Karl wrote a letter to the Montreal Daily Star newspaper on May 20, 1901. The piece was titled: “Creelman’s Views” he writes:
“Two miles further north along the river Tweed, I crossed the border into the land of the heather and bagpipes, and continued up the valley to Melrose, the Land of Scott, at which place are two very old and historic abbeys, that are visited by thousands of people every year, among them being large numbers of Americans.
I left the main road at Melrose to go to Abbotsford, Scott’s birthplace, two miles away and on the way, I came to the top of a hill that commanded a really splendid view of the Tweed valley. This spot was Scott’s favourite stopping place or his favourite view. He used to stop for hours at this spot, and on the day of his funeral, his horse, which was in the procession when it arrived here, stood stock still, refusing to move for a considerable time.
Three miles up the valley is Galashiels, a town of 15,000 people, nearly all of whom are employed in the manufacture of tweed. Sir Walter Scott had a great friend at Galashiels in the person of an old cooper*. Scott in some book he was writing wanted some word which for the life of him he could not think of, and one day, calling on his cooper friend, he was told to sit down, but he was so much taken up in trying to think of this word that he took no notice of what was being told to him. Again the cooper spoke out: “Whummel up that tub and tak a seat, mon.” “Whummel** the very word I have been looking, for this last week” said Scott. “Good morning, I’m off”.
Sir Walter Scott, born in Edinburgh in 1771, is a celebrated Scottish author. Scott is the second-most quoted writer in the Oxford English Dictionary after William Shakespeare. His early work was primarily poetry, but his most famous work was his Waverley Novels, a series of historical novels showcasing his knowledge of Scottish history and the landscape he loved. You may have quoted Scott’s couplet from his poem Marmion: Canto VI. - The Battle, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" (Sir Walter Scott, 1808) or perhaps dear reader, like me, you thought that line was attributed to Shakespeare? We stand corrected.
When Scott died in 1832, his birth town of Edinburgh commissioned a competition for a monument to memorialize his literary impact. The winning design is 200 feet (61 meters) tall, the largest monument in the world dedicated to a writer. It’s a gothic monument decorated with figures representing 64 different characters from his books. At the base there’s a marble statue of Scott with his deerhound dog, Maida, his beloved companion.
Karl’s story about Sir Walter Scott and the word “whummel” has been written about before, although the stories’ details vary. In one reference, it was told that Scott overhears a labourer telling another worker to “whummel the stones into the dyke”. Then, in another account, the phrase overheard by Scott was a mason directing someone to “whummel that cog”. These accounts were refuted clarifying the incident occurred when Sir Walter Scott’s home in Abbotsford was being constructed. In this version, a mason said: “ whummel it down there, mon,” and Sir Walter, exclaimed, “That's the word! I've been looking for a word to express that action for a long time . Hae, there's hauf - a - croon to ye for sayin't.”
Needless to say, Scotticisms –– distinctly Scottish phrases or words –– can prove to be both unique but also difficult to understand. In that same newspaper article to the Montreal Star, Karl writes: “I could scarcely tell a word that was spoken. The people in that part use no unnecessary words, never use two words if one will do.”
Welcome to the Land of Scott!
* Cooper: a cooper is a person who makes or repairs casks, barrels, etc.
** Whummel/whummle: meaning to overturn, or knock down or over.
If you enjoyed this Karl Chronicle, please consider forwarding this email to a friend to subscribe to our weekly adventure. If you need to catch-up, click here for more Karl Chronicles
If someone has forwarded this to you, you can subscribe here. It’s free. Go on!