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ask

1

In Sweden, 17ᵗʰ century, unit of capacity and sometimes of mass. The word also means a “small box.” The following are from reference 1.

Faurås in the province of Halland (for honey) = 3½ pund.

Fjäre in the province of Halland (for honey) = 3 pund.

Mora in the province of Dalarna (for cereals) = ¼ trö, about 3.0 liters.

Viske in the province of Halland (for honey) = 3½ pund.

Värend in the province of Småland (for cereals) = ¼ skäppa = 1½ kappe = about 6.88 liters.

1. Arent Berntsen.
Danmarckis oc Norgis Fructbar Herlighed.
Copenhagen: Paa J. Holsts bogf. bekostning, 1650-56.

Reprinted in facsimile in 1971 by the Selskabet for Udgivelse af Kilder til Dansk Historie, Copenhagen.

2

In Denmark, premetric units of capacity for butter and honey.

For butter, between 1/12 and 1/6 smørtønde, depending on locality.

The smaller = 1/12 smørtønde was known as a tolvmandsask, and 1/10 smørtønde had the special name tindelask. The order of 30 August 1687 mentions an ask of around 1/7 tønde in Funen and one of 1/8 tønde in Langeland, but from southern Jutland to the Limfjord the ask was the preferred measure for butter. Some specific localities:

Himmerland, 1/12 tønde.

Salling, 1/9 or 1/12 tønde.

Århus, 1/9 tønde.

Hardsyssel, 1/12, 1/10, 1/9 or, usually, 1/6 tønde.

For honey, before 1683, = 4 kander, ranging between 1/8 to 1/6 tønde, 18 to 24 potter or 17.4 to 23.4 liters. In places where the kande was 1/30 tønde, the ask might be 2/15 tønde, or rounded off to 1/7 or 1/8 tønde.

Kurt Petersen.
Mål og vægt i Danmark.
Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark: Polyteknisk Forlag, 2002.

Poul Rasmussen.
Mål og vægt.
Dansk Historisk Fællesforenings Håndbøger.
Copenhagen: 1967.