Sir W. Gascoigne, 

 English judge 



GASCOIGNE 



Ferdinando Jeronimi, 1572, proba- 

 bly the first English imitation of 

 the Italian novella. See Works, 

 J. W. Cunliffe, 1907, etc. ; Life and 

 Writings, F. E. Schelling, 1894. 



Gascoigne, Sm WILLIAM (c. 

 1 350-1419 )/ English judge. He 

 was made one of the king's ser- 

 jeants in 1397, 

 and chief jus- 

 tice of the 

 king's bench in 

 1400, enjoying 

 a high reputa- 

 tion for impar- 

 tiality and 

 fearlessness. 

 He is said to 

 have refused 

 Henry I V's 

 request to pronounce sentence on 

 Archbishop Scrope, who was im- 

 plicated in Hotspur's insurrection, 

 and is traditionally supposed to 

 have committed Prince Hal to 

 prison for striking him in court, 

 (c/. Shakespeare's Henry IV, 

 part 2.) 



Gas Company. Limited liabil- 

 ity company formed to supply the 

 public with gas, such being under 

 some greater restrictions than 

 ordinary Companies. There is 

 nothing to prevent a private 

 person making his own gas supply, 

 except the risk of creating a public 

 nuisance. This involves such a 

 respect of rights and easements, 

 public and private, that in practice 

 gas in Great Britain is supplied 

 only by municipal authorities and 

 commercial companies. 



The rights and limitations of the 

 companies are governed by a large 

 body of statutes, mainly the Gas- 

 works Clauses Acts, 1847 and 

 1871. These restrict the profits 

 of commsrcial gas supply, and 

 provide for the presentation of 

 accounts periodically to the local 

 authorities. 



The London local authorities 

 have no power to supply gas in the 

 metropolitan district, and each of 

 the metropolitan companies has a 

 specific zone of activity for which 

 it possesses the monopoly. 



Gas companies contract to 

 supply gas at prices fixed by special 

 statutes, and measured by meters 

 tested and stamped under the Sale 

 of Gas Act. These meters are the 

 property of the company, which 

 must keep them in repair, and they 

 cannot be taken hi distraint for 

 rent. Users are entitled to have 

 the meters tested by official gas 

 inspectors. The theft of gas can 

 be dealt with as a larceny, and the 

 fraudulent use of gas, or wilful 

 damage to fittings, may be pun- 

 ished by police court proceedings. 

 The quality and purity of gas are 

 also subject to official control. 



3437 



If the gas rent is not paid, the 

 supply may be cut off and the 

 meter removed. If a tenant re- 

 mains within the zone of the gas 

 company which has cut off his gas 

 supply, the company need not 

 restore it until the arrears are paid. 

 An incoming tenant is not respon- 

 sible for the arrears left unpaid by 

 his predecessors. 



Gas companies are subject to 

 severe penalties for committing 

 nuisances by way of obstruction hi 

 public highways, or of pollution of 

 air or water, or for the escape of 

 gas, under a series of Acts re- 

 lating to London and other parts 

 of the country respectively. 



Gascony. One of the old provs. 

 of France. Bounded on the W. by 

 the Atlantic, Gascony lay contigu- 

 ous with Languedoc and Foix on 

 the E., with Navarre and Beam on 

 the S., and with Guienne on the N. 

 Gascon territory would thus fall 

 within the modern depts. of Landes, 

 Hautes-Pyrenees, Gers, and parts 

 of Haute-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, 

 Ariege, and Tarn-et-Garonne. The 

 centre of government was Auch. 



