A billet was a specific and standardised form of wood fuel of significant importance in the traditional pre–fossil fuel economy. The term could also be applied to a cudgel.
Nature and use
Billets were especially designed for burning on open hearth fires, often in conjunction with spits.
Measurements and cost
The 16th C standardised a billet as three foot four inches in length, and ten inches around.
A century later, Anthony A Wood recorded a load of billet wood as costing 12s 6d; while extravagance consisted of "burning in one yeare threescore pounds worth of the choicest billet".
Literary references
- The William Shakespeare play Measure for Measure contains the phrase "beat out my brains with billets".
See also
References
- Billet
- R Fortey, The Wood for the Trees (2016) p. 154
- R Fortey, The Wood for the Trees (2016) p. 154 and p. 207
- Anthony à Wood, The Life and Times Of Anthony Wood (1891) p. 501 and p. 396
- P Alexander ed., William Shakespeare: The Complete Works (London 1962) p. 105 (IV.ii.50-1)
External links
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| Lumber/ timber | |
| Engineered wood | |
| Fuelwood | |
| Fibers | |
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