Wullie has become a true Scottish national symbol, as the figure underlines a feeling of shared experience among many Scots. Many storylines featured Paw bringing shame on the family by being seen wearing torn trousers or working clothes by the 'Meenister' (Church of Scotland minister). Horace Broon – A bookish and bespectacled teenage schoolboy forever trying to learn French or poetry by rote amidst the chaos of a do-it-yourself chimney-sweeping mishap or other domestic turmoil. In earlier strips she can be seen to make the family act rather posh which her daughters also take after her by doing so. His adventures often consist of unrealistic get-rich-quick schemes that lead to mischief, to the despair of his parents, Ma and Pa.

Criffins, Criftens, Crifty’, Scottish National Dictionary, Dictionary of the Scots Language https://dsl.

As with Oor Wullie, Watkins left the location of the strips unnamed, although the Broons' tenement is located on Glebe Street, a commonly used name in many Scottish towns. The sketch revolved around Paw's naivety in the modern world and his inability to move with the times, not even realising that his entire offspring are the product of an affair Maw was having with a farmer.

He is quite pompous and likes to think of himself as an example to the twins, but recently seems to aspire to be like Joe (for example, purchasing muscle-building equipment). In a story from 1948, 14 Wullie’s mother scolds her son rather harshly, saying: “I’m fed up hearin’ you say ‘jings’ and ‘crivvens’ – jings, it’s awfy language – how can ye no try tae stop it? Following the 80th anniversary in 2016, additional annuals of Oor Wullie were issued for 2016 and 2018, breaking from the biennial pattern.Fortunately, as its consistently large readership would put it, since 2015 the annuals have been published every year. Now Wullie had a West Highland Terrier; he went hiking in the Highlands, and often attended traditional Scottish celebrations. The comic strip’s constant allusions to “the good old times” invite the reader to set the images and dialogues together like pieces of a puzzle and experience Scotland.

In December 2016, Nicola Sturgeon featured Oor Wullie on a Christmas card, with the original illustration being auctioned for charity. Following the 80th anniversary in 2016, an additional annual of The Broons was issued for 2017, breaking from the biennial pattern.

In some of these, the family had a picture of Granpaw on their wall, which could do certain actions, such as wagging its finger at the children. He is often taken advantage of for his height; for example, being made to act as a clothes stand to keep the washing line up. We understand that not everyone can donate right now, but if you can afford to contribute, we promise it will be put to good use. All pages © 2007-2023 the Association for Scottish Literary Studies and the individual contributors.

A facsimile of the first The Broons annual was released on 25 November 2006 and of the first Oor Wullie annual the following year, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the strip. The 2012 special annual The Broons and Oor Wullie: Classic Strips from the 70's reveals the fate of the character which was created specially for this book.the aforementioned Farrell, Bjørnson) as well as non-scientific publications, Oor Wullie is associated with three exclamations: jings, crivvens and Help ma Boab. Since then, these comics have been printed every weekend as part of the Sunday Post’s Fun Section and again at the end of the year in annuals.