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4 
“pears, from William’s own laws, that he 
eftablifhed the weights and meafures of 
his predeceffors in this kingdom, ‘ Et. 
quod habeant per univerfum regnum 
menfuras fideliffimas & fignatas, & pon- 
dera fideliffima & fignata ficut bonis pre- 
deceffores ftatuerant,’ "—Leg. 57. de men- 
furis & ponderibus. I am aware that 
his Latin laws are not without imputa- 
tion of forgery, and that, confequently, 
little or no ficefs can be laid upon this 
guotation. His pennies are alfo found 
to have been of the fame ftandard as thofe 
ef his Saxon predecefiurs, another argu- 
ment that he did not change, at leaft, the 
money weight of the kingdom and it 1s 
very probable, as we fhall Perpeae in the 
courfe of even this flight invettigation, 
that there was no other at this time. ; 
In the afize of meafures of Richard T, 
the pound and other weights are direcied 
to be of the fame quantity, or f{pecific 
gravity, throughout the kingdom, accord- 
ing to the diverlity of merchandife. Here 
_Wwe perceive, and I believe for the frit 
time, a variety 1n the ftandard weights 
ef the land. 
In the * Compofitio de Pandesaeer’ 
the date of which oe Hot appear, though 
it is probably before Edward III, the 
pound, for {pices and drugs, was to con- 
tain twenty fhillings, and for all other 
commodities twenty-five fhillings. The 
pound alfo for drugs was to contain 
‘twelve ounces; and the ounce was,.at all 
times, to contain ee ey: pence: thus we 
fee there were, at this time, two pounds; 
the one of tw ae ounces, the other of 
fifteen: the latter is called the merchants’ 
pound, in Fleta, written about this time 
in which the compofitio de ponderibus was 
made. The authoralfo {peaks of the pound 
ef twelve ounces, as making twenty fhil- 
lings, and of thé ounce of twenty pence. 
I fhall here take occafion to obferve, 
that our oldeft pound would naturally be 
ef twelve ounces, like the Roman “dra ; 
and this is proved from the word zach, 
which is the fame as ounce, i. e. the 
twelfth part of any thing. Agricola, ina 
treatife ‘* de Ponderibus & Menfuris,”’ is 
faid to defcribe two different pounds, the 
one of twelve, the other of fixtcen 
eunces; the firft of thefe he calls /dra 
wedica, the other /bra civilis ; but, as I 
have not feen his work, it remains to be 
afcertained, of what antiquity are thefe 
weights, and where made ufe of ? 
In the fiat. Weftm. 31 Edw. EET, c.2, 
mention is made of ‘¢ weights of Exche- 
quer ftandard,” but neither the terms 
On Englifh Weights. 
{ Jani 
troy nor averdupots are ufed upon this 
occafion. 
The above may ferve as a flight fketch 
of the alterations in our weights, after the 
conqueft ; let us next endeavour to throw 
‘fome fmall light upon thofe obfcure terms, 
troy and averdupois. 
I fhould fcarcely have troubled the 
reader with the following opinion, relating 
to the origin of troy weight, were it not 
for the purpofe cf confuting it. The 
laws of Edward the Confelios mention, 
that the court of Huitings, in the city of 
London, had been built after the manner, 
and in memory of, the city of Troy, 
thereby adopting the fabulous account of 
the foundation of London by the Tro- 
JaNS=i; 9510 fonaee this comparifon, 
STRYPE, in his edition of Stowe’s Survey 
of * London, affumes, that the troy weight 
was called, in the time of the Saxons, the 
Huftiegs weight. He fhows authority, 
indeed, fcr the exiftence of Huftmegs 
weight; but, to have proved his point, 
he fhould have fhowa that, Huftings 
weight was alfo called troy weight. 4 
‘The more common opinion 1s, that the 
troy wer hiees imported with the Nor- 
mans; but this is iraprobable, for the fol- 
lowing reafons: 1. That William, as has 
been already fhown, did not change the 
weights of the kingdom; 2. That, in the 
fiat. Panis, 5 Hen. 111, the weights are 
not de{cribed in troy, but money weights, 
and the fame in the ffar. 51 Edw. 1; 
3. That the pound troy is net mentioned 
in the ftatute-book, nor eifewhere, that I 
can find, until the 2d Hen. V,c. 4, in the 
ftatute of Wefiminfter, relating to gold- 
{miths. 
Asa flandard weight, it.occurs, I believe 
for the firk ume, in 12, Hen. VII,«c. «. 
The non-exiftence, as far as I have been 
able to trace, of a troy pound, feems to 
prove that this weight could mewer have 
been uted for heavy articles of any kind, 
nor was it ufed as a money weight, untit., 
the reign of Henry Vill. 
As to the origin. of the term, there are 
different cpinions. The .more common 
one is, that itcame fromm Tropes, in Cham- 
pagne. Du Cange fays, that troy weight 
was ae not only in France, but in Ger- 
many, England, Spain, Flanders, and other 
parts of Europe, and that this arofe from 
the celebrity of the fair at Troyest. 
Bithop Hooper, however, objeéts, with 

x Survey of Londen, Vel. 2 P. 466, 
Edit. 1755. 
t Gloflar, v, Marca, 
great 
