Nay laddie, from the Urals; up the Urals - as anyone who's ever worn the kilt will know. Jings, crivens and help, ma boab...
I've no idea, Derek, beyond it's an imprecation so mild that it was acceptable in The Broons and Oor Wullie during my formative years. Something along the lines of 'My word!' but nowhere near as offensive, you understand. Perhaps a Scottish person will chance by and cast some light on it... Edit: For those who believe in the internet, there's this:- https://www.quora.com/Scotland-Is-the-Scottish-term-Help-ma-Boab-really-from-the-comic-strip-Oor-Wullie-or-is-it-far-older
I don't know who's reciting the poem, but it's pretty dire! Not any kind of accent I recognise. I recall Billy Connolly Using the expression during his 'Jobbie wheecha' sketch, when he describes the reaction of an Edinburgh surgeon having received the remains of someone caught by a jobbie wheecha in an aeroplane - 2m 45s in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIPYS4lww_0
I agree with the sentiments being expressed about writing in a way that allows those who do not have English as a first language to clearly understand what is being written. Over at CCS (an acceptable acronym, I think) I find some posts, written in (some form of) English, almost uninterpretable to me as a native English speaker. The result is the writer's information is glossed over or even ignored - which defeats the purpose of writer's post. Cheers Tony
