Welsh units
Welsh units of measurement are those in use in
Length
In the
- 3 barleycorns (Med. gronyn heyd, Mod. heidden) = 1 inch[4][5][n 1]
- 3 inches (Med. moduet, Mod. modfedd) = 1 palm[4][5]
- 3 palms (Med. palyw, Mod. palf) = 1 foot[4][5]
- 3 feet (Med. troetued, Mod. troedfedd, lit. "footlength") = 1 pace[4]
- 4 feet = 1 short yoke (Med. uerr yeu[5] or uerryeu,[7] Mod. byr iau)
- 8 feet = 1 field yoke (Med. veieu)[5] or second yoke (Med. eyl yeu)[7]
- 3 paces (cam) = 1 leap[4]
- 12 feet = 4 paces = 1 lateral yoke (Med. gesseylyeu[7][5] or cessel-yeu[8])
- 16 feet = 1 long yoke (Med. hyryeu, Mod. hir iau) = rod (Med. gwyalen, Mod. gwialen)[7][5][n 2]
- 3 leaps (Med. neyt, Mod. naid) = 1 land[4]
- 1000 lands (Med. tyr, Mod. tir) = 1 mile (Med. mylltyr, Mod. milltir)[4]
Area
In the
Thus, at least in theory,[11]
- 2 rods × 30 rods = 1 acre ≈ 1,440 square imperial yards,[10] or
2 rods × 60 rods = 1 acre ≈ 4,320 square imperial yards[10] - 4 Latin: acra) = 1 homestead[13]
- 4 homesteads (Med. tydyn, Mod. tyddyn) = 1 shareland[14]
- 4 sharelands (Med. randyr, Mod. rhandir) = 1 holding[15][n 3]
- 4 holdings (Med. gauael, Mod. gafael) = 1 township[16]
- 4 townships (Med. trew, Mod. tref) = 1 manor[17]
- 12+1⁄2 commote[18]
- 2
although in fact the commutes and cantrefs were fixed political entities with quite various sizes. The 11th-century Bleddyn ap Cynfyn is also described as having changed the legal composition of the homestead for purposes of inheritance and so on, varying its size depending on the social status of the owner. The homestead of a nobleman (uchelwr) was 12 Welsh acres, that of a serf (Med. eyllt, Mod. aillt) had 8, and that of a bondsman or slave (Med. godayauc) had 4. The text, however, notes the uncommonness of this division and says it was generally understood as 4 acres regardless of status.[7]
In the Dimetian Code used in southern Wales, the same divisions were reckoned differently:
- 2 rods × 18 rods = 1 acre[9]
- 312 acres = 1 shareland[9]
- 3 sharelands held by serfs = 1 serf-town[12]
- 4 sharelands held in freehold = 1 free town[12]
- 7 serf-towns (taeogtref) = 1 lowland manor (Med. maenaỽr vro, Mod. maenor vro) = 936 acres[12]
- 12 free towns (Med. tref ryd, Mod. tref rhydd) = 1 upland manor (Med. maenaỽr vrthtir, Mod. maenor wrthdir) = 1248 acres[12]
Volume
- 1 Hestawr = 2 Winchester bushels
Time
The Welsh used an eight or nine-day week,[20] rather than a seven-day one. Even today, the modern Welsh word for "week" is wythnos (literally, eight nights).
See also
- Roman units
- English units
- Megalithic yard, a proposed measure employed by the British megalith builders
- Historical weights and measures
Notes
- ^ Roche gives this as computed the length of grains of barley rather than their width,[6] but this does not appear anywhere in the statutes and early reckoning elsewhere was by the width or breadth of the barleycorn.
- ^ Although note that Wade-Evans preferred 18 feet to the rod[9] and the Latin Peniarth MS. 28 gives 16½ feet to the long yoke.
- ^ Lewis's account, based on Gwynedd's Black Book of Chirk, gives the gafael as holding 34 erwau rather than 64.[8]
References
Citations
- ^ Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §2.
- ^ Owen (1841), Book III, Ch. VI, §11.
- ^ Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XII, §2.
- ^ a b c d e f g Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §6.
- ^ Roche (1998), p. 25.
- ^ a b c d e Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XII, §1.
- ^ a b Lewis (1913), p. 42.
- ^ a b c Wade-Evans (1909), p. 339.
- ^ a b c d e Owen (1841), p. 81.
- ^ Williams (1869), p. 500.
- ^ a b c d e Wade-Evans (1909), p. 344.
- ^ Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §7.
- ^ Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §8.
- ^ Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §9.
- ^ Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §10.
- ^ Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §11.
- ^ a b Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §12.
- ^ Owen (1841), Book II, Ch. XVII, §13.
- ^ Jones (2007), note 5.
Bibliography
- Lewis, Timothy (1913), A glossary of mediaeval Welsh law, based upon the Black book of Chirk, Manchester: University Press.
- Owen, Aneurin, ed. (1841), "The Venedotian Code", Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales; Comprising Laws Supposed to be Enacted by Howel the Good, Modified by Subsequent Regulations under the Native Princes prior to the Conquest by Edward the First: And Anomalous Laws, Consisting Principally of Institutions which by the Statute of Ruddlan were Admitted to Continue in Force: With an English Translation of the Welsh Text, to which are Added A few Latin Transcripts, Containing Digests of the Welsh Laws, Principally of the Dimetian Code, London: Commissioners on the Public Records of the Kingdom. (in Welsh) & (in English)
- Roche, John J. (1998), The Mathematics of Measurement: A Critical History, London: Athlone Press, ISBN 0-387-91581-8.
- Wade-Evans, Arthur (1909), , Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Wade-Evans, Arthur (2007), "The Laws of Hywel Dda: Harleian MS 4353 (V) with emendations from Cleopatra A XIV (W), ca. 1285", in Jones, Mary (ed.), Celtic Literature Collective, retrieved 1 February 2013.
- Williams, Jane (1869) [Republished at ISBN 978-1-108-02085-5.