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Essential Wessex: Nicknames for Wessaxons

There are many nicknames for people from Wessex. The most obvious one is “wurzels”. Whilst most people assume that Adge Cutler named his band after an already-existing name for people from the West Country, it appears to have been his own coinage. There follows a (by no means exhaustive) list of nicknames for people from different parts of Wessex:

Devon – Janners (particularly applies to people from Plymouth, but is sometimes used for Devonians in general).

Dorset– Dorset knobs (from the local biscuit).

Gosport– Turk Towners or Turks (from the Turkish naval cemetery in the town).

Hampshire– Hampshire hogs (from the local tradition of boar hunting).

Isle of Wight – Caulkheads (from the caulking of boats).

Malmesbury– Jackdaws (from the colony of said birds that inhabits the Abbey)

Somerset– Cuckoo-penners (from the folk tale of “penning the cuckoo“).

Southampton– Scummers (offensive term used by supporters of Portsmouth FC).

Wiltshire– Moonrakers (from the tale of smugglers evading customs officials by pretending to be yokel idiots, saying they were fishing a big cheese – actually the reflected moon – out of a pond when they were really retrieving contraband.).

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