William Wallace Heritage Trust
Lanark Events - Whuppity Scoorie
The enactment of the tradition was reported in the local press (The Hamilton Advertiser) from around the middle of the 19th century. Indeed, the ceremony was originally reported under the heading “The Wee Bell Ceremony”! According to these reports the ‘weapon of choice’ of the children in those days (boys only) was to roll their caps up and tie them with string. When the bell first rang they would then march cheering to New Lanark and fight with the boys from that village who would be marching in the other direction. By 1880, stone throwing had become an integral part of the conflict and the police were required to post men in Braxfield Road to ensure order. The ‘tradition’ was regularly policed thereafter.
It was in 1893 that the Advertiser first referred to “the custom known as Whuppity Scoorie” but the following year it simply referred to “Whuppity Scoorie”. Similarly, the three laps around the church were first mentioned in 1893, although the writer asserted that the custom was 120 years old by then! In 1897, according to the Advertiser report at the time, the Lanark children duly marched to New Lanark but arrived there to find they had no adversaries! They subsequently returned to Lanark chanting, in reference to their only adversaries being the policemen posted to ensure order “We met sixteen policemen and chased them down the brae”.
