Getting the measure of Scotland
by - 14:48 on 09 May 2007
We were worried that we would have to rename our site ‘extraonepointsix kilometrescotland.co.uk’ which would have been a spelling disaster.
Elsewhere in our ramblings we have touched upon how the ‘lang Scots mile’ is longer than the English one. As for other kinds of measurements, it’s also sometimes forgotten that in olden days Scotland had its own currency as well. At the time of the 1707 Union, the Pound Scots was valued at only one-twelfth of a Pound sterling. This is the basis for the old tale of the Scottish farmer who – so the story goes – was crossing the River Ythan (pronounced eye-than) and found a fresh-water mussel which had a magnificent fresh-water pearl inside. Visiting London, England, some time later and with the pearl in his pocket, he asked a jeweller if he would buy it for ‘a hunner poun’ (meaning 100 Pounds Scots). After some hesitation the dealer agreed and gave him the price in sterling. Presumably the farmer kept a straight face and made off over the border.
Back on the measurements, you can find an ell at Dunkeld, built into the outside wall of a property in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. An ell is an old Scots yard, standardised at 37 inches in the 17th century, and commonly used for measuring cloth. The 17th-century Mercat Cross at Fettercairn, near Aberdeen, has a groove on the cross-shaft which is also an ell, measuring 37.5 inches. In the grounds of Dornoch Cathedral you can find one of 38 inches (known as the Plaiden Ell). So it looks as though the further north you went, the more inclined the local dealers were to go the extra ell.
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