LL-L "History" 2009.06.28 (04) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 28 June 2009 - Volume 04
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From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
 Subject: LL-L "History" 2009.06.27 (06) [EN]

Still one of the most effective and accurate methods of measuring mass, as
opposed to weight.  A sixty kilogram mass measured with a steelyard on the
Moon would show as 60kg.  On a bathroom scale or any kind of spring balance,
it would show 10kg.

Paul

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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "History"

Beste Marlou,

You wrote:

 Thanks for all these interesting explanations on "Steelyard", dear Reinhard
> & Tom! So "Steel-yard" was originally an English word and means something
> like "Stell-Balken" or "Eisen-Balken" either for the beam itself or for the
> iron counterweights. (Being a lay person, I like things simple and I like
> the idea that *one* explanation is "true" :-)) And the "Easterlings", after
> first taking "steelyard" as a Fremdwort and writing it "Stiliard", later
> translated it naively into "Stahlhof", mistaking the true meaning. I love
> this. Maybe the word was so old they couldn't make out the true etymology
> even then?
>

Don't want to burst your bubble...but...I don't find it obvious to call a
place after one object that was used on those grounds ("pars pro toto").
Even if that object was quintessential for the very purpose of that place.
This custom does happen with buildings that get nicknames after becoming
popular, but in the case of a transnational foundation like the Steelyard, I
find it less likely.

The "Stahlhof" in London was originally created by merchants from Cologne
who wanted to display and sell their goods to an English public. Well, "to
display" can be translated as "uit-stallen" in Dutch (~ étaler, estaler in
French, which in turn < stallen, stellen (D) ~ stallion, Stallone, to
install). There's a "Stalhof" in Ghent too by the way. Grimm quotes Kiliaen
regarding "stael-hof":

http://tinyurl.com/lpd59d

Secondary influence could come from the expression "staelen het laecken",
which refers to the act of tagging cloth with a leaden seal (compare
Leadenhall). This verb "staelen" is cognate with Dutch "staal", a sample. I
think this influence is only secondary because I'm not sure if the Rhineland
was famous for sheets and wool back then. Of course, along the way, Rhenish
merchants may well have stocked up on Flemish cloth, trying to sell it later
on in London. Early transport was by road (Köln > Brussels > Ghent >
Bruges), only later by ship.

Finally, the English may have reinterpreted the second meaning, creating a
name for a scale-beam (which we call "nen uisel" (B), ~ ounce), case of
totum pro parte.

There are also two communities in Rhineland-Palatinate, called Stahlhofen,
and some of the pioneers may well have come from this region, but I doubt
whether that may have played a big role in the original namegiving.

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: History

Makes sense, Luc, and is consistent with the other source I cited.

German has *ausstellen* for 'to display', 'to exhibit', and *stellen *is an
umlauted form of *stallen*.

I think the confusion arises because of vowel length differences.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

•

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