Dear Han, Here is a quotation from Russ Rowlett's web page:
'When the Normans arrived, they brought back to England the Roman tradition of a 12-inch foot. Although no single document on the subject can be found, it appears that during the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) the 12-inch foot became official, and the royal government took steps to make this foot length known. A 12-inch foot was inscribed on the base of a column of St. Paul's Church in London, and measurements in this unit were said to be "by the foot of St. Paul's" (de pedibus Sancti Pauli). Henry I also appears to have ordered construction of 3-foot standards, which were called "yards," thus establishing that unit for the first time in England. William of Malmsebury wrote that the yard was "the measure of his [the king's] own arm," thus launching the story that the yard was defined to be the distance from the nose to the fingertip of Henry I. In fact, both the foot and the yard were established on the basis of the Saxon ynce, the foot being 36 barleycorns and the yard 108.' For further details go to: http://www.unc.edu/%7Erowlett/units/custom.html I have interspersed some other remarks below. on 2005-06-04 03.13, Han Maenen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I think that the pre-1066 Old English unit of 1007 mm was called the yard > and the hand. The old English unit of 1007�millimetres was called a 'wand', I think, and although the 'yard' was created to replace the wand the wand was still used for some centuries because of its convenience as part of an old English decimal system that included: 10 digits (base of long finger) about 20�millimetres 10 digits = 1 small span (span of thumb and forefinger) 200�millimetres 10 small spans = 1 armstretch (1 fathom from finger tip to finger tip) about 2�metres 10 fathoms = 1 chain about 20 metres 10 chains = 1 furlong about 200 metres 10 furlongs = 1 thus-hund of about 2000�metres Clearly the measurements of early England were built around body parts. The basic unit was the armstretch that is also called fathom (from the Danish faedm). An armstretch refers to the spread of your outstretched arms from tip to tip of your middle fingers. As you know the human armstretch varies from person to person so the official armstretch, had to be made a fixed size. This, somewhat above average, armstretch could have been the fathom of some great warrior of the past and it probably was. In the late 19th century, a metrologist, William Matthew Flinders Petrie (known as Flinders Petrie or W. M. F. P) measured the lengths of fathoms, rods, chains, and miles all over England and Europe carefully checking their lengths. He found that the length of the official armstretch or fathom was exactly the same in England, as it was in Scandinavia, early Holland, and Germany. These official fathoms were all very close to 2 metres in length. As William Matthew Flinders Petrie put it in the 11th edition (published in 1910) of the Encyclopedia Britannica (Volume 28 pages 481/484), when he likened it to the metric system of today: 'It is remarkable how near this early decimal system is the double of the modem decimal system. Other quotes from Petrie include: 'Unfortunately the old equivalent of the meter has now disappeared. . . . Had it not been unhappily driven out by the 12-inch foot we should need but a small change to place our measures in accord with the metre.' 'The basis of the present English land measures . . . are neither Roman or Briton in origin'. 'We can restore the old English system of long measures from the buildings, the statute-prohibitions, the, surviving chain and furlong, and the old English mile shown by maps and itineraries.' > Too bad there was no BWMA in that era! The present-day BWMA > hates 'foreign' metric units, but defends a set up that was imported long > ago from France, Italy (in the 18th century joined by Germany - Fahrenheit), > which destroyed a native Britsh system of units!!!!! Agreed, but they sure are making up for lost opportunities in the 21st century. However, they surely would have fought just as hard when the units you describe as 'a native British system of units' was imported with the Jutes, Angles, Danes, and Saxons from the 8th century onwards. Cheers, Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)* PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia Phone 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com and clicking on 'Newsletter'. * Pat is the editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' chapter of the Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual � for writers, editors and printers', he is an Accredited Speaking Member (ASM) with the National Speakers Association of Australia, and a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender by return email. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Pat Naughtin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 9:18 AM > Subject: [USMA:33055] French foot > > >>> Bill Hooper wrote: "Do I try to report this 456 mi. figure as 57 furlongs >>> ...?" > I certainly hope not, seeing as there are 8 furlongs to a mile. > > Perhaps you were thinking of leagues. > > Dear Bill, Bill, and All, > > Whether there are eight furlongs to a mile depends on which bit of history > you choose. >> > According to the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica there were 10 > furlongs to a mile prior to the year 950. (Google for "Encyclopedia > Britannica" +"weights and measures" and then search for the writer William > Matthew Flinders Petrie or W. M. F. Petrie or W. M. F. P.) > > Apparently, it wasn't until the introduction of the French foot (the foot > that is still used in England) in about 1066 that the measurement methods of > England fell into almost complete disarray. > > The idea of 8 furlongs to a mile came about following the Assizes of 1304 > after the then king of England threw up his hands in horror at the > complexity of the English measures (using the French foot) and handed over > the control of measurement to the London merchants. To my mind this has > always smacked of giving the keys of the hen house to a neighbourhood fox. > > By the way, if Petrie is right, the French foot has only been in use for > about 700 years in England. Prior to that time the English apparently used a > decimal system based on a wand that was about 1007 millimetres long � an > interesting coincidence of length! > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)* > PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia > Phone 61 3 5241 2008 > >
