650 



ICELAND. 



Ireland. 



Weight* 

 *nd mea- 

 sures. 



Farm 

 houses. 



WEIGHTS AND MEASURES USED IN THE ISLAND. 



Liquid Measure, 



1 pipe contains ..... 3 ame ... or . 120 gallons. 



1 oxhoved (hogshead) 60 



1 ame 4 ankers . or . 40 



1 tonde 3 ankers . or . 30 



1 anker 5 kutting . or . 10 



1 kutting ........ 4 kander . or . 2 



1 kande 2 potter . or . 



1 pot 4 paele . . or . 2 pints. 



1 psele or . 01 pint. 



Corn Measure. 



1 tonde (barrel) = 8 skepper, or 4 English bushels. 

 1 skepper Q bushel) contains 18 potter or quarts. 



Cloth Measure. 



1 alen or yard 25 English inches, or two-thirds of A 

 yard, and is divided into quarters. 



Weights. 



1 skippund = 20 lisepund, or 3 cwt. 22 Ib. English. 

 1 lisepund =16 pund, or 17lb. 

 1 pund =16 onzer, or 1 Ib. 



The Danish pound is 12 per cent, heavier than the 

 English. 



We have already mentioned the laws respecting pro- 

 perty, and the conditions in which a tenant holds a 

 farm. A farm house in Iceland has the appearance of 

 a small village ; the dwelling house, all the out-houses, 

 and the hay yard, being within a general inclosure of 

 turf, four or five feet high, and seldom less than five or 

 six feet thick. The doors to the different apartments 

 are generally arranged on the south side, and each has 

 a sort of pediment above it, surmounted by a vane. 

 The access to the dwelling house is by a long narrow 

 passage, into which the different rooms, open. Each 

 room is separated from the next by a thick partition of 



turf, and has also a separate roof, through which the Iceland. 

 light is admitted by bits of glass or skin. The princi- V """"Y"^ 

 pal rooms of the better sort of people have small gla- T' 

 zed windows in front. Ventilation is not attended to, 

 warmth being the chief object in the construction of 

 the houses ; and the consequence is, that the smell is to 

 a stranger almost insupportable. The houses are ge- 

 nerally built on a rising ground, and in the middle, or 

 as near as possible to the land devoted to the hay crop. 

 On this land, which is in general much broken into 

 little knolls or hillocks, the manure is spread in the 

 month of May ; and about the end of July the grass is 

 cut, when it is scarcely more than six inches long. In 

 this operation a very short scythe is used, and the Ice- 

 landers cut with it very neatly and expeditiously. The 

 hay is kept chiefly for the cows, though in very severe 

 weather the sheep and horses get a small share. As 

 soon as the crop near the house is secured, the farmer 

 gives a feast ; and when the whole is safe in the hay 

 yard, a fat sheep is killed, and another feast takes place. 



The cows are very like the Scotch Highland sort, Cows. 

 known in England by the name of Kyloes. No at- 

 tention is paid to breeding stock ; and in general we 

 find the best stock on farms where the winter food is 

 in greatest plenty. During the summer there is great 

 abundance of pasturage. 



The sheep appear to be a mixed breed, carrying long 

 and coarse wool. The wool is removed by pulling it 

 when it appears loose. A great quantity of mutton is. 

 salted for exportation in the northern districts. 



Very little cheese is made, butter being the chief ob- f^ fcle ail(1 

 ject in the dairy. It is barrelled without salt, and is butter, 

 thus kept several years. The older it is the more it is 

 prized. In this state it reaches a certain stage of ran- 

 cidity, beyond which it does not pass ; and it is won- 

 derful how long it keeps. 



The horses are of a small breed, but stout, and very Horses. 

 hardy. Those used for riding are trained to what is 

 called pacing ; and, where the ground is tolerably 

 smooth, they go very swiftly, the motion being very 

 easy and pleasant to the rider. The statistical infor- 

 mation contained in the following Tables, was partly 

 furnished to the writer of this article by Bishop Vida- 

 lin, and is partly taken from Stephenson's Iceland in 

 the 18th Century. 



