A
f**got, in the meaning of "bundle", is an archaic
English unit applied to bundles of certain items. Alternate spellings in
Early Modern English include
fagate, faget, fagett, faggott, fagot, fagatt, fagott, ffagott, and
faggat.
Woman Carrying a f**got,
Mihály Munkácsy
Background
Sometimes called a
short f**got, a f**got of sticks equals a bundle of wood sticks or
billets that is 3 feet (91 cm) in
length and 2 feet (61 cm) in
circumference.
[1] The measurement was standardised in ordinances by 1474.
[1]A small short f**got was also called a nicket.
[2] A brush-f**got (sometimes shortened to brush) was a bundle of similar size made of
brushwood.
[3]
A
long f**got of sticks equals a bundle larger than 3 feet (91 cm) long. In a book on slang used at
Winchester College fire-dogs were
fire basket (
andirons) that could hold long f**gots, and half-f**gots were smaller andirons that could only hold short f**gots and were later converted for use with
coal.
[4]
A long f**got was also called a kidd f**got,
[5] kid,
kide, or
kidde being Middle English for firewood in bundles.
[6]