A faggot, in the meaning of "bundle", is an archaic
English unit applied to bundles of certain items. Alternate spellings in
Early Modern English include fagate, faget, fagett, faggott, fagot, fagatt, fagott, ffagott, and faggat. A similar term is found in other languages (e.g.
Latin: fascis).
Background
Sometimes called a short faggot, a faggot of sticks equals a bundle of wood sticks or
billets that is 3 feet (90 cm) in
length and 2 feet (60 cm) in
circumference.[1] The measurement was standardised in ordinances by 1474.[1] A small short faggot was also called a nicket.[2] A brush-faggot (sometimes shortened to brush) was a bundle of similar size made of
brushwood.[3]
A long faggot of sticks equals a bundle larger than 3 feet (90 cm) long. In a book on slang used at
Winchester College fire-dogs were
fire basket (
andirons) that could hold long faggots, and half-faggots were smaller andirons that could only hold short faggots and were later converted for use with
coal.[4]
A long faggot was also called a kidd faggot,[5]kid, kide, or kidde being Middle English for firewood in bundles.[6]
A
fascine (or bavin[3]) is a type of long faggot which is approximately 13 to 20 feet (4 to 6 m) long and 8 to 9 inches (20 to 23 cm) in
diameter and used to maintain
earthworks such as
trenches.[7][8][9]
A faggot was also a unit of
weight used to measure
iron or
steel rods or bars totaling 120 pounds (54 kg).[1]
^Halliwell, John Orchard (2006). A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words: Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs and Ancient Customs from the Fourteenth Century J-Z. Vol. 2. Kessinger Publishing.
ISBN9781428627642.
^
abWright, Joseph (1898). The English Dialect Dictionary, Being the Complete Vocabulary of All Dialect Words Still in Use, Or Known to Have Been in Use During the Last Two Hundred Years: A-E. H. Frowde.
^Stevens, Charles; Stray, Christopher (1998). Winchester notions: the English dialect of Winchester College. Athlone Press.
ISBN9780485121384.
^Yaxley, David (2003). A Researcher's Glossary of Words Found in Historical Documents of East Anglia. Larks Press,
ISBN9781904006138