Sports teams
Quidditch

Wigtown Wanderers 

"Kennilworthy Whisp.... divides his time between his home in Nottinghamshire and "wherever Wigtown Wanderers are playing this week."
-- "About the Author" from Quidditch Through the Ages (QA)

Wigtown Wanderers 

The Wigtown Wanderers are a British Quidditch team, founded in 1422 and based in Wigtown in Scotland (QA7).

robes: blood-red robes with a silver meat cleaver upon the chest (QA7)
home: Wigtown

The original team was formed in 1422 by the four sons and three daughters of Walter Parkin, a butcher, and have a reputation for being intimidating (QA7). The Chasers of this team invented the Parkin’s Pincer move (QA10).

For the match against Puddlemere United on the Yorkshire Moors, fans were asked not to cheer too loudly, as Muggles had noticed (DP1).

The Wigs lost a match 250-150 against Puddlemere United in the first match featuring Wilda Griffiths (DP2).

They also lost the first match won by the Chudley Cannons in 17 years, although this is described as a “narrow win” to the Cannons (DP3).

Kennilworthy Whisp is a dedicated fan of the team and has written a book entitled “The Wonder of Wigtown Wanderers” (QA).

Commentary

Notes

Wigtown, a town located in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland, does not have any sports teams listed in its Wikipedia entry - not even Quidditch (Wikipedia).

Lexicon list of British and Irish Quidditch Teams

Although the dates printed on the Daily Prophet Newsletters are:

  • DP1: 31 July 1998,
  • DP2: 8 February 1999,
  • DP3: 1 June 1999 and
  • DP4: 1 October 1999,

the timeframe for these events is 1992-1993.

It seems possible that this fierce team of seven siblings from the Scottish borders - with their association with sharp implements, their history of dramatic defeats, and their father named Walter - may be inspired by the seven sons of Sir David Home of Clan Wedderburn (called "the Seven Spears of Wedderburne" in Walter Scott's The Lay of the Last Minstrel) who all fought for Scotland when it was soundly and dramatically defeated by England in the Battle of Flodden Field (detailed in Marmion, Scott's other great original poetic tribute to border ballads and the associated chivalric images and ideals) (additional source: Wedderburn Castle and Barns). -BB

From the Web

Writing by J K Rowling on Pottermore: The Daily Prophet

Pottermore features:

Harry Potter Wiki: Wigtown Wanderers

Pensieve (Comments)

Tags: blood competitions/competitors defeat flying intimidation league table loss match red seven silver teams wonder

Editors: and