Scottish units#Dry volume
{{Short description|Obsolete units of measurement formerly used in Scotland}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with Scottish military units.}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Culture of Scotland}}
Scottish or Scots units of measurement are the weights and measures peculiar to Scotland which were nominally replaced by English units in 1685 but continued to be used in unofficial contexts until at least the late 18th century.{{Citation needed|reason=At the time of the Highland Potato Famine (started 1846), official relief supplies were purchased by the Boll, so this implied date of phasing out of Scottish measures appears to be misleading. Additionally, a quick search of the British Newspaper Archive reveals official usage of the boll in 1904|date=February 2019}} The system was based on the ell (length), stone (mass), and boll and firlot (volume). This official system coexisted with local variants, especially for the measurement of land area.
The system is said to have been introduced by David I of Scotland (1124–53), although there are no surviving records until the 15th century when the system was already in normal use. Standard measures and weights were kept in each burgh, and these were periodically compared against one another at "assizes of measures", often during the early years of the reign of a new monarch. Nevertheless, there was considerable local variation in many of the units, and the units of dry measure steadily increased in size from 1400 to 1700.{{citation | last= Simpson |first=A. D. C. | year = 2005 | contribution = Interpreting Scots measurement terms: a cautionary tale | url = http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/corpus/search/document.php?documentid=837 | title = Perspectives on the Older Scottish Tongue |editor-last=Kay |editor-first=Christian J. |editor2-last=Mackay |editor2-first=Margaret A. | location = Edinburgh | publisher = University Press | pages = 139–52}}.{{citation |last1=Connor |first1=R. D. |last2=Simpson |first2=A. D. C. | year = 2004 | title = Weights and Measures in Scotland: A European Perspective | location = Edinburgh | publisher = NMS/Tuckwell Press | isbn = 978-1-901663-88-4}}.
The Scots units of length were technically replaced by the English system by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland in 1685,"[http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1685/4/83 Act for a standard of miles]" (16 June 1685). APS viii: 494, c.59. RPS 1685/4/83. and the other units by the Treaty of Union with England in 1706.[http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1706/10/257 Union with England Act 1707 (c. 7)], art. 17. However, many continued to be used locally during the 18th and 19th centuries. The introduction of the Imperial system by the Weights and Measures Act 1824 (5 Geo. 4. c. 74) saw the end of any formal use in trade and commerce, although some informal use as customary units continued into the 20th century. "Scotch measure" or "Cunningham measure" was brought to parts of Ulster in Ireland by Ulster Scots settlers, and used into the mid-19th century.{{cite book|last=Andrews|first=John Harwood|title=Plantation acres: an historical study of the Irish land surveyor and his maps|date=1985|publisher=Ulster Historical Foundation|page=126}}{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Anna Maria|author-link=Anna Maria Hall|title=Ireland: Its Scenery, Character, &c|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qbwTAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA198|access-date=15 May 2015|year=1842|publisher=How and Parsons|pages=198, fn|quote=We notice the Scotch acre, chiefly because it is the measure employed in some of the northern Irish counties.}}
Length
{{glossary begin}}
; Scottish inch: The Scottish inch was 25.44 mm, almost the same as the English (and modern international) inch (25.40 mm). A fraudulent smaller inch of {{frac|42}} ell (22.4 mm) is also recorded.{{cite web |url=http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1663/6/81 |title=Act anent the foot measure |date=1663-09-29 |website=The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 |id=1663/6/81 |access-date=2021-06-20}}
; foot (Scots
; yard ({{lang|sco|yaird}}): 36 inches (915.9 mm; compare with the English yard of 914.4 mm). Rarely used except with English units, although it appears in an Act of Parliament from 1432: "The king's officer, as is foresaid, shall have a horn, and each one a red wand of three-quarters of a yard at least."[http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1432/3/12 Act of 10 March 1432], RPS 1432/3/12.
; Scots ell: The ell ({{langx|la|ulna}}) was the basic unit of length, equal to 37 inches (941.3 mm).[http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1427/3/2 Act of 11 March 1427], RPS 1427/3/2. The "Barony ell" of 42 inches (1069 mm) was used as the basis for land measurement in the Four Towns area near Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire.{{citation | title = The statistical account of Scotland | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fYXRAAAAMAAJ | author = Sinclair, John | location = Edinburgh | publisher = W. Creech | year = 1793 | page = 240}}.
; fall ({{lang|sco|faw}}): 6 ells, or 222 inches (5.648 m). Identical to the Scots rod and {{lang|sco|raip}} ("rope")."fall, faw", Dictionary of the Scottish Language – Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue [http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ online edition].
; Scots mile: 320 falls or 5920 feet or 1973.33 yards (1807 metres), compare with the English mile of 5280 English feet or 1760 yards (approximately 1609 metres), but varied from place to place. Obsolete by the 19th century."mile", Dictionary of the Scottish Language – Scottish National Dictionary [http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ online edition].
