Select Tracts and Table Books Relating to English Weights and Measures (1100–1742)

doi:10.1017/S2042171000007597

^{page ix note 1} See below, p. 6 sq. There is some vagueness in the earlier expositions of the dimensions of the inch. Cf. Drapers' Dictionary, s.v. “Yard.” For the association of physical measures with astronomy, see Haskins, , Mediœval Science, p. 62.Google Scholar

^{page ix note 2} See pp. 10, 11 and Index. 3 See List of Authorities (Appendix A). We have not dealt specially with measures of length or area because these have been fully discussed in many well-known works of reference.

^{page ix note 4} Guide to the Grecian and Roman Antiquities in the British Museum (1920)Google Scholar. The exhibits described in the official Guide to the Mediœval Room are arranged on similar lines.

^{page x note 1} Some of these are catalogued under “Trade,” others under “Mathematics.” There were, apparently, no careful or consistent entries made under this subject heading in the indexes of earlier official publications by the British Museum and the Record Office, though this omission has been rectified in the case of their scholarly modern publications.

^{page x note 2} E.g. the wey or the hundred; and even the stone or pound of lead, wool, cheese, wax, iron, etc. The variation in the hundreds of goods sold by count, such as boards, fish, etc., was equally marked.

^{page x note 3} For these, see below. Index.

^{page x note 4} See below, II. Only weights or measures of a purely local significance have been included here. Some of these, like the Mensura Lanfranci at Canterbury, may deserve closer study. Other tables not included here are associated with local Assizes setting forth the prices of various commodities within certain franchises or with the customary measures of the country side. See Appendix (List of Authorities) under Durham, Pembrokeshire, Wells, and Wilton.

^{page xi note 1} See below, III, passim.

^{page xi note 2} Cf. Stat. Realm I. 204.

^{page xi note 3} Hoveden (Rolls), IV., 33, 100, 172.

^{page xii note 1} Pp. 7, 9 sq. Some discussion of the subject will be attempted in another place.

^{page xii note 2} For a specimen of a fifteenth-century prescription, see Stonor Papers, II, 108Google Scholar (Camden 3rd Ser., Vol. XXX). For a fourteenth-century reference to the London apothecaries, see Henry of Bray's Estate Book (Ibid., Vol. XXVII, p. xxix). Some interesting details of post-mediaeval money weights will be found in the Tables below (p. 33 sq.).

^{page xii note 3} Apart from the delicate nature or rarity of spices, etc., tradition required the computation of drugs by pseudo-classical weights.

^{page xiii note 1} Especially the procedure for the inspection and approval of the official weights and measures in public use referred to in the text (pp. 41–53).

^{page xiii note 2} A valuation of 1d. was given to the butter “dish” at Canterbury. The lead “dish” of the Duchy of Lancaster may also have been an extemporized measure. Well-known examples of the conventual system are seen in the scale of allowances at St. Paul's, London, and Holy Cross, Winchester.

^{page xiii note 3} P. 21.

^{page xiii note 4} P. 32 sq.

^{page xiii note 5} Pp. 43, 51.

^{page xiv note 1} See p. 1, n. 1, and Appendix A and B.

^{page xiv note 2} Bulletin Ducange, T. I, p. 77Google Scholar sq.

^{page xiv note 3} In doubtful cases an apostrophe has been used, as in the Record Office publications; for the scribe's method is not always certain.

^{page xiv note 4} Capitals have been retained where they might assist the reader.

^{page xv note 1} Where no titles appear in the MSS. they have been supplied, from the introits, in square brackets. Some modern titles are supplied by us.

^{page xvi note 1} This is only the first heading in a treatise of some twenty-four pages.

^{page 1 note 1} Cf. Hultsch Reliquiœ, II, Nos. 122–126 and 137–139: Isidore (ed. Lindsay), XV, xv–xvi; XVI, xxv–xxvi and ed. Migne, lxxxii, 590 sq. Cf. also Brehant (below p. 56) for a brief analysis.

^{page 1 note 2} MS. Harl. 3017, f. 181: officially ascribed to the tenth or to the eleventh century. There is no title in the MS., which comprises dissertations on computation and mensuration. On folios 52–53 appears an abbreviated version of the essay “De mensuris Agrorum,” included below (1 c.). It will be seen that the classification and values of these weights and measures are confused by an unintelligent scribe who is, however, interested in Scriptural as well as in classical metrology.

