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Welsh units

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Welsh units of measurementare those in use inWalesbetween theSub-Roman period(prior to which theBritonsusedRoman units) and the 13th-centuryEdwardian conquest(after whichEnglish unitswere imposed). Modern Wales no longer employs these units even for customary purposes but instead follows the custom as elsewhere inBritainof using a mixture ofmetricandImperial units.

Length

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In theVenedotianCode used inGwynedd,the units of length were said to have been codified byDyfnwal Moelmudbut retained unchanged byHywel Dda.[1]The code provided for computing the units variously, as well as deriving them from grains of barley. In measuringmilkand its legal worth (teithi), disputes over the length of the inch used in the container were to be resolved by the width of the judge's thumb.[2]The code notes that in some areas of Wales, the rod used to compute the Welsh acre (erw) was not reckoned from feet but taken to be "as long as the tallest man in the [tref], with his hand above his head".[3]

  • 3barleycorns(Med.gronyn heyd,Mod.heidden) = 1 inch[4][5][n 1]
  • 3inches(Med.moduet,Mod.modfedd) = 1 palm[4][5]
  • 3palms(Med.palyw,Mod.palf) = 1 foot[4][5]
  • 3feet(Med.troetued,Mod.troedfedd,lit."footlength" ) = 1 pace[4]
  • 4 feet = 1 short yoke (Med.uerr yeu[5]oruerryeu,[7]Mod.byr iau)
  • 8 feet = 1 field yoke (Med.veieu)[5]or second yoke (Med.eyl yeu)[7]
  • 3paces(cam) = 1 leap[4]
  • 12 feet = 4 paces = 1 lateral yoke (Med.gesseylyeu[7][5]orcessel-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) = 1mile(Med.mylltyr,Mod.milltir)[4]

Area

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See also:maenor

In theVenedotianCode used inGwynedd,the basic field unit was the Welshacreor erw, whose legal description—its breadth as far as a man can reach in either direction with an ox-goad as long as the long yoke (16 Welsh feet) and its length "thirty times that measure"[10][5]—is noted byOwenas ambiguous.[10]He finds it more likely, however, that the "measure" to be multiplied thirty times is the width of the acre (that is,twolong yokes) rather than a single long yoke.[10]

Thus, at least in theory,[11]

  • 2 rods × 30 rods = 1 acre ≈ 1,440 squareimperialyards,[10]or
    2 rods × 60 rods = 1 acre ≈ 4,320 squareimperialyards[10]
  • 4acres(Med.erỽ,Mod.erw,lit."tilled [land]";[12]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) = 1manor[17]
  • 12+1⁄2manors(Med.maynaul,Mod.maenor) = 1commote[18]
  • 2commotes(Med.kymut,Mod.cwmwd) = 1cantref[18]= 25,600 acres[19]

although in fact the commutes and cantrefs were fixed political entities with quite various sizes. The 11th-centuryBleddyn ap Cynfynis also described as having changed thelegalcomposition 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 aserf(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 theDimetianCode used insouthern Wales,the same divisions were reckoned differently:

  • 2 rods × 18 rods = 1 acre[9]
  • 312 acres = 1 shareland[9]
  • 3 sharelands held byserfs= 1 serf-town[12]
  • 4 sharelands held in freehold = 1 free town[12]
  • 7 serf-towns (taeogtref) = 1 lowlandmanor(Med.maenaỽrvro,Mod.maenorvro) = 936 acres[12]
  • 12 free towns (Med.tref ryd,Mod.tref rhydd) = 1 uplandmanor(Med.maenaỽrvrthtir,Mod.maenorwrthdir) = 1248 acres[12]

Volume

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Time

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Main article:Celtic calendar

The Welsh used an eight or nine-day week,[20]rather than a seven-day one. Even today, the modern Welsh word for "week" iswythnos(literally, eight nights).

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Rochegives 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.
  2. ^Although note thatWade-Evanspreferred 18 feet to the rod[9]and the Latin PeniarthMS.28 gives 16½ feet to the long yoke.
  3. ^Lewis's account, based on Gwynedd'sBlack Book of Chirk,gives the gafael as holding 34 erwau rather than 64.[8]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^Owen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §2.
  2. ^Owen (1841),Book III, Ch. VI, §11.
  3. ^Owen (1841),Book II, Ch. XII, §2.
  4. ^abcdefgOwen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §5.
  5. ^abcdefghOwen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §6.
  6. ^Roche (1998),p. 25.
  7. ^abcdeOwen (1841),Book II, Ch. XII, §1.
  8. ^abLewis (1913),p.42.
  9. ^abcWade-Evans (1909),p.339.
  10. ^abcdeOwen (1841),p.81.
  11. ^Williams (1869),p. 500.
  12. ^abcdeWade-Evans (1909),p.344.
  13. ^Owen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §7.
  14. ^Owen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §8.
  15. ^Owen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §9.
  16. ^Owen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §10.
  17. ^Owen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §11.
  18. ^abOwen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §12.
  19. ^Owen (1841),Book II, Ch. XVII, §13.
  20. ^Jones (2007),note 5.

Bibliography

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  • 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 theKingdom.(in Welsh)&(in English)
  • Roche, John J. (1998),The Mathematics of Measurement: A Critical History,London: Athlone Press,ISBN0-387-91581-8.
  • Wade-Evans, Arthur(1909),Welsh Medieval Law, Being a Text of the Laws of Howel the Good, Namely the British Museum Harleian MS. 4353 of the 13th Century, with Translation, Introduction, Appendix, Glossary, Index, and a Map,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,retrieved1 February2013.
  • Williams, Jane (1869) [Republished atCambridgeby Cambridge University Press in 2010],A History of Wales: Derived from Authentic Sources,ISBN978-1-108-02085-5.
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