This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Wild haggis is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007) |
|
|
This article or section may contain improper references to self-published sources. Please help improve this article or section by removing references to unreliable sources where they are used inappropriately. A self-published source may normally only be cited as a primary source about the author or source itself and not as an authority. (May 2008) |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008) |
Wild Haggis (Haggis scoticus) is a fictional creature said to be native to the Scottish Highlands. It is comically claimed to be the source of haggis, a traditional Scottish dish that is in fact made from the innards of sheep.
According to some sources, the wild haggis's left legs are of different length than its right legs, allowing it to run quickly around the steep mountains and hillsides which make up its natural habitat, but only in one direction. It is further claimed that there are two varieties of haggis, one with longer left legs and the other with longer right legs. The former variety can run clockwise around a mountain (as seen from above) while the latter can run anticlockwise. The two varieties coexist peacefully but are unable to interbreed in the wild because in order for the male of one variety to mate with a female of the other, he must turn to face in the same direction as his intended mate, causing him to lose his balance before he can mount her. As a result of this difficulty, differences in leg length among the Haggis population are accentuated.1
Contents |
Haggis abroad
The notion of the wild Haggis is widely believed, though not always including the idea of mismatched legs. According to a survey released on 26 November 2003, one-third of U.S. visitors to Scotland believed the wild Haggis to be a real creature.2
Influence on media
The Alan Garner novel The Owl Service introduced the concept, as a jokey aside of 'fimbulwinters', of artificial legs designed for such creatures as the wild Haggis (though the concept is used in the novel specifically for sheep) to walk unaided on even ground.
In an episode of River Cottage, the presenter, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall goes hunting for these Haggis creatures in his quest to find true haggis to cook. The convincing locals in the episode never reveal what a haggis actually is, leading the viewers to wonder if he believed them.
In an episode of The Goodies, the three main characters were visiting Scotland and captured a haggis to eat, shortly before having an encounter with a bagpipe spider.
See also
References
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 3 November 2008, at 17:17.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Wild haggis".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.