HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Scottish or Scots units of measurement are the weights and measures peculiar to Scotland which were nominally replaced by
English units English units are the units of measurement used in England up to 1826 (when they were replaced by Imperial units), which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems of units. Various standards have applied to English units at ...
in 1685 but continued to be used in unofficial contexts until at least the late 18th century. The system was based on the ell ( length), stone ( mass), and
boll Boll may refer to: *Boll (surname) * Boll, an obsolete Scottish measure of volume * BOLL, a protein in humans * 7873 Böll, a main-belt asteroid * Boll case, a 1958 International Court of Justice case * Boll KG, Uwe Boll's personal production com ...
and
firlot The firlot was a dry measure used in Scotland. For centuries it was the primary measure for all grains sold in the country. In the Scottish system a firlot was equal to 4 pecks, and the boll was equal to 4 firlots. The first attempt of the Scott ...
( 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 David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Malc ...
(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... The Scots units of length were technically replaced by the English system by an Act of the
Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council of ...
in 1685,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. 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 Weights and measures acts are acts of the British Parliament determining the regulation of weights and measures. It also refers to similar royal and parliamentary acts of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and the medieval Welsh states. ...
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 Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C *Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer * Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...
measure" was brought to parts of Ulster in Ireland by Ulster Scots settlers, and used into the mid-19th century.


Length

; 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 ell (22.4 mm) is also recorded. ; foot ( Scots: ): 12 inches (305.3 mm; compare with the English
foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...
of 304.8 mm). ; yard (): 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." ; Scots ell: The ell ( la, ulna) was the basic unit of length, equal to 37 inches (941.3 mm). The "Barony ell" of 42 inches (1069 mm) was used as the basis for land measurement in the Four Towns area near Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire. ;
fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
(): 6 ells, or 222 inches (5.648 m). Identical to the Scots rod and ("rope"). ; Scots mile: 320 falls or 5920 feet (1807 metres, compare with the English
mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Englis ...
of 5280 English feet or approximately 1609 metres), but varied from place to place. Obsolete by the 19th century.


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 () *
Scots rood Scots usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: * Scots language, a language of the West Germanic language family native to Scotland * Scots people, a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland * Scoti, a Latin name ...
() * Scots acre


Area by production

Eastern Scotland: ; oxgang (): The area an ox could plough in a year (around 20 acres). ;
ploughgate The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
(): 8 oxgangs ;
davoch The davoch, davach or daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic '' dabhach''. The word ''dabh'' or '' damh'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also refe ...
(, or ): 4 ploughgates


Area by taxation/rent

In western Scotland, including Galloway: ;
markland Markland () is the name given to one of three lands on North America's Atlantic shore discovered by Leif Eriksson around 1000 AD. It was located south of Helluland and north of Vinland. Although it was never recorded to be settled by Norsemen, ...
(, ): 8 ouncelands (varied) ; ounceland (, ): 20 pennylands ; pennyland (): basic unit; sub-divided into halfpenny-land and
farthing Farthing or farthings may refer to: Coinage *Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny ** Half farthing (British coin) ** Third farthing (British coin) ** Quarter farthing (British coin) *Farthing (English co ...
-land. ; quarterland (: Of variable value. ; groatland ( Scottish Gaelic, )


Volume


Dry volume

Dry volume measures were slightly different for various types of grain, but often bore the same name. ; chalder (): Normally understood as 16 bolls (being just under 12 Winchester quarters) ; boll (, or ): Equal to 4
firlot The firlot was a dry measure used in Scotland. For centuries it was the primary measure for all grains sold in the country. In the Scottish system a firlot was equal to 4 pecks, and the boll was equal to 4 firlots. The first attempt of the Scott ...
s. ;
firlot The firlot was a dry measure used in Scotland. For centuries it was the primary measure for all grains sold in the country. In the Scottish system a firlot was equal to 4 pecks, and the boll was equal to 4 firlots. The first attempt of the Scott ...
;
peck A peck is an imperial and United States customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 dry gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. An imperial peck is equivalent to 9.09 liters and a US customary peck is equivalent to 8.81 liters. Two pecks m ...
; lippie, or
forpet A forpet, lippie or lippy was a Scottish unit of dry measure Dry measures are units of volume to measure bulk commodities that are not fluids and that were typically shipped and sold in standardized containers such as barrels. They have largely be ...
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). 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. 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; Oatmeal 140 pounds.


Fluid volume

Nipperkin was also used, but perhaps not part of this more formal set.


Weight

Weight was measured according to "troy measure" (
Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of ...
) and "tron measure" ( Edinburgh), which were standardised in 1661. In the Troy system these often bore the same name as imperial measures. * drop () * ounce () * pound () * stone () Various local measures all existed, often using local weighing stones. See also the weight meanings of the under the dry volume section, above.


See also

* Units of measurement * Systems of measurement * History of measurement * Scottish coinage * Scottish pronunciation *
Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer an ...


Bibliography

* ''Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland'' * ''Weights and Measures'', by D. Richard Torrance, SAFHS, Edinburgh, 1996, (NB book focuses on Scottish weights and measures exclusively) * * ''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,


References


External links


Scottish Weights and Measures
on Scottish Archive network (SCAN) {{systems of measurement
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
* Medieval Scotland Early Modern Scotland Systems of units Units of measurement by country