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Until the middle
of the 19th century a wide diversity of weights
and measures were used in Scotland. Standardization
took place from 1661 onwards, and in 1824 an act
of parliament imposed the English versions of
Imperial measures and defined the proportions
of older measures to Imperial measures.
In weight the basic unit was the Scots pound (from
the Latin pondo, a ‘pound’, or pondus,
meaning a ‘weight on a scale’), which equated
roughly with the Roman weight, libra,
hence the abbreviation of ‘lb.’). 16 pounds made
a stone (from the word stone, i.e. a
small piece of rock). A sixteenth of a pound was
an ounce (from the Latin uncia, meaning
a ‘twelfth part’ – originally a pound was divided
into 12 ounces). A sixteenth of an ounce was a
drop or drap (possible from a drop, i.e.
a small amount of liquid, or from the Greek drachma,
the origin of the Imperial equivalent, the dram).
TROY MEASURE
According to the standard measure of Lanark, adopted
in 1661:
| Scots |
Imperial |
Metric |
| 1 drop (or drap) |
1.093 drams |
1.921 grammes |
| 1 ounce = 16 drops |
1 ounce 1.5 drams |
31 grammes |
| 1 pound = 16 ounces |
1 pound 1 ounce 8 drams |
496 grammes |
| 1 stone = 16 pounds |
17 pounds 8 ounces |
7.936 kilogrammes |
TRON MEASURE
According to the standard measure of Edinburgh,
adopted in 1661:
| Scots |
Imperial |
Metric |
| 1 drop (or drap) |
1.378 drams |
2.4404 grammes |
| 1 ounce = 16 drops |
1 ounce 6 drams |
39.04 grammes |
| 1 pound = 16 ounces |
1 pound 6 ounces 1 dram |
624.74 grammes |
| 1 stone = 16 pounds |
1 stone 8 pounds 1 ounce |
9.996 kilogrammes |
Background
and Further Reading
Distance and
Area
Dry and Liquid
Capacity
What was
meant by the 'ferd corn' or the 'third corn'?
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