^{page 1 note 3} Sic in MS.

^{page 2 note 1} Reg. 15B. IX, f. 71^b. The official date of this MS. accepted by Dr. L. C. Karpinski in Isis, III, 3 (1921), p. 396Google Scholar, is the eleventh or early twelfth century. The substance of the expositions given in this MS. is practically duplicated in the MSS. from which the preceding and following specimens have been selected, and it reappears in other Tables printed below, Nos. I (1) d and III passim.

^{page 2 note 2} MS. Reg. 13A. XI, f. 141^b, of approximate date to the last.

^{page 2 note 3} Here and elsewhere the text is compressed or vitiated by omissions.

^{page 3 note 1} Sic in MS.

^{page 3 note 2} The MS. is mutilated here.

^{page 4 note 1} Sic in MS.

^{page 4 note 2} Descriptions of the Actus, Jugerum and other measures of area and length follow here in MS.

^{page 4 note 3} Sic in MS. The mile has been omitted.

^{page 5 note 1} Some more omissions occur here.

^{page 5 note 2} MS. Sloane 683, f. 39–40 (15 c.); entered at the end of a finely written twelfth-century treatise on Logic. This seems to represent a later stage in the evolution of weights and measures, when expositions were briefly tabulated for practical purposes.

^{page 5 note 3} Sic in MS.

^{page 6 note 1} The MS. continues with some topographical and astronomical information. Two short notes of measurements are printed below, I (2) h and 111 (2) g.

^{page 6 note 2} MS. Cotton, Cleo. A. XVI, f. 46 (15 c). These so-called Assizes may be of some antiquity, as their association with physical measures suggests. It will be noticed that the weights mentioned are based on the Troy scale, while the need for larger standards was gradually satisfied by the provision of a second pound of 15 (later 16) ounces, from which these larger measures were derived. Once established, the Avoir-du-pois scale was enforced in several directions. Latin, French and English versions of this Table are found in many MSS. dating from the thirteenth century.

^{page 7 note 1} MS. Add. 37658, f. 486^b,15 c. (on the fly-leaf of an Edwardian Year Book).

^{page 7 note 2} Reg. 13D. I, f. 248 (14 c). There is no heading to this piece in the MS. This version of the Assize and that which follows it (d) illustrate the conventional theory of equivalent weights and measures in connexion with the Troy system.

^{page 7 note 3} MS. Harl. 369, f. 101 (16 c).

^{page 8 note 1} MS. Add. 24059, f. 15, 14 c. The copy is entered in a register of Durham Priory, which is here concerned to note the variance of London and Durham weights and measures, not perhaps intelligently.

^{page 8 note 2} MS. Galba, E. IV, f. 28^b (14 c.) entered in a register of Canterbury Cathedral, showing the characteristic weights of the “Troy” scale. Red wheat is specified here of the usual quality of seed corn.

^{page 8 note 3} Ibid., f. 28^b. The Standards were enforced by the Clerk of the Markets (cf. p. 48).

^{page 8 note 4} Sic in MS.

^{page 9 note 1} Sloane 683, f. 205 (15 c). The King's Standard Foot is perhaps apocryphal. The inch and league are here abnormal.

^{page 9 note 2} Although this Ordinance regulating the scale of Avoir-du-pois has been printed among the Statutes of Uncertain Date (Stat. Realm, I, p. 204), we have included it in our selection partly because it is the basis of a large number of tables, and partly because the manuscript of this early copy does not seem to have been collated by the editors of the Statutes of the Realm, possibly because it is difficult to read in places. It will be seen that it preserves some interesting variants. Further reference to the provenance of the MSS. will be made in the description of an Anglo-French version given immediately below.

^{page 9 note 3} MS. Reg. 9A. II, f. 170^b (temp. Edw. I).

^{page 9 note 4} The right-hand margin of the MS. is illegible in places.

^{page 10 note 1} Almost illegible in MS.

^{page 10 note 2} Sic in MS. See p. 11, 1.18 and 1.34.

