to-whit-to-whoo

Updated: May 20, 2025

Oh, that cry of the dylluan! what a strange wild cry it is; how unlike any other sound in nature! a cry which no combination of letters can give the slightest idea of. What resemblance does Shakespear's to-whit-to-whoo bear to the cry of the owl? none whatever; those who hear it for the first time never know what it is, however accustomed to talk of the cry of the owl and to-whit- to-whoo.

George Henry Borrow - Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery