Throw

Can anyone PLEASE help me find the origins of the phrase 'A stones throw' or 'A stone's throw away'.
I'd really appreciate it if someone could enlighten me
Thanks, Jean

It means a short distance -- the distance an average person can throw a stone. "He lives a stone's throw from our house." I'll have to do some research regarding how old it is or the first use.

The Oxford Eng. Dict.'s earliest example is from 1712: "She stank so, that nobody durst come within a stone's throw of her" (Arbuthnot, "John Bull"). There are earlier uses involving other objects, the first one being "The enimyes were come, within the throwe of a Dart" .