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Debut of Oor Wullie Comic Strip
"I nivver get ony fun roond here!"
First published in the D.C. Thomson newspaper, The Sunday Post, on March 8th, 1936, Oor Wullie is the incredibly popular and long-running Scottish comic strip whose namesake character with his spiky hair, dungarees, and upturned bucket, lives with his extended family in the town of Auchenshoogle! His mischeveous adventures tend towards unrealistic get-rich-quick schemes in which he involves his gang of friends including Fat Boab , Wee Eck, 'Soapy' Soutar, and Primrose Paterson. He owns a pet mouse named Jeemy and in later strips a pet dog called Harry. Over the years, Wullie gained additional friends, such as pretty Doris Gow, her boyfriend, the town bully Basher McKenzie, and grumpy old neighbour Moaning Mildew! This tartan is based on the Black Watch, Wullie's Uncle Wattie's regiment, but substitutes red from the hackle on their famous bonnets. The silver grey is for Wullie's iconic bucket; the black for his dungarees; the yellow for his messy blonde hair; and the black and white are for the newsprint of The Sunday Post. "Oor Wullie! Your Wullie! A'body's Wullie!" 📰
The Sunday Post which first appeared in 1914, decided to include in 1936 a "Fun Section" which included two comic strips written in Scots vernacular. The Oor Wullie comic is still running with annual publications compiled into Christmas annuals, beginning in 1940.
Oor Wullie was created by Scottish comic writer and editor, Robert Duncan Low who wrote word sketches illustrated by Dudley Dexter Watkins. Low insisted the characters be based on real working class people and Watkins took Robert’s son, Ron for inspiration who had once accompanied his father to work one day wearing dungarees and carrying a bucket of potatoes. Watkins added the famous spiky hair to create the Oor Wullie character.
The Oor Wullie tartan is companion tartan to the Broons tartan in recognition of the long term comic Strip, "Oor Wullie" and is based on the Black Watch which was his fictional Uncle Wattie's regiment, and in this new design the red is from the hackle on their famous bonnets.
According to the Scottish register: The silver grey is for Wullie's iconic bucket and for his faithful pet, Jeemie the moose. The black is for his mentor PC Murdoch and for Wullie's dungarees, the yellow is for his tousled gold locks that never see a comb. The three red lines on the yellow are for his best pals Fat Bob, Soapy Soutar and Wee Eck. The black and white are for the newsprint of The Sunday Post in which Wullie and his pals have lived for 75 years.
For a history of the strip, click Wullie!