Billet (wood) was a specific and standardised form of wood fuel of significant importance in the traditional pre- fossil fuel economy. The term could also be applied to a cudgel. [1]
Nature and use
Billets were especially designed for burning on open hearth fires, often in conjunction with spits. [2]
Measurements and cost
The 16th C standardised a billet as three foot four inches in length, and ten inches around. [3]
A century later, Anthony A Wood recorded a load of billet wood as costing 12s 6d; while extravagance consisted of "burning in one yeare threescore pounds worth of the choicest billet". [4]
Literary references
- The William Shakespeare play Measure for Measure contains the phrase "beat out my brains with billets". [5]