nail

In Britain, 15th – 20th centuries, various units all of which are 1/16th of some larger measure. The ratio probably comes from the Roman digitus, (literally, finger, and hence nail), having been 1/16th of a pes.

1

As a unit of length,

In England, (by far the most common meaning) = 2¼ inches, 1/16th of a yard.

In Scotland, 1/16th of the Scottish ell of 37 inches = 2 5/16 inches.¹

In Orkney, Scotland, the distance from the knuckle to the tip of the middle finger, given as eight to a yard, i.e. 4½ inches.²

1.Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue. Now enlarged and online at www.dsl.ac.uk/

2. Scottish National Dictionary (SND) Now enlarged and online at www.dsl.ac.uk/

s.v. nail, definition 3. This entry raises questions. The yard is not a Scottish unit, neither on the mainland nor Orkney. Why 1/8? I speculate that this nail is 1/16th of the Norwegian favn. This is the same unit that Graham describes as a knuckle in his Shetland Dictionary.

2

As a unit of mass:

In Scotland, around 1400 for wool = 6 pounds, the pound being the wool pound of Bruges. This is 1/16th of the Bruges hundredweight of 96 pounds.^1,2

ln England around 1500 it begins to be used as a synonym for the clove, 7 pounds, 1/16th of a 112-pound hundredweight

1. Connor and Simpson, page 760.

2. Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue. (DOST) Now enlarged and online at www.dsl.ac.uk/

s.v. nail, definition 3a. Many usage citations, including Flemish examples from the Bute MS.

3

A unit of land area, = 1/16th of an acre.¹

1. Edward Nicholson.
Men and Measures; a history of weights and measures, ancient and modern.
London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1912.

Page 90 or 91.