^{page 11 note 1} MS. Eg. 2733, f. 174–5 (the “White Book” of Peterborough Abbey, c. 1253). If this Anglo-French version of an Avoir-du-pois scale, combined with a customary “tale” by number, is contemporary with the Assize of Bread (entered on f. 155 of the MS.), it might suggest that the Latin version printed below is based upon an ordinance of pre-Edwardian origin. Further variants will be found in MS. Cotton, Galba E. IV (f. 28^b–29) and in MS. Add. 6159, f. 146.

^{page 11 note 2} Sic in MS.

^{page 12 note 1} Sic in MS.

^{page 12 note 2} In the lower margin of f. 174 is an almost illegible entry. On f. 175 is the entry “j quart' de furment e j sak de leyne checun de eus peise xxviij peres.”

^{page 12 note 3} MS. Cotton, Vesp. E. IX, ff. 86–110 (15 c). No general title appears. This interesting dissertation was evidently intended for practical use as a “Ready Reckoner,” but it also contains much curious information respecting foreign markets and commercial practice. It was probably compiled by a merchant of the Staple. It seems to be dated in the later part of the fifteenth century, and it is evidently later than the reign of Henry VI, while more than one passage is found in Arnold's Chronicle (1503). The writer uses y consistently for th. All matter not relating to weights and measures is omitted here, though noted for use in another direction.

^{page 12 note 4} The titles of some of these weights are written in the margin of f. 86.

^{page 13 note 1} See Stat. 25 Edw. III. (5) ix. The text of this “curse” is entered in MS. Reg. 7B. X, f. 251, and is printed in Concilia, III, 516.Google Scholar

^{page 13 note 2} Dim, or di, were commonly used in the vernacular, like ob; but must not be confused with disme (mispronounced dime).

^{page 13 note 3} An example of reckoning is omitted here.

^{page 14 note 1} Some titles of measures of length are written in the margin.

^{page 14 note 2} I.e. goads.

^{page 14 note 3} I.e. “without it be,” etc.

^{page 15 note 1} Elaborate examples on the basis of this reckoning have been omitted.

^{page 15 note 2} The usual distinction between the short hundred of five score and the long hundred of six score.

^{page 15 note 3} Coggeshall, Essex.

^{page 15 note 4} The price should be 25s. Further examples of the reckoning are omitted here.

^{page 15 note 5} I.e. the Awm.

^{page 15 note 6} I.e. the Sextary.

^{page 15 note 7} Altered to “oyle” in MS. Wine and oil went by the same measure, ale being distinguished from these and from beer.

^{page 15 note 8} There is a further marginal note, “Names of Mesurs yf ye will by wyne to retayle.” Much of this has been omitted.

^{page 16 note 1} The measurement of time was commonly included with numbers, weights and measures, see pp. 5, 40. The fiscal year began with October.

^{page 16 note 2} See below, p. 40, for a later version.

^{page 16 note 3} Sic in MS., where the titles sakk, sarpler, etc., are set out and bracketed in column.

The title “Dyuers clothis” follows here but seems to be irrelevant.

^{page 17 note 1} Blank in MS. Particulars of the herring fishery are omitted.

^{page 17 note 2} I.e. fishermen frequenting the Dogger-bank.

^{page 17 note 3} Measures of steel; see Index under “Chef.”

^{page 17 note 4} I.e. by the short hundred; the price was higher for large eels.

^{page 18 note 1} A digression on a young trader's deportment is omitted here.

^{page 18 note 2} These terms may denote quality or origin (cf. p. 25 and Index).

^{page 19 note 1} Several folios relating to English trade with Iceland, Ireland, Bordeaux and Bayonne are omitted.

^{page 20 note 1} A long digression on the “Reckoning of Wools in England” is omitted here. This is followed by another digression on the reckoning of wool and wool-fells from Custom and Subsidy, which is also omitted. The manuscript concludes with further statistics as to the reckoning and sale of wool at Calais from various districts of England with the prices of each.

^{page 20 note 2} MS. Reg. 18 C. XX (1590–1620) attributed to J. Lloyd, a Denbighshire landowner. A dissertation addressed by the author to King James I. The MS. is profusely illustrated by mathematical and archæological drawings in colours.

^{page 20 note 3} The heading continues “with arithmeticall questions practicall answered upon the same.” Similar workings occur throughout the MS., where they occupy considerable space. These have been omitted here.

