Faggot (unit)
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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).
BackgroundEdit
Sometimes called a short faggot, a faggot of sticks equals a bundle of wood sticks or billets that is Template:Convert in length and Template:Convert in circumference.<ref name="Zupko" /> The measurement was standardised in ordinances by 1474.<ref name="Zupko">Template:Cite book</ref> A small short faggot was also called a nicket.<ref name="Halliwell">Template:Cite book</ref> A brush-faggot (sometimes shortened to brush) was a bundle of similar size made of brushwood.<ref name="Wright">Template:Cite book</ref>
A long faggot of sticks equals a bundle larger than Template:Convert 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.<ref name="stevens1998">Template:Cite book</ref>
A long faggot was also called a kidd faggot,<ref name="Yaxley">Yaxley, David (2003). A Researcher's Glossary of Words Found in Historical Documents of East Anglia. Larks Press, Template:ISBN</ref> kid, kide, or kidde being Middle English for firewood in bundles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
A fascine (or bavin<ref name="Wright" />) is a type of long faggot which is approximately Template:Convert long and Template:Convert in diameter and used to maintain earthworks such as trenches.<ref name="nqr1855">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="engmech">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="nolan">Template:Cite book</ref>
A faggot was also a unit of weight used to measure iron or steel rods or bars totaling Template:Convert.<ref name="Zupko" />