The Orkney Image Library
No: 3600 Contributor: Vivienne Rorie Year: 1966
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Date is approximate! Better known around Stromness as Ha'Will he is pictured here on his wedding day.
Picture added on 07 August 2007
All I can contribute to this thread is my belief that Willie Marwick was not the original Ha Will (or Haw Wull and other variants) but was nicknamed for a fancied resemblance to the original. My mother occasionally used the name, but I can't remember in what context. (Big help!) I wondered if he might be a character in traditional Scots comedy, but can't find any reference, under any spelling, to such a person on the internet.
Added by Ian Hourston on 18 May 2012
My Mum also used to refer to Ha'Will sometimes, but I can't remember in what context.
Added by Isobel Irvine on 18 May 2012
While random Internet surfing I came across a bit of information on the original 'Haw Wull'. He was a comic strip character in The People's Journal, first appearing in 1912, and so popular with readers he was quickly promoted to the front page. Drawn, and I think written, by one A E Morton, he was a hapless loafer full of harebrained schemes for making a bob or two. In what respects, if any, Willie Marwick resembled his cartoon namesake I can't say.
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Added by Ian Hourston on 05 January 2020
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