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Encyclopaedia of the North East

W - Wecht to wood

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A large ornate printed capital letter W with a saw, adze, axe head, weights, measures and scales.

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wecht n 
A standard by which something is measured, a heavy body. 

Until recently every area had its own version of a standard measure for use in competition and trade. Today, we use a mixture of the old imperial measures and the pan-European metric standard. These measures are determined by parliamentary decree in London and Brussels.

Print of the Aberdeen weigh house. A long building with a gable roof, small dormers, square windows, three simple wooden doors leading on to a balcony accessible by a staircase on the outside, and two large arched wooden doors on the lower level.

Print of the weigh house in Aberdeen.

ABDUA:63584

Sovereign scales. Two small brass scales for weighing sovereigns, one folds up in a long wooden box.

Two sets of scales for weighing sovereigns.

ABDUA:18265, 18262

Guinea scales. A small set of scales consisting of two brass pans hung on either end of a rod with a hinge in the centre. There is also a box containing thick brass weights resembling coins.

Scales for weighing guineas, with brass weights resembling coins (late 18th cent.)

ABDUA:18280

Letter scales. A small steel bar with a weight on one end, a projection for balancing the bar near the middle, and a pair of tongs hanging from the other end.

Letter scales (late 19th cent.)

ABDUA:18263

Measure pot. A dark heavy metal jug with a slightly fat body.

Aberdeen liquid measure (late 18th - early 19th cent.)

ABDUA:18102

Measure pot. A metal jug with a fat body and five incised horizontal lines on it. The letters I G M P are stamped on the handle.

'Pot belly' measure (early 19th cent.)

ABDUA:18100

Measuring ladle. A small metal mug shaped measure with a large handle.

Measuring ladle for milk (late 20th cent.)

ABDUA:18504

Spirit measures. Three cups of different sizes, shaped like cones with the tops cut off, in a shiny slightly iridescent metal. The largest cup is inscribed 3 DRAMS, the other 1 1/2 DRAMS and the smallest has no inscription.

Gun metal spirit measures (19th cent.)

ABDUA:18219

Ladle. A steel tub shaped ladle with a long hooked handle.

Milk sample ladle (late 20th cent.)

ABDUA:18494

Weight. A ball of granite, about seven inches tall, with an iron handle on top.

19lb granite weight (19th cent.)

ABDUA:18334

Weights. A set of five small dull brass weights, tub shaped, in decreasing size. The weights fit inside each other and the largest has a lid.

Brass weights made by Lawrence of Guestrow, Aberdeen (1820-1839).

ABDUA:36837

Yard and ell measure. A long wooden bar with projections at either end so that something a yard long would fit in the space between the projections. There are markings along the bar, and brass plates on the side at either end.

Official measure for a yard and an ell, Banff (1830-1850).

ABDUA:18738

Gas meter. A dark metal bucket with a box at the top which has dials in it.

Gas meter, Aberdeen (1864).

ABDUA:16554

Wine bottle. A light green glass bottle with a boar's head and the letter E surrounded by a ring on the lower body.

Glass Wine bottle bearing the Elphinstone crest, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:18332

Cheese thermometer. A pointed glass cylinder with mercury at the bottom and the numbers 0 to 240 in increments of ten marked up it. In red is marked Zero at 0 degrees, Freezing at 32 degrees, Churning at 62 degrees, Cheese at 85 degrees, Pasteurising at 152 degrees and Water Boil at 212 degrees.

Thermometer for cheese making (late 20th cent.)

ABDUA:18503

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wood
1 n An area of land occupied by growing trees. 
2 n A fibrous material obtained from trees. 

The River Spey and logging are synonymous. The trees that clothe its banks are destined to make their journey to the pulping plants and wood yards via the A9 or A95 rather than floated down the river itself. Trees and the material we get from them have always been an important factor in the North East's economy.

Crosscut saw. A large saw about half a metre long.

Crosscut saw, Aberdeen (19th cent.)

ABDUA:18340

Adze. An adze with a wide, flat rusty iron head and a wooden handle.

Adze, used for stripping bark from birch trees, Darnabo, Fyvie (early 20th cent.)

ABDUA:15928

Axe head. A large flat iron axe head of one piece with the blade projecting horizontally from a socketed area.

Wrought iron woodmans axe, Aberdeenshire (14th - 15th cent.)

ABDUA:18370

Log gripper. A wide, flat U shaped piece of iron with spikes on the underside and a leather strap over the top.

Foot log gripper, used by loggers on the River Dee (19th cent.)

ABDUA:18391

W - Wecht to wood