What is "fotmal"

Fotmal \Fot"mal\, n. (Com.) Seventy pounds of lead.

n. (context: obsolete) An old English unit of weight of 70 pounds, used particularly for lead

The fotmal (, " foot-measure"; ), also known as the foot (), formel, fontinel, and fotmell, was an English unit of variable weight particularly used in measuring production, sales, and duties of lead. __NOTOC__ Under the Assize of Weights and Measures, it was equal to 70 Merchants' pounds and made up of a load of lead. Elsewhere, it was made of 70 avoirdupois pounds and made up load. According to Kiernan, in 16th-century Derbyshire, the fotmal was divided into "boles" and made up of a fother, meaning it was considered to be 84 avoirdupois pounds.

It continued to be used until the 16th century.