1. The desire to make it hold 8 lb. of wine = about 222 c.i., that weight being mentioned in statute.
2. The influence of wine-measures used at the ports whence wine came.
The principal unit of wine-measure at Bordeaux, and some other continental ports, was the Velte, the equivalent of the German viertel which was 1/4 Rhineland cubic foot = 471·6 c.i. So our gallon tended to increase towards the measure of 235·8 c.i., the half-velte. It could not increase further than 231 c.i. without deranging its water-wheat ratio with the corn-gallon, already increased, temporarily at least, under Henry VIII to 282 c.i. But the principal reason for 231 c.i. was that this was the capacity of a cylinder 7 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep. It has always been desirable that market-measures should be of dimensions easily remembered and readily gauged with a foot-rule. The wine-gallon of 231 c.i., confirmed by the new measures made by Elizabeth’s order, was afterwards known as Queen Anne’s gallon. It is to this day the fluid gallon of the United States, Canada and Ceylon.
The half-velte was the French galon, a word connected with galloie, jallaie, jalle, jarre, with our ‘jar’ and with ‘gauge,’ Fr. jauge. It may be mentioned that ‘velte’ sometimes meant a gauging-rod for wine-casks.
The wine-gallon was divided into 2 pots, or 4 quarts or 8 pints. The wine-pint = 16·57 fluid ounces = 5/6 Imperial pint.
Cask Measures
By 2 Henry VI (1423)—
| The wine-Hogshead | was | 63 | gallons | |
| The Pipe | „ | 126 | „ | |
| The Tun (tonnel) | „ | 252 | „ | (12 score and 12). |
Thus the hogshead (Flemish okshoofd, ox-head) was approximately 1/4 of the tun or fluid ton.
252 wine-gallons of 8 lb. = 2016 lb.