Ticklish tale of itchy shepherds
QUESTION
When my mother scratched an itch, she always said: ‘God bless the Duke of Argyll.’ Does anyone know of the origin of this? The Dukes of Argyll were the heads of Clan Campbell, one of the largest and most powerful of the highland clans. Their lands were in Argyll, north of Glasgow.
The exclamation ‘God bless the Duke of Argyll’ is said to have arisen because the Duke’s lands were once so barren that he had to erect lines of posts across them so his sheep had something on which to scratch their backs.
The sheep typically carried lice, ticks and other parasites in their fleeces, which might be passed on to their shepherds.
The latter were also at risk from the ubiquitous midge and vicious cleg (horse fly), so shepherds, too, would use the posts, proclaiming: ‘God bless the Duke of Argyll.’
The phrase was later used to draw attention to anyone fidgeting or scratching.
In fact, the saying may have political origins, as it was first noted at the time of the second wave of highland clearances.
In the summer of 1846, the potato crop failed. The Marquis of Lorne (who became the 8th Duke of Argyll) noted: ‘On our estates, I am convinced that no such relief [for poor small farmers, subsisting mostly on potatoes] can be given without extensive emigration, and to this I am directing every effort.’
he then began to clear many of his estates, realising he could make more money putting sheep on the land. Leases were terminated and, in the words of one 1848 summons, tenants required to ‘flit and remove themselves, their wives, bairns, families, servants, subtenants, cottars, dependants, goods and gear’. So the ‘God bless’ phrase was probably ironic.
Mark Dunn, Glasgow.
QUESTION
What is the shortest word with the most syllables, and the longest with the least? FurTher to the earlier answer, the ten-letter word ‘Strengthed’ was last cited in 1614, at which time it was pronounced as having two syllables. The nine-letter word ‘strengths’ is the only one with a single vowel which consequently must have only one syllable.
Peter Lack, London N10.