Money: The Unauthorized Biography

six basic units, sufficient for the measurement of any aspect of the physical world: the metre for linear extension, the kilogram for mass, the second for time, the degree Kelvin for temperature, the candela for luminosity, and the ampere for electric current

The fathom was used to record the depth of the sea, while the ell was used in the measuring out of cloth.

Even today in the U.K., whisky is measured in gills, beer in pints, and petrol in gallons