This most interesting surname has two possible interpretations, one Scottish, the other French. It is more likely to be a Scottish surname, a locational name from Gask near Auchterarder, Perthshire, in Scotland. The name may also be of Old French origin, a variant of "Gask" or the Provencal surname "G(u)asch", which are both cognate with the English "Gascoigne", a regional name for someone from the province of Gascony in France. The surname first appears in Scotland in the early 13th Century (see below), and the first recorded namebearer witnessed a confirmation of the gift of a croft by Tristram to the Abbey of Inchaffray (see below). He is probably the Galfridus de Gasc mentioned in an Inchaffery Register, circa 1230. One Christian Gask, sergeant in Perth, was a witness there in 1535 and Christopher and Malcolm Gask appear there in 1544, in the "Protocol Book of Sir Robert Rollok, 1534 - 1552". Jone Gaske was christened on May 28th 1590 at Arnesty, Leicestershire, while David and Peter, sons of Daniel and Margaret Gask were christened at St. Ann's, Blackfriars, London, on January 26th 1633, and September 7th 1632, respectively. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Galfridus de Gaisk, which was dated 1208, witnessed a gift to the Abbey of Inchaffray, in the "Charters, Bulls and other Documents relating to the Abbey of Inchaffray", during the reign of King William "The Lion" of Scotland, 1165 - 1214. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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