Ell

An ell (from Old Germanic *alinâ),[1] is a unit of measurement, approximating the length of a man's arm.

Several national forms existed, with different lengths, including the Scottish ell (≈37 inches or 94 centimetres), the Flemish ell (≈27 in or 68.6 cm), the French ell (≈54 in or 137.2 cm)[2] the Polish ell (≈31 in or 78.7 cm) and the Danish ell (≈25 in or 63.5 cm)

Select customs were observed by English importers of Dutch textiles: although all cloths were bought by the Flemish ell, linen was sold by the English ell, but tapestry was sold by the Flemish ell.[2]

In England, the ell was usually 45 in (1.143 m), or a yard and a quarter. It was mainly used in the tailoring business but is now obsolete. It was derived from the length of the arm from the shoulder to the wrist. Although the exact length was never defined in English law, standards were kept; the brass ell examined at the Exchequer by Graham in the 1740s had been in use "since the time of Queen Elizabeth".[3]

Sometimes ell is used as a synonym for the cubit . The Viking ell was the measure from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about 18 inches. The Viking ell or primitive ell was used in Iceland up to the 1200s. By the 1200s a law set the "stika" as equal to 2 ells which was the English ell of the time.[4]

An ell-wand or ellwand was a rod of length one ell used for official measurement. Edward I of England required that every town have one. In Scotland, the Belt of Orion was called "the King's Ellwand."[5][6]

Ell (Scots)

The Scottish ell (Scottish Gaelic: slat thomhais) was standardised in 1661, with the exemplar to be kept in the custody of Edinburgh.[7] It was generally assumed to be the length of an average person's arm, and comes from Middle English elle.[8]

It was used in the popular expression -

"Gie 'im an inch, an he'll tak an ell"
(equivalent to "Give him an inch, and he'll take a mile" or "... he'll take a yard", and closely similar to the English proverb "Give him an inch and he'll take an ell", first published as "For when I gave you an inch, you tooke an ell," by John Heywood in 1546[9])

The Ell Shop (1757) in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross (National Trust for Scotland), is so called from the 18th century iron ell-stick attached to one corner, once used to measure cloth and other commodities in the adjacent market-place. The shaft of the old 17th century Kincardine Mercat cross stands in the square of Fettercairn, and is notched to show the measurements of an ell.

Scottish measures were made obsolete, and English measurements made standard in Scotland, by act of parliament in 1824.

The Scottish ell was equivalent to:

References

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary
  2. ^ a b Brayshaw, Tom S., ed. Brayshaw's Mathematical Desk Companion. Chesterfield, England: Thomas Brayshaw Ltd., Edition 16, 1955
  3. ^ Knight, Charles (1840). The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 9. London: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. http://books.google.com/books?id=-BHnAAAAMAAJ. 
  4. ^ Nancy Mary Brown (2007). The far traveller : voyages of a Viking woman. Harcourt. OCLC 85822467. 
  5. ^ infoplease.com, OED s. Ell-wand.
  6. ^ AR Littlewood. "The measurements of cricket". ESPN cricinfo. http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/89685.html. 
  7. ^ Concise Scots Dictionary, chief editor Mairi Robinson, Aberdeen University Press, 1987, p 817
  8. ^ Dictionary of the Scots Language
  9. ^ Heywood, John (1546). A dialogue conteinying the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue, compacte in a matter concernyng two maner of mariages, etc.. London: Thomas Berthelet.  Full text of 1874 reprint
  10. ^ Dictionary of the Scots Language
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