Hunt the Gowk: April Fools in Scotland

By Dave Johnston

It all began with Hunt the Gowk on April 1. The term “gowk” refers to a cuckoo bird and can be used to describe a fool. Hunt the Gowk was also often shortened to “Huntegowk”.

Some poor sod – typically a young apprentice – was sent on a pretend errand which turned into a wild goose chase. Often this involved delivering a sealed “important letter”, which was entirely fake.

Whoever received the letter would open it to read: “Dinna laugh, an’ dinna smile. But hunt the gowk another mile”. Now in on the joke, they would send the messenger away and onto someone else.

It’s anyone’s guess how long it took the victim to catch on – some must’ve gone to multiple addresses before realising it was all a trick.

As a young soldier in the Army I recall the Sergeant sending us on similar errands to the Company Quartermaster Sergeant to get a ‘can of kilowatt hours’ or a ‘box of grid squares’, who would then tell us that he was out of stock and send us on to the next CQMS.

But remember that if you try to fool someone after midday: “Huntigowk is past, and you’re the fool at last.”