Billy Willy Wagtail

We often wonder how nicknames appear. How does Harold James turns into Billy at a young age and stay with him all his life. One story heard on Reg's audio tapes, was that his father, Jack Dean one day followed Billy across the room when he was only crawling. He grabbed hold of his nappy and shook him from side to side. As Billy was agitating like a wet rag, Jack yelled out, "Billy, Willy Wagtail. Got you by the tail Billy, Willy Wagtail." Of course all the kids would laugh and so the name stuck.

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