A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1502-1503
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Span, n.2 [ON spann a pail; a measure, esp. of butter.] A measure of weight or capacity of butter used in Orkney in assessing the amount of butter scat payable (see Scat(t n.).‘A span of butter about the year 1500 was valued at 20 pence … the span was accounted to be equal to 5 lispunds.' H. Marwick Orkney Farm-Names (Kirkwall, 1952) p. 196f. 1502 Orkney Rentals i 6.
The tennentis to pay … as this rentall proportis … Yinstaith, viij d. terre ant in butter scat ij span xiiij d. jam tantum inde stent ij leispund xvj merk [etc.] 1502 Orkney Rentals i 6.
Tankarnes xij d. terre uthall land ant in butter scat xj span jam tantum inde stent iiij leisp. Et bot j leisp. on ilk iij d. terre and it suld be j leisp[und] upoun ilk span becaus it payis nather malt scat nor butter scat we ken nocht quhy 1502 Orkney Rentals i 7.
Campstane iiij d. ob terre uthale ant in butter scat uther half span jam tantum inde stent uther half leisp 1503 Orkney Rentals i 26, etc.
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"Span n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/span_n_2>
