Penny Scots
Encyclopedia
Penny was used in Scottish parlance for money generally; for example, a "penny-fee" was an expression for wages, a "penny-maister" would be a town treasurer, and a "penny-wedding" was one where every guest contributed to pay for the thing. Meanwhile penny-wheep was particularly poor beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

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My riches a’s my penny-fee,
And I maun guide it canny, O.


The older Scottish Gaelic word for penny was peighinn. The modern form is sgillinn, literally shilling, which reflects the fact that at the Union
Acts of Union 1707
The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...

 with England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1707, the exchange rate was fixed at twelve Pounds Scots to one Pound Sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

 so one shilling Scots exchanged for one English penny
British One Penny coin (pre-decimal)
The English Penny, originally a coin of 1.3 to 1.5 g pure silver, includes the penny introduced around the year 785 by King Offa of Mercia. However, his coins were similar in size and weight to the continental deniers of the period, and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had gone before it, which were...

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See also

  • Scottish coinage
    Scottish coinage
    The coinage of Scotland covers a range of currency and coins in Scotland during Classical antiquity, the reign of ancient provincial kings, royal dynasties of the ancient Kingdom of Scotland and the later Mediaeval and Early modern periods....

  • Pennyland
    Pennyland
    A pennyland is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:The Rev...

  • Bawbee
    Bawbee
    A bawbee was a Scottish halfpenny. The word means, properly, a debased copper coin, valued at six pence Scots , issued from the reign of James V of Scotland to the reign of William II of Scotland. They were hammered until 1677, when they were produced upon screw presses.-Issues:The bawbee was...

  • Bodle
    Bodle
    A bodle or boddle or bodwell, also known as a half groat or Turner was a Scottish copper coin, of less value than a bawbee, worth about one-sixth of an English penny, first issued under Charles II. They were minted until the coronation of Anne...

  • Plack
  • Pound Scots
    Pound Scots
    The pound Scots was the national unit of currency in the Kingdom of Scotland before the country entered into political and currency union with the Kingdom of England in 1707 . It was introduced by David I, in the 12th century, on the model of English and French money, divided into 20 shillings...

  • Black saxpence
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