Willie, Willie Wastell
Willie, Willie Wastell,
I am on your castle,
A’ the dogs in the toun
Winna pu’ Willie doun.
Like Willie, Willie Wastel,
I am in my castel
A’ the dogs in the toun
Dare not ding me doun.
—Jamieson.
A writer in the Gentlemen’s Magazine for 1822, Part I. p. 401, says that the old distich—
“Willy, Willy Waeshale!
Keep off my castle,”
used in the North in the game of limbo, contains the true etymon of the adjective “Willy.”
The same game as “[Tom Tiddler’s Ground].” It is played in the same way. Jamieson says the second rhyme given shows that the rhyme was formerly repeated by the player holding the castle, and not, as now, by the opposing players.
See “[King of the Castle],” “[Tom Tiddler’s Ground].”