cran

In Great Britain, at least as early as the 18th century – 20th century, a unit of capacity for fresh herring before cleaning, since 1852 the quantity needed to fill 37½ imperial gallons (about 6.03 cubic feet, or 170.5 liters). From the Gaelic crann, a measure for herring. Sometimes spelled crane. Under the Herring Industry Board's rules, and Weights and Measures Regulations, any herring not sold by the cran must be sold by weight. A cran typically contains about 1200 fish, but can vary from 700 to 2500.¹

The cran originated in Scotland as a heaped measure. A standard but bottomless 30-gallon herring barrel was filled to overflowing with fish, and then the barrel was lifted off. Because the fish were heaped, the resulting pile contained more than 30 gallons of herring – observers estimated around 34 wine gallons² (others say 35 to 36). An Act of 1815³ allowed the Commissioners of the Fishery Board to define the size of the cran, which they did in 1816, setting it at 42 wine gallons. In 1832 it was legally redefined as 45 wine gallons. The 1852 redefinition was simply a restatement of 45 wine gallons in imperial gallons.¹

In 1908 the cran was made a legal measure in England and Wales,⁴, having previously been legal only in Scotland.

In the United States, the size of the cran was fixed “from and after the first day of June, 1816, the cran to be used for the purchase and sale of fresh herrings...shall be of the content or capacity of forty-two gallons English wine measure.”⁵

1. J. J. Waterman.
Measures, Stowage Rates and Yields of Fishery Products.
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Torry Advisory Note No, 17.
London: HMSO.

Available on the web at www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5989e/x5898e00.htm

2. Second Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to consider the subject of weights and measures. (1820).

Appendix A, page 14. Cites 41 George III.

3. Herring Fishery (Scotland) Act of 1815.
55 George III c 94, par XIII.
Statutes at Large, Volume XX.

Some say the commissioners didn't get around to setting a value until 1832, and 42 wine gallons was simply a holdover.

4. Cran Measures Act.
8 Edward VII c 17. (1908)
Public General Statutes, Volume XLVI.

Page 30.

5. Report of the Commissioners for the herring industry.
22nd Congress, 2nd Session, House Document No. 99. (1832)