Of measurement by weight the instruments were—1st, The Pundar or Pundlar, identical with the Steelyard or Statera, and of two kinds—the Malt Pundar for weighing Malt and other bulky articles, and the Bere Pundar for Bere only, using the same weights, but each a third less than the same denomination on the Malt Pundar; and 2ndly, the Bysmar, on which were weighed the butter and other articles requiring more minute mensuration. The following figures will explain the form of the Pundar and Bysmar better than description, and show their liability to error and fraud, and the consequent necessity for the jealous watch of the Lawrightman upon the weigher’s crafty hand.
The first is a facsimile of the woodcut which occurs in the original edition of the Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, of Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala, p. 468, Romæ, 1555, folio. The other is copied from The General Grievances and Oppression of the Isles of Orkney and Shetland (by James Mackenzie), p. 19. Edinb. 1750, 8vo.: Both cuts are figured in Dr. Hibbert’s Shetland.
The weights in use were—
| 8 | Eyrar or Ounces | = 1 | Mark of half a pound |
| 24 | Marks | = 1 | Lispund, Span, Setteen, or Stone. |
| 6 | Lispunds | = 1 | Meil. |
| 24 | Meils | = 1 | Last. |
Of measurement by capacity, the instruments were the Can or Kanna of Norway, and the Barrel or Bariel of fifteen Lispunds.
| 48 Cans of Oil or 15 Lispunds of Butter | = 1 Barrel. |
| 12 Barrels, 180 Lispunds, or 576 Cans | = 1 Last. |
Of measurement by extent the only instrument was the Cuttel or Alin, a wooden rod of the length of the Scottish Ell. The Cuttel of Wadmæl became in Zetland the general measure of value, standard of barter, and substitute for a current coinage; 6 Cuttels being equivalent to an Eyrir or ounce of land taxation, and 6 score or a large hundred of Cuttels being the standard price of an ox or six sheep.
6 Cuttels = 1 Gudling or Gullioun—10 Gulliouns = 1 Pack.