Length
- ell
- The ell (Latin: ulna) was the basic unit of length, equal to 37 inches. The "Barony ell" of 42 inches was used as the basis for land measurement in the Four Towns area near Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire.
- Scottish inch
- As in England. A fraudulent smaller inch of 1⁄42 of an ell is also recorded.
- foot
- 12 inches.
- yard
- 36 inches. 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."
- fall
- 6 ells, or 222 inches. Identical to the Scots rod and raip ("rope").
- Scots mile
- 320 falls (1973⅓ yards), but varied from place to place. Obsolete by the 19th century. The Royal Mile in Edinburgh is longer than an English mile (1760 yards) but roughly the length of a Scots mile.
Read more about this topic: Obsolete Scottish Units Of Measurement
Famous quotes containing the word length:
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—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“At length they all to merry London came,
To merry London, my most kindly nurse,
That to me gave this life’s first native source;
Though from another place I take my name,
An house of ancient fame.”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)
“They raise their minds by brooding over and embellishing their sufferings, from one degree of fervid exaltation and dreary greatness to another, till at length they run amuck entirely, and whoever meets them would do well to run them thro’ the body.”
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)