Regular reader Martin Aherne wonders if “Gaisce” and its sarcastic relatives “gaiscí” and “gawshkogue”, which we were discussing here on Thursday , might be related to the French-English “gasconade”, meaning “absurd boasting” or “vainglorious braggadocio”. Gaconade descends from the people of Gascony, he points out, who by ancient repute were given to big talk. According to Brewer’s Dictionary, a typical Gascon visiting Paris once was asked what he thought of the Louvre and responded that he liked it because it reminded him of “his father’s stables”.
The bragging was more notable, suggests Brewer, “when it is borne in mind that the Gascons were proverbially poor”. A related surname, Gascoigne, came to Ireland with the Normans, Martin reminds me, and went native as Gaskin or, in Irish, de Gascún. There is even a townland named after them: Gaskinstown, in Co Meath.
READ MORE Blowing a Gaskin – Frank McNally on gasconades, gasúns, and Ireland’s Bay of Naples In the long run – Alison Healy on the bizarre Olympic marathon of 1904 Valour invalidated – Frank McNally on a mysterious Irish anti-hero: the “Great Gaiscí” Frank McNally on royal typos, Tennyson’s Tories, and the mystery of ‘Operation Sonnet’ *** I passed Gaskinstown as recently as last Tuesday night, while on the road to Slane, still slightly rattled by an incident farther back on the N2. This used to be my route home to Monaghan, before the M1 eclipsed it in e.