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windle

1

In North Lancashire, England, at least since the 14ᵗʰ century – 19ᵗʰ century, a unit of mass used for wheat, beans, pease and vetches, = 220 pounds. The value came from taking 3 bushels, each of 70 pounds, plus an added 10 pounds.

Earlier, it was a unit of capacity. The Second Report describes the Lancashire unit as one of capacity: “of barley, beans and wheat, 3½ Winchester bushels.” Houghton (1693) has it at 12 gallons in Manchester and 26 gallons in “Lancaster and norward.”

“Windle” may also simply mean “basket.”

John C. Morton.
The Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Practical and Scientific....
Glasgow, Edinburgh, London: Blackie and Son, 1855-56.

Second Report of the Commissioners... (1820), page 37.

John Houghton.
Friday, June 23, 1693. Num. XLVI.
Variety of weights and measures in several parts of England. Something of Camden's Britania.

Between 1692 and 1703 and John Houghton published a weekly folio, something like a 17ᵗʰ century blog or financial newsletter. The folios were later published in collections. This one appeared on page 132 of

Richard Bradley.
Husbandry and trade improv'd: being a collection of many valuable… Vol 1.
London: Prin[t]ed for Woo[d]man and Lyon, 1727.

2

In Midlothian, Scotland, ? – 19ᵗʰ century, a unit of mass used for straw, = ¹⁄₄₀ kemple, about 5 to 6 pounds trone weight.

Second Report of the Commissioners... (1820), page 37.

John C. Morton.
The Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Practical and Scientific....
Glasgow, Edinburgh, London: Blackie and Son, 1855-56.

3

Wright reports that in Northumberland the windle was simply a bushel:

Windle. s. … (3) A bushel. North. ,

Thomas Wright.
A Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English Vol 2.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1886.
Page 1025.