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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: goldie61 on Wednesday 25 January 17 23:14 GMT (UK)

Title: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: goldie61 on Wednesday 25 January 17 23:14 GMT (UK)
This is from  a will from 1541.

I read this line as
 “to the hee Aulter vij pond off Wax Itm I Wyl be brought honestly hawm…..”. ( not sure about the ‘v’ in the numerals - what else could it be? an ‘o’?)

I would think this would be ‘to the high altar [ ] pounds of wax’
What do others think?
It would sound a reasonable bequest for a pious man in 1541.

Thanks very much
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: PrawnCocktail on Wednesday 25 January 17 23:24 GMT (UK)
Could be "on" - meaning "one" - I've see children left "on shillinge" before in a Will
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: Bookbox on Wednesday 25 January 17 23:30 GMT (UK)
As has been suggested, it's on pond (= one pound). It was common in pre-Reformation wills for bequests to be made for the purchase of wax for burning candles at the altar.
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please. Completed thanks
Post by: goldie61 on Thursday 26 January 17 00:35 GMT (UK)
Thanks both of you.

One pound of wax it is then.  ;)
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: barryd on Thursday 26 January 17 01:09 GMT (UK)
The hard part was reading the will. Now for a modern answer.

http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/blog/how-much-candle-wax-do-i-need-to-fill-my-jars/
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: goldie61 on Thursday 26 January 17 01:58 GMT (UK)
 ;D ;D ;D

They say it's 'simple'! Doh!
Not if you live a country that doesn't use pounds and ounces!!
And how is 'ounces' a measure of VOLUME as it suggests?  Surely it's a measure of WEIGHT ???
If they meant 'Fluid Ounces', why didn't they say so?

Not so 'simple' after all!  ;)
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: Guy Etchells on Thursday 26 January 17 05:52 GMT (UK)
;D ;D ;D

They say it's 'simple'! Doh!
Not if you live a country that doesn't use pounds and ounces!!
And how is 'ounces' a measure of VOLUME as it suggests?  Surely it's a measure of WEIGHT ???
If they meant 'Fluid Ounces', why didn't they say so?

Not so 'simple' after all!  ;)

The clue is in the rest of the sentence "...you will find that 1 pound (by weight) of candle wax will equal 20 ounces (in volume) when pouring into containers or molds."

If one is pouring wax into molds it is molten therefore the liquid equivalent is used, as with many words in English the context is important.

Cheers
Guy
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: goldie61 on Thursday 26 January 17 07:34 GMT (UK)
I still can't get my head around using ounces as a measure of volume, Guy.  :)
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: Mike in Cumbria on Thursday 26 January 17 08:27 GMT (UK)
I still can't get my head around using ounces as a measure of volume, Guy.  :)

Think fluid ounces - a commonly used measure of volume.
Title: Re: 'pounds of wax'? Second opinion please.
Post by: km1971 on Thursday 26 January 17 08:49 GMT (UK)
My view is that vij = 7. The j signifies it is the last i in a roman numeral. So we have vij = vii, ie 7.

From Wiki for 'J' - The letter 'J' originated as a swash letter I, used for the letter 'I' at the end of Roman numerals when following another 'I', as in 'XXIIJ' instead of 'XXIII' for the Roman numeral representing 23.

Ken