Taken from the book - "Josiah Askew of Edgecombe County" by Alice Ann Askew
http://users.visi.net/~baskew/askewhistory.htm
"The name Askew, spelled variously: Aiscough, Aiskeughe, Ayscough, Ascur, Askow, Ascogh, Askyou, Askey, Aiskew, Aykescughe, etc. derives from the Norse words "ask skog". The o is pronouced as oo (food) even now in Norway and Sweden—thus Askoog. Old English (Norse) was still spoken in northern England in the time of King John ca 1197 when, according to Burke's LANDED GENTRY, and accepted by all scholars as certain, a tract of land near Viillom covered with ash trees in that time called Askoog (ash forrest) was given to a certain Thurston, later called Thurston de Bosco (from the forest). Perhaps according to advice at the local historical museum in Millom, he, as a Norman or a local also of Norse descent, accompanied the Lord of Miliom when he led men of the area to the Holy Land on the Crusade of William the Lion Hearted and was given the ash forrest by which he became a yeoman ('land owner). At least, when later some Askew men were knighted, they chose to place on their coat of arms a sword held aloft holding an infidel's head. This tract of land was listed by the name Askoog in the Domesday Book, a land census lifted by agents of William the Conqueror in 1085-1086. The name Askew, thus, is a place name. The children descendants or born on the land were called, as customary, Mary of Askoog, John of Askoog, etc., until, since, few people could read or write, the name was annoted variously as heard and finally after centuries, standardized written as Askew. By the fifteen hundreds the members of the Askew family were sparsely scattered over England but were mostly concentrated near its place of origin from Bootle on the coast across the lower Lake Country along Morecombe Bay over to Bedale past Lancashire into Yorkshire. There the name is well known."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology/
And from Wikipedia Norse Mythology page:
"In Norse mythology, the World Tree "Yggdrasil" is commonly held to be an ash tree, and the first man, "Ask", was formed from an ash tree (the first woman was made from alder). Elsewhere in Europe, snakes were said to be repelled by ash leaves or a circle drawn by an ash branch. Irish folklore claims that shadows from an ash tree damage crops. In Cheshire, it is said that ash could be used to cure warts or rickets."
All in all a name to be proud of.....something magical about it!
Jonathon Hopper also adds the following: "Looking at the large scale modern map, in the Mawdesley/ Ormskirk region are the following places:
Cunscough
Mairscough
Burscough
Tarlscough
Blainscough (further east)
So the use of the Scandinavian word for forest - scough was evidently
well established locally..."
5 comments:
Thank you so for your very well documented history. Our family for several generations continues to be very attached to the forest and myself personally to woodworking of all kinds. I feel something akin to being completely in my element while in the forest. Recently I've discovered that trees have messages to communicate to us, each variety having their own personality. I've registered on your blog to stay in touch.David Askew
I always remember my mother saying that it came from a settlement name like 'meadow by the wood or forest' as in 'eng' and 'skog' , thus 'engskog' , from the meadow by the wood/forest. I don't know where she got that information from though. She had many friends in Scandanavia so perhaps it was from them?
Margaret Spillane (nee Ainscough)
Thankyou now i know a lot more about my name and its origion
My father and his brothers researched the family name.
The Eldest Brother was called William and their father was called William.
He was a RSM in the Warwickshire Regiment and fought in the Boer War and in the First World War getting injured at the Somme.
My father hit a dead end in research but then found the missing forebear as "Haskew".
They only managed to go back a few hundred years.
My father showed me the Coat of Arms bearing the "Infidel's Head" bit off putting but history uncovers the truth.
So it is likely that Askews were involved with the Crusades.
My father said that the name origin was "Ashceough" meaning Ash Tree on the hill.
He maintained it was a Saxon Name. Related to Ainsley, Ainsworth, Askey and a few other names.
When I was younger there were very few Askews in the phone book.
Today I would expect hundreds.
Hi, i agree with the history leaning towards Cumbria as previously mentioned and all other comments that had followed but i offer one more:
from Wiki: about the town of Aiskew of Yorkshire: The village was known as Echescol in the Domesday Book in the Hundred of Count Alan of Brittany, the previous Lord having been Gospatric. The village had 7 ploughlands.[8] The Lordship of the Manor followed that of neighbouring Bedale.[9] The name is derived from Old Norse words eik (oak) and skógr (wood) and means Oak wood.
I am an Eskew that had ancestors of Virginia arriving from England as Askew. Several scholars/researchers/genealogists claim that many of the Askew surname originally hailed from Yorkshire not Cumbria.
My personal research of the place name does have its origin in Northern England in the time of the Anglo-Saxon from both Cumbria and York; and lesser known localities in Lancashire....however the surname does not have origins in central to southern England. A migration of people carrying the name populated the south from the 1500's onwards.
I carry Y DNA Haplogroup R1b>M269>L21>DF63>FT40326. All I know is that have a variation of the surname and this haplogroup and yet to have an Askew in relation nor have i found this haplogroup in others in England. Few have tested and i await to find out more.
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