{{Short description|Unit of mass and volume}} The '''last''' was a Dutch unit of mass, volume, and number, and a large English unit of weight, mass, volume, and number. It referred to standardized amounts of ships' lading and varied by commodity and over time.
==Name== The term derives from Old English ''{{lang|ang|hlæst}}'',<ref name=oed1>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd ed. "last, ''n.<sup>2</sup>''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2014.</ref> ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root reconstructed as *''hlaþ''- or *''hlað-'' ("to place").<ref name=oed2>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed. "lade, ''v.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1901.</ref> It is also parallel and probably influenced by the Middle Dutch and Middle Low German ''{{lang|dum|last}}'', used in identical senses as a load, cargo, or standardized unit.<ref name=oed1/>
==Weight== The Assize of Weights and Measures, one of the statutes of uncertain date from {{circa|lk=no|1300}}, defined the {{nowrap|'''wool last'''}} as 12 sacks' worth, equivalent to 24 weys, 336 London stone, or 4,200 merchants' pounds (about {{cvt|1835|kg|kg|disp=out|lk=on}}).<ref name=tract>{{Citation |editor-last=Ruffhead |editor-first=Owen |editor-link=Owen Ruffhead |title=The Statutes at Large |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tKZFAAAAcAAJ |volume= I: From Magna Charta<!--sic--> to the End of the Reign of King Henry the Sixth. To which is prefixed, A Table of the Titles of all the Publick and Private Statutes during that Time |location=London |publisher=Mark Basket for the Crown |date=1763a |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tKZFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA148 148–149] }}. {{in lang|en}} & {{in lang|la}} & {{in lang|nrf}}</ref> The last subsequently varied with the different values given to the sack of wool.
The '''flax''' and '''feather lasts''' were 1,700 avoirdupois pounds (about {{cvt|770|kg|kg|disp=out}}).<ref name=oed1/>
The English Ordnance Board defined the {{nowrap|'''gunpowder last'''}} as 24 barrels of 100 avoirdupois pounds each (2,400 lbs or about {{cvt|1090|kg|kg|disp=out}}).<ref name=oed1/>
A Dutch '''last''', or ''Scheepslast'', was {{formatnum:4000}} Amsterdam ''pond'', which is {{convert|1976.4|kg|lb ST LT|abbr=on|lk=out}}. In the Dutch East India Company ({{langx|nl|Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie}}, commonly abbreviated to VOC) the '''last''' was about {{cvt|1,250|kg}} in the 17th century, later becoming as much as {{cvt|2,000|kg}}. The '''last''' was also used as a measure of rice in Dutch Formosa. It was composed of 20 piculs and about equal to {{cvt|1200|kg}}.<ref name="Andrade" />
==Quantity== The Assize of Weights and Measures describes the {{nowrap|'''herring last'''}} as ten long thousands or 12,000 fish.<ref name=tract/> The Norman French editions describe this as the "red herring" or {{nowrap|'''kipper last'''}} and compose the herring last out of ten short thousands of twelve long hundreds, still making 12,000 fish altogether.<ref name=sotr>{{Citation |title=Statutes of the Realm |volume=I |date=1810 |location=London |publisher=G. Eyre & A. Strahan |page=204 }}</ref> (Elsewhere, the herring last was treated by volume.)
The {{nowrap|'''leather last'''}} comprised 20 dicker of 10 skins each (200 total)<ref name=tract/><ref name=sotr/> or, sometimes, 12 dozen skins (144 total).<ref name=oed1/>
==Volume== The English last could also be understood as the volume occupied by the other lasts. In some sources, the last is equated with {{convert|640|impgal|m3|order=flip|abbr=off|lk=on}}.<ref name="Cardarelli" /> The '''beer last''' was 12 barrels, the '''cod last''' and some herring lasts were also 12 barrels, and the '''pitch last''' was 12 or 14 barrels.<ref name=oed1/>
The '''Polish last''' (''{{lang|pl|łaszt}}'') used for bulk trade in dry goods from the 16th to 19th century comprised 30 Polish bushels (''{{lang|pl|korzec}}''). In the early 19th century, this amounted to {{convert|3840|L|abbr=off|lk=on}} but varied over time and location.
The Dutch '''last''', or ''Scheepslast'', has been equated to essentially {{convert|120|cuft|m3|3|order=flip|abbr=off|lk=on}} of shipping space.<ref name="box59">{{cite book |first=Charles Ralph |last=Boxer |title=The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600–1800 |publisher=Hutchinson |year=1959 |isbn=9780091310516 |oclc=11348150 }}</ref>{{rp|Appendix}}
==See also== * lading, ballast * load
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs = <ref name="Andrade">{{cite book|author1-link=Tonio Andrade | last = Andrade | first = Tonio | year = 2005 | title = How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century | url = http://www.gutenberg-e.org/andrade/ | publisher = Columbia University Press | chapter = Appendix A: Weights, Measures, and Exchange Rates | chapter-url = http://www.gutenberg-e.org/andrade/appA.html }}</ref> <ref name="Cardarelli">{{Cite book | title = Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins. | last1 = Cardarelli | first1 = François Cardarelli | last2 = Sheilds | first2 = M.J. | publisher = Springer | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-1-4471-1122-1 | location = London | page = 23 }}</ref>}}
Category:Obsolete units of measurement