History Quiz: Jock slang from WW1

[Bundook]

Have a look at the WW1 German Kugelhandgranate mit Stiel typ Poppenberg
[links to www.jonsmith-modellbau.com] (The grenade that looks like a pineapple on a stick).
What was the nickname given to this by Scottish soldiers, and why?

 

[arj]

Could that be the 'Potato Masher'?

 

[Bundook]

Could that be the 'Potato Masher'?

No, that was the name given to the M1915 (and later) with the cylindrical head, because it looked exactly like an old-fashioned potato masher (which, amazingly, you can still buy nowadays: Wooden Traditional Professional Potato Masher Kitchen Cooking Wood TYP 3 : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen)

Hint: it does have something to do with its shape, though.

 

[Henk]

Bog brush.

 

[Bundook]

Bog brush.

Hee hee, I never thought of that one. No, it's not that. Here's another hint. Think about Highland games events, and the nickname for the grenade was a person's name.

 

[Wayneb]

Hitler von knoggen stinken......

 

[Dr Bison]

Fritz caber?

 

[Mark S]

Heinrich's Hammer.

 

[harrytheheid]

Kaiser Bill's Bawbags

 

[DEL]

Given the Highland Games clue the only image that came to mind was a Drum Majors Mace... so....
A Drum Majors Knob..... other than that I've got nothing.
D.

 

[Bundook]

Ok, maybe it was a bit too obscure.

Jimmy Reid, 6th Battalion Gordon Highlanders (oral history recording)
"We caaed the Jerry grenades 'Donald Dinnies'. Fin they threw iss things they cam swingin through the air ats like a games haimmer and lay a file afore explodin. I aye mind ae lad gid ower to een an wis gan to pick her up to throw her back like we eesed to dee, bit oh man! Up she went and him we-et."

["We called the Jerry grenades 'Donald Dinnies'. When they threw these things, they came swinging through the air at us like a games hammer and lay for a while before exploding. I always remember one lad went over to one and was going to pick it up to throw it back, like we used to do, but oh man! Up it went and him with it."]

The Highland Games hammer throw event is done with a steel ball on the end of a stick.
The most famous Highland Games athlete and strongman at the time was Donald Dinnie - Wikipedia

 

[DEL]

Ok, maybe it was a bit too obscure.

Jimmy Reid, 6th Battalion Gordon Highlanders (oral history recording)

Bundook....any references/links to the recordings?
I for one would be really interested in hearing them.
Cheers
Derek

 

[Dr Bison]

Thanks for ending my sleepless nights with your answer (and for providing a translation of Mr. Reid's original testimony)...
Obscure? Yes, but still very interesting challenge.

Karl

 

[arj]

I came across the name of Donald Dinnie, but the reference was to a nickname for heavy artillery shells ('Donald Dinnies'), so I presumed your nickname must refer to someone else.
"He was so well known that "heavy artillery shells in the First World War were nicknamed 'Donald Dinnies'".
Click on the Donald Dinnie link to find out about him.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[Bundook]

Th

I came across the name of Donald Dinnie, but the reference was to a nickname for heavy artillery shells ('Donald Dinnies'), so I presumed your nickname must refer to someone else.
"He was so well known that "heavy artillery shells in the First World War were nicknamed 'Donald Dinnies'".
Click on the Donald Dinnie link to find out about him.

Cheers,
Andrew

Yes, that originally comes from a BBC website but I've never heard of it referring to heavy artillery. The reference to a stick hand grenade, though, makes perfect sense.

 

[Bundook]

Bundook....any references/links to the recordings?
I for one would be really interested in hearing them.
Cheers
Derek

The actual sound recordings are still in the process of being digitized and made public by the European Ethnology Research Centre at Edinburgh university. I have only heard snippets of some of them as I attended an event for supporters of the Gordon Highlanders regimental museum some time ago. Probably virtually unintelligible unless you are actually from the North East, though.

A taste of them can be got from this Soundcloud recording of the reminiscences of Bert Gow from New Deer (Royal Field Artillery, 51st Highland Division): Jock Duncan | The Armistice Centenary, Lest We Forget by Scots Radio (soundcloud.com)
New Deer is a teeming, bustling metropolis in Aberdeenshire. Here is a link to a Wikimedia picture of the main drag: New_Deer,_Main_Street.jpg (640×480) (wikimedia.org) (Note: this is a 21st century picture, not from Victorian times.)

In the meantime, the recordings of 59 men in various Scottish units have been anthologized in a book that you can get from the National Museums of Scotland: https://shop.nms.ac.uk/collections/shop-by-theme/products/jocks-jocks Highly recommended.
There is also a "one act musical play" based on this, and available on Soundcloud, but it is not really all that great (your mileage may vary): Jock's Jocks - a One Act Musical Play by Gary West 2 (soundcloud.com)

 

[DEL]

The actual sound recordings are still in the process of being digitized and made public by the European Ethnology Research Centre at Edinburgh university. I have only heard snippets of some of them as I attended an event for supporters of the Gordon Highlanders regimental museum some time ago. Probably virtually unintelligible unless you are actually from the North East, though.

A taste of them can be got from this Soundcloud recording of the reminiscences of Bert Gow from New Deer (Royal Field Artillery, 51st Highland Division): Jock Duncan | The Armistice Centenary, Lest We Forget by Scots Radio (soundcloud.com)
New Deer is a teeming, bustling

Great, many thanks.
Just listened, a fascinating 15 minutes. Once your ear is tuned in its very easy to follow.
New Deer makes Buckie look like Tokyo
D

 

[harrytheheid]

New Deer makes Buckie look like Tokyo
D

True of many hamlets in the North East in general - and Buchan in particular.
Look up New Pitsligo...it makes New Deer look like Beijing.

Seriously though, both the villages of New and Old Deer have a long Christian monastic tradition stretching back to at least the 6th century AD.
And I suspect the Pagan religious connection goes back even further.