Scottish Culture/HUNTIGOWK

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Expert: Kaye McAlpine - 10/19/2008


Question
Hi, could anybody tell me something about the origin and usage of the word 'huntigowk', please. I will be grateful for any information.

Answer
Hi Anna

'Huntigowk', as you have it, is a variation of 'hunt the gowk' or 'huntegowk'.

In Scots,  gowk is a cuckoo, a foolish person, or since the late 19thC and more strongly into the 20thC and up till now, a practical joke or trick.

the verb to 'Hunt the gowk/ huntegowk' is to be sent on a fool's errand, especially one relating to All Fool's Day (April 1); being sent for a tin or tartan paint is an example.

The word can also be used as a noun - a huntegowk, which is a simple-minded person, a fool - or someone who is taken in by an April Fool's trick.

Hope this helps!

best wishes

Kaye

Scottish Culture

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Kaye McAlpine

Expertise

Lifecycle (birth, marriage, death) customs in Scotland, Early Modern Scottish social customs, modern Scottish social customs, Border March laws and procedures, criminal processes and judicial execution practices, social history in Early Modern Scotland, ephemera printing in Scotland. While I have some knowledge of the clan system and function of the clan society (Highland and Lowland), I am not a an expert in clan genealogy. Having traced back my own family over a couple of centuries, and traced others due to academic research, I do know how the system works, however. This doesn't mean that I'm a genealogist. Please note that I do not speak Gaelic.

Experience

Research Fellow (University of Edinburgh). Contributer to various books and journals on ballads, including Scottish Life and Society: A Compendium of Scottish Ethnology, The Ballad and History and The Harris Repertoire. Freelance tutor in outreach courses from Edinburgh University on Scottish Culture and Tradition, including lifecycle customs, broadsheet ballads in Scotland, the traditional ballad and history. Freelance writer, guest presenter on Ch4 History Hunters programme, contributor to BBC Radio Scotland's 'Songlines' series on 'The Dowie Dens of Yarrow'. Currently co-director of a media production company

Publications
Books: Forthcoming: The Gallows and The Stake Published: Compendium of Scottish Ethnology, vol. 10, chapter on The Traditional and the Border Ballad; The Harris Repertoire (2000, Scottish Text Society, co-editor), The Ballad in History (chapter on Border ballads). Journals include Folklore, The Review of Scottish Culture,Sottish Studies, and The Scottish Literary Journal

Education/Credentials
Ph D, M. Phil, BA (hons)

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