Talk:Whiggamore

Chambers 1908 etymology
"Traced by some to whiggam, a sound used by the peasantry of the western Lowlands in driving their horses; others derive from whig, sour whey. Not derivable from whig [political sense] and Gaelic mor, great." Equinox ◑ 16:42, 10 October 2018 (UTC)

OED (online) etymology
The word whiggam adduced by Burnet as a term used in driving horses is unsupported by evidence.
 * The form whig(g)amore, used by Bishop Burnet in the often cited passage given s.v. Whig n.2 2, and later popularized by Scott, is apparently an erratic form (like whigmuir , whigimyre ) of wiggomer , whiggamaire , which is probably < whig v.1 + mere , mare n.1