The name comes from that of 

 the Iberian tribe of the Vascones, 

 who invaded the Roman prov. of 

 this district, known as Novempo- 

 pulana, between 580 and 590, and 

 settled there in considerable num- 

 bers. After an unsuccessful in- 

 vasion by the Frankish king Chil- 

 peric, Gascony (Vasconia) was in- 

 vaded by Thierry II of Burgundy, 

 and Theodebert of Austrasia, in 

 602, and Duke Genialis was nomi- 

 nated over the province. The 

 people retained a great measure of 

 independence, establishing a ducal 

 dynasty of their own. The Vas- 

 cones, under Duke Lupus I, at- 

 tacked Charlemagne at Ronces- 

 valles, in 778. By 819, however, 

 Frankish dukes were ruling. A 

 duke Totilus is mentioned as re- 

 ceiving Gascony from Louis I the 

 Pious, and among his successors 

 were Seguin, William, and Arnaud, 

 on whose death, in 864, the Gascons 

 restored Sanches, one of their 

 old line. Sanches's descendants 

 held the crown until c. 1073, 

 when Gascony became merged in 

 Aquitaine. 



Eleanor, daughter of William X, 

 duke of Aquitaine, brought Gas- 

 cony as a part of her dowry to 

 Prince Henry of England, later 

 Henry III, in 1152. It thus be- 

 came part of the English posses- 

 sions in France. It was governed 

 for a time by Henry's sons, Richard 

 and John successively, but its 

 history was thenceforth closely 

 linked with that of Aquitaine. 

 Simon de Montfort was the most 

 notable of the English governors, 

 1248-52. There was much internal 



GASELEE 



dissension, the Gascon nobility 

 inclining towards the French al- 

 legiance.whiie the merchant classes 

 favoured the English connexion. 

 The peace of Br6tigny, 1360, as- 

 signed Gascony definitely to Edward 

 III, with Aquitaine, and Ed- 

 ward in return abandoned all 

 claims to the French crown. It 

 was a storm centre of the Hundred 

 Years' War, and in 1453 returned 

 finally to union with the French 

 kingdom. 



The Gascon dialect, which is be- 

 lieved to have changed very little 

 from its medieval form, still pre- 

 vails in the district. It exercised 

 a considerable influence on the de- 

 velopment of the French language 

 during the 16th century, especially 

 through several distinguished 

 writers of Gascon origin, notably 

 Montaigne, and by the infusion of 

 many Spanish and Proven9al 

 words and expressions. The ex- 

 uberant and vaunting character of 

 the Gascon people is proverbial 

 throughout France, the term gas- 

 connade being applied to bragging, 

 flamboyant speeches or actions. 

 See Aquitaine ; France ; Hundred 

 Years' War; consult also Histoire 

 de la Gascogne, Montezun, 1846- 

 50 ; La Vasconie, etude historique 

 et critique, Jaurgain, 1898-1902. 



Gascoyne. River of W. Aus- 

 tralia. 1 1 rises hi three headstreams, 

 near the Carnarvon Range, in the 

 N. W. division, and flows in a gener- 

 ally W. course of 300 m., to empty 

 into Shark Bay, near Carnarvon. 



Gaselee, SIR ALFRED (1844- 

 1918). British soldier. Born June 

 3, 1844. he was educated at Fel- 

 sted and Sand- 

 hurst, obtain- 

 ing a commis- 

 sion in the 93rd 

 Highlanders in 

 1863. He 

 served on the 

 Indian N.W. 

 frontier, 1863; 

 against the 

 Afridis, 1877- 

 78 ; in the 

 Afghan War, 

 1878-80, taking part in the march 

 to Kandahar; in the Zhob Valley 

 expedition, 1884 ; and in nearly 

 all the frontier fighting down 

 to 1900, including the Wazaristan 

 and Tirah campaigns. A briga- 

 dier and K.C.B., he commanded 

 the British forces in the ad- 

 vance on Peking to the relief of 

 the legations, 1900, when his 

 leadership contributed much to 

 the success of the Allied operations. 

 In 1906 he was promoted general, 

 retiring in 1911, after command- 

 ing the Northern army in India, 

 1907-8. He died at Guildford, 

 March 29, 1918. 



Sir Alfred Gaselee 



British soldier 



Lafayette 



