A Scottish rood was a land measurement of Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 origin. It was in greatest use in the South East of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and along the border, whereas in the north various other systems were used, based on the land's productivity, rather than actual area. Four Scottish roods made up a Scottish acre

Acre (Scots)

A Scottish acre was a land measurement used in the country. It was standardised in 1661. English acres were imposed in 1824 by an Act of Parliament, and the metric system is also used in Scotland.Equivalent to -* Scottish measures** 4 roods* Metric system...

.

As in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, "rood" was also used to mean a cross or crucifix

Crucifix

A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....

, whence "Holyrood

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

" (the name of the new Scottish parliament), an Anglicisation of the Lowland Scots

Lowland Scots

Lowland Scots can refer to:* people of Lowland Scotland* Scots language...

 haly ruid (holy cross), and also "The Dream of the Rood

Dream of the Rood

The Dream of the Rood is one of the earliest Christian poems in the corpus of Old English literature and an example of the genre of dream poetry. Like most Old English poetry, it is written in alliterative verse. Rood is from the Old English rod "pole", specifically "crucifix"...

".

Equivalent to -

• Scottish measures
  Obsolete Scottish units of measurement
  Scotland had a distinct system of measures and weights until at least the late 18th century, based on the ell as a unit of length, the stone as a unit of mass and the boll and the firlot as units of dry measure...
  
  
  • 1/4 acre
    Acre (Scots)
    A Scottish acre was a land measurement used in the country. It was standardised in 1661. English acres were imposed in 1824 by an Act of Parliament, and the metric system is also used in Scotland.Equivalent to -* Scottish measures** 4 roods* Metric system...
    
    , 40 falls²
    Fall (Scots)
    A fall or fa’ a Scottish measurement of length. Other variants of the name include "faw", "faa" and "fa", the spelling with an apologetic apostrophe is not favoured now...
    
    
• Metric system
  Metric system
  The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
  
  
  • 12.7 ares, 1270 square metre
    Square metre
    The square metre or square meter is the SI derived unit of area, with symbol m2 . It is defined as the area of a square whose sides measure exactly one metre...
    
    s
• Imperial system
  • 0.325 roods (English)

See also

• Obsolete Scottish units of measurement
  Obsolete Scottish units of measurement
  Scotland had a distinct system of measures and weights until at least the late 18th century, based on the ell as a unit of length, the stone as a unit of mass and the boll and the firlot as units of dry measure...
  
  
  • In the East Highlands
    Scottish Highlands
    The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
    
    :
    • Rood
    • Scottish acre
      Acre (Scots)
      A Scottish acre was a land measurement used in the country. It was standardised in 1661. English acres were imposed in 1824 by an Act of Parliament, and the metric system is also used in Scotland.Equivalent to -* Scottish measures** 4 roods* Metric system...
      
       = 4 roods
    • Oxgang
      Oxgang
      An oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
      
       (Damh-imir) = the area an ox could plow in a year (around 20 acres)
    • Ploughgate
      Ploughgate
      A ploughgate was a Scottish land measurement, used in the south and the east of the country. It was supposed to be the area that eight oxen were said to be able to plough in one year. Because of the variable land quality in Scotland, this could be a number of different actual land areas...
      
       (?) = 8 oxgangs
    • Daugh
      Davoch
      The Davoch, Davach or Daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic Dabhach. The word Dabh or Damh means an ox , but Dabhach can also refer to a "tub", so may indicate productivity...
      
       (Dabhach) = 4 ploughgates
  • In the West Highlands
    Scottish Highlands
    The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
    
    :
    • Groatland
      Groatland
      A groatland, also known as a fourpenceland, fourpennyland or “Còta bàn” was a Scottish land measurement. It was so called, because the annual rent paid on it was a Scottish “groat” .- See also :...
      
       - (Còta bàn) = basic unit
    • Pennyland
      Pennyland
      A pennyland is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:The Rev...
      
       (Peighinn) = 2 groatlands
    • Quarterland
      Quarterland
      A Quarterland or Ceathramh was a Scottish land measurement. It was used mainly in the west and north.It was supposed to be equivalent to eight fourpennylands, roughly equivalent to a quarter of a markland. However in Islay, a quarterland was equivalent to a quarter of an ounceland...
      
       (Ceathramh) = 4 pennylands (8 groatlands)
    • Ounceland
      Ounceland
      An ounceland is a traditional Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and Hebrides. In Eastern Scotland, other measuring systems were used instead. It was equivalent to 20 pennylands or one eighth of a markland. Like those measurements, it is based on the rent paid, rather...
      
       (Tir-unga) = 4 quarterlands (32 groatlands)
    • Markland
      Markland (Scots)
      A markland or merkland is an old Scottish unit of land measurement.There was some local variation in the equivalences, for example, in some places eight ouncelands were equal to one markland, but in others, such as Islay, a markland was twelve ouncelands...
      
      (Marg-fhearann) = 8 Ouncelands (varied)