{{glossary end}}
Area
A number of conflicting systems were used for area, sometimes bearing the same names in different regions, but working on different conversion rates. Because some of the systems were based on what land would produce, rather than the physical area, they are listed in their own section. Please see individual articles for more specific information. Because fertility varied widely, in many areas, production was considered a more practical measure.
=Area by size=
For information on the squared units, please see the appropriate articles in the length section
- square inch
- square ell
- square fall ({{lang|sco|faw}})
- Scots rood ({{lang|sco|ruid}})
- Scots acre
=Area by production=
File:Oxgangs towards Comiston.jpg, Edinburgh named after the Scottish unit.]]
Eastern Scotland:
; oxgang ({{lang|sco|damh-imir}}): The area an ox could plough in a year (around 20 acres).
; ploughgate ({{lang|sco|plougate}}): 8 oxgangs
; davoch ({{lang|sco|dabhach}}, or {{lang|sco|dauch}}): 4 ploughgates
= Area by taxation/rent =
In western Scotland, including Galloway:
; markland ({{lang|sco|merkland}}, {{lang|sco|marg-fhearann}}): 8 ouncelands (varied)
; ounceland ({{lang|sco|unceland}}, {{lang|sco|tir-unga}}): 20 pennylands
; pennyland ({{lang|sco|peighinn}}): basic unit; sub-divided into halfpenny-land and farthing-land.
Also:
; quarterland ({{lang|sco|ceathramh}}: Of variable value: one-quarter of a Markland.
; groatland (Scottish Gaelic, {{lang|gd|còta bàn}}): Land valued at a groat i.e. four pence
Volume
=Dry volume=
Dry volume measures were slightly different for various types of grain, but often bore the same name.
; chalder ({{lang|sco|chauder}}): Normally understood as 16 bolls (being just under 12 Winchester quarters){{cite book |last1=Connor |first1=R D |last2=Simpson |first2=A D C |last3=Morrison-Low |first3=A D |title=Weights and Measures in Scotland: A European Perspective |date=2004 |publisher=NMSE Publishing |location=Edinburgh |isbn=1-901-883-884}}{{rp|270}}{{cite web |title=Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/30277?rskey=nLYvbf&result=1#eid |website=OED |access-date=11 August 2021}}
; boll ({{lang|sco|bowe}}, or {{lang|sco|bole}}): Equal to 4 firlots.
; firlot
; peck
These volume measurements were fixed at slightly different sizes at different times. A unified weights and measures system is attributed to David I – though the first written records of this are from the 14th century. The Assize of 1426 made changes to these measures. Then the Assize of 1457 was followed by four major revisions. These involved increases in the size of the firlot, the basic unit of grain measure, and occurred in: c.1500, 1555 (modified in 1563), 1587 and 1618. This last date gave a fixed Scottish system which only changed with the introduction of English measures. An increase in the size of the firlot allowed greater taxation to be raised (as each unit collected was bigger).{{r|Connor and Simpson 2004|pp=3, 171, 263, 267}}
Superimposed on this chronological complexity was the difference between the "legal" measures established by the assizes, and the actual measures used in the markets and everyday trade. The "trading" measure could be one sixteenth larger than the "legal" boll, and the "customary" boll a further one sixteenth larger.{{r|Connor and Simpson 2004|pp=270–271}}
Weight equivalents of one boll are given in a trade dictionary of 1863 as follows:
Flour 140 pounds;
Peas or beans 280 pounds;
Oats 264 pounds;
Barley 320 pounds;
=Fluid volume=
Nipperkin was also used, but perhaps not part of this more formal set.{{cite web|title=Nipperkin|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-nip1.htm|website=World Wide Words: Investigating the English language across the globe|access-date=11 September 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Donn|first1=Benjamin|title=A new introduction to the mathematicks: being essays on vulgar and decimal Arithmetick (1858)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A6o2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA146-IA1|access-date=11 September 2016|year=1758}}
Weight
Weight was measured according to "troy measure" (Lanark) and "tron measure" (Edinburgh), which were standardised in 1661. In the Troy system these often bore the same name as imperial measures.
- drop ({{lang|sco|drap}})
- ounce ({{lang|sco|unce}})
- pound ({{lang|sco|pund}})
- stone ({{lang|sco|stane}})
Various local measures all existed, often using local weighing stones.
See also the weight meanings of the {{lang|sco|boll}} under the dry volume section, above.
See also
Bibliography
- Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland
- Weights and Measures, by D. Richard Torrance, SAFHS, Edinburgh, 1996, {{ISBN|1-874722-09-9}} (NB book focuses on Scottish weights and measures exclusively)
- {{Dwelly}}
- Scottish National Dictionary and Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue
- Weights and Measures in Scotland: A European Perspective R. D. Connor, et al. National Museum of Scotland and Tuckwell Press, NMSE Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN|1-901663-88-4}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.scan.org.uk/measures/ Scottish Weights and Measures] on Scottish Archive network (SCAN)
{{systems of measurement}}
Category:Medieval history of Scotland