OK, Tony,
Here’s another section of the CMS report which I think is wrong. I will only make reference to your claims regarding the acre in this thread - I’ll start new threads regarding mistakes about the foot & yard.
Out of the 3 threads, this one is the weakest, but I still feel that your claims re the acre are worthy of comment.
“8.9 Finally, there are the cultural, heritage and identity arguments for the retention of British weights and measures. They have been part of the fabric of this country for over 2,000 years. We can go back at least to the Molmutine laws, devised and codified in around 390 B.C. by the then King of the Britons, Dyfnal Moel Myd (the laws were named after him). These laws used some of today’s measures, such as ‘feet’, ‘yards’ and ‘acres’, which go back well beyond even 390 B.C. Each free Briton was allocated five acres of land, with more acres reserved for chieftains and other community leaders.”
O’Keefe’s “The Law of Weights & Measures” states
“Measures of Area in Saxon Times
As to area measures based on the northern foot there had developed the rood, which was a rectangular strip of a quarter of an acre. The rood was made up in this way: 15 northern feet equalled 1 land rod: 40 land rods equalled 1 furrow length or furlong. A rood was always 1 land rod by 40 land rods. This was the common size which was the basis of a holding in land. Four roods side-by-side (ie, 4 x 40 land rods) equalled 1 acre. Thus the furrow length or furlong had become stabilised, for originally a furlong (or ges) was the distance a man ploughed before turning his horses. The length of this furlong of ancient times, being 15 northern feet each of 13·2 modern inches, equalled 660 modern feet or 220 yards. This is still the recognised length of a furlong although the northern foot is no longer used. The subsequent reduction of the foot from 13·2 to 12 inches merely meant that, to maintain the length of the land rod and the furlong, the measure of a rod was changed from 15 northern feet to 16·5 modern feet”
OK, that explains the strange length of the rod (5.5 yards), but why do various internet sites state
http://www.ldolphin.org/cooper/appen6.html
“The native rights of all freeborn men and women were the gift and free use of five acres of land (eight English acres)”
http://ausind.tripod.com/Our_basis_of_law.html
five (British) acres of land for a home
And can you provide some justification regarding use of current definition of the word “acre” from before 390 BC?
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