^{page 22 note 1} The equivalent of a pound as a pint is emphasized in the margin by the following note: “If all these weare sould by waight, ther wold not then be suche cossening and deceiptes as they haue nowe adayes in ther filling, or to much to speake of.”

^{page 23 note 1} The fodder of lead or tin should be 2340 lbs. for 19 hundreds at 120 lbs.

^{page 24 note 1} The count of furs and gloves which follows this section is omitted.

^{page 26 note 1} Only the notes of measures or weights of cloths have been used by us.

^{page 28 note 1} Sic in MS.

^{page 28 note 2} MS. Harl. 5769 f.63 sq. (1682). This is a type of a Common Place book which was already in general use and which is commonly found in a printed form during the next century. It is finely written in a copper-plate hand and bound in leather, its size being 5 inches by 2 inches. It was dedicated by the compiler to James, Duke of York, and includes besides the Tables of Measures and a complete Calendar much useful information as to Tides, Distances, Feasts, Events, etc.

^{page 29 note 1} Sic in MS.

^{page 29 note 2} The usual symbols for these weights are given in the margin, cf. pp. 34, 36.

^{page 31 note 1} A few specimens only can be given, but this class is represented by many interesting documents in central and local archives. References will be found elsewhere in the present collection, and a large quantity of illustrative material has been collected by Sir William Beveridge in connexion with the history of prices.

^{page 31 note 2} MS. Cotton, Galba E. IV, f. 28^b: early 14 c. (From a Register of Canterbury Priory.)

^{page 31 note 3} Ibid., f. 29. The Church of Canterbury maintained an establishment for works in connexion with its city property.

^{page 32 note 1} MS. Add. 29436, f. 3 (16 c). (From the Chapter records of Winchester.) 2 Ramsey Cartulary (P.R.O. K. R. Misc. Bks. No. 28, f. ccxvj^d: 14 c). The Ramsey system of manorial measures was elaborate, and is partly based on units which had become archaic in the 14th century, though a table of Roman measures is preserved here. The Ring was probably of continental origin (like the Hop). In its later form this measure varied according to the rings (or hoops) which bound the staves. Here it seems to be used as a measure of the granary or mill, for receipt of rents in kind or tolls. The measures have been printed here in figures. It is printed in the Rolls Series.

^{page 33 note 1} In a marginal note in the MS. the weights of bread are given as follows: Monks' bread 49s. 4d.; Monks' bread white (smaller) 38s. 3d. (at St. Ives); Servants' bread 57s. 8d.; Knights' bread 38s. 3d.

^{page 33 note 2} In this section the devolution of the classical tables printed above, pp. 1–6, may be observed (cf. above, pp. xii and 1 n.). Their chief use was, henceforth, in connexion with medical prescriptions and the assay or exchange of money. A few Tables or Notes are added here to illustrate the application of these figures for scientific or statistical purposes.

^{page 33 note 3} MS. Sloane 135, f. 116 (15 c). A metrical version of the several values which follows in the MS. has been omitted because a more intelligent version is given in MS. Sloane 156 (below). A further couplet in Sloane 135 seems to be a later addition.

^{page 34 note 1} Sic in MS.

^{page 34 note 2} MS. Sloane 156, f. 9^b–10 (15 c). Cf. another versionin Sloane 135 above.

^{page 34 note 3} Prior interlineated for ista in MS.

^{page 34 note 4} The last three sentences refer to long hundreds.

^{page 35 note 5} MS. Sloane 135, f. 116, substitutes for this last imperfect line: “Divide per medium librarum pondera quinque,” and appends a further couplet.

^{page 35 note 1} MS. Sloane 783B, f. 214^b (15 c).

^{page 35 note 2} A metrical version of the first four items is given on the lower margin.

^{page 35 note 3} The symbol is given here as in 1a above.

^{page 35 note 4} Sic in MS. See preceding page for variation of ounces and hundreds.

^{page 35 note 5} MS. Add. 30338, f. 11 (15 c). The y used throughout by the scribe for th has been extended here. In this document the signs for the several weights are definitely associated with medical prescriptions.

^{page 36 note 1} MS. Sloane 1001, f. 31 (17c).

^{page 36 note 2} MS. Sloane 156, f. 9b (15c), giving details of the Troy and Avoirdupois scales respectively.

^{page 37 note 1} MS. Harl. 2386, f. 10^b. Otherwise known as “the Chess-board problem.”

^{page 37 note 2} In these calculations … 63 millions … has been used as the sum of grains contained in the 64 points instead of … 73 millions … as correctly given above.

^{page 37 note 3} MS. Add. 25093. By H. G., Citizen and Goldsmith of London. The general tables only have been selected. They will be found to contain several inaccurate calculations.

^{page 38 note 1} Sic in MS.

^{page 39 note 1} Errors in these lines.

^{page 40 note 1} MS. Add. 6180, f. 183b. Official Notes at Council Meeting of Royal Society, 21 June 1742.

^{page 40 note 2} MS. Harl. 369, f. 101. Cf. above I(1) (c). and 1(4) (a).

^{page 40 note 3} MS. Harl. 2252, f. 2 (early 16th c.). Cf. above, pp. 29, 37, 38, and below, pp. 45, 46. The Scale of Avoirdupois was not officially standardized at this date.

^{page 41 note 1} MSS. Sloane 683, 1 205 (15 c), and Harl. 369, f. 101 (16 c). The confusion between the ell and yard was often merely ingenuous, but might also be designed. The King's standard yard exists, but not a foot or perch. Measures of fish were often complex, cf. above pp. 7 sq.

^{page 41 note 2} The few documents for which space could be found here represent an important aspect of mediaeval public policy which has been strangely neglected in the study of our earlier economic and social history. Reference has been made in the Introduction to the subject generally.

^{page 41 note 3} MS. Add. 37791, f. 6b. In this document Edward I refers to the socalled Carta Mercatoria of 1303, for which see especially N. S. Gras, Early Customs System, pp. 66Google Scholar sq., 257 sq. It will be seen from other documents printed here that manipulation of the balance (e.g. the Auncel) was persistently alleged.

^{page 42 note 1} Vos in MS.

^{page 42 note 2} approbates in MS.

^{page 42 note 3} ibi in MS.

^{page 42 note 4} nobis in MS.

^{page 42 note 5} Quere in MS.

^{page 42 note 6} Answer of the City to the Writ printed above.

^{page 42 note 7} MS. Add. 37791, f. 9.

^{page 43 note 1} MS. Add. 37791, f. 16b (14 c).

^{page 44 note 1} Thomam in MS.

^{page 44 note 2} The above documents (a-c) are calendared in Sharpe's “Letter Books” (Guildhall), D, pp. 127, 209; E, p. 19 sqq.

^{page 44 note 3} MS. Stowe 880, f. 65b (16 c).

^{page 44 note 4} Add. Charter 19540.

^{page 45 note 1} MS. Add. 11683, f. 33 (1635), where this table is written in double columns and is stated (c. 1635) to have been sent (c. 1588) by Queen Elizabeth to all cities and towns. For the evidences referred to herein see below (i).

^{page 46 note 1} Sic in MS.

^{page 46 note 2} Lawfull is repeated in the MS.

^{page 46 note 3} MS. Add. 6180, f. 183.

^{page 47 note 1} MS. Harl. 2252, f. 18–21 (c. 1517.) The Common Place book of John Colyn, a London mercer, which is described in the Harleian Catalogue (IV, 582–3). This tract figures as No. 23. The date is given there as 1517.

^{page 50 note 1} Innnes in MS.

^{page 50 note 2} MS. Add. 11683, ff. 53–8 (c. 1634), an Appendix to (f) supra.

^{page 51 note 1} tryall of the is repeated in MS.

^{page 51 note 2} Innnes in MS.

^{page 52 note 1} Further details are omitted here as irrelevant.

^{page 52 note 2} 8 Further details are omitted.

^{page 53 note 1} These are still preserved among the Quarter Sessions Records.

^{page 53 note 2} I.e. marked on the counter.

^{page 53 note 3} “Unsized” for “not assized.”

^{page 55 note 1} See pp. ix, xiv.

^{page 57 note 1} See pp. xiii, xiv.

^{page 57 note 2} Partly parallel with Reg. 13 A. XI, printed above, pp. 2–5 (cf. Migne, Patr, curs., T. lxxxii. 590.)Google Scholar

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