Have you ever heard of the village in South Ayrshire called “Mossblown”? No, neither had I. At least until @cole007 mentioned it’s wikipedia entry.

So I went to have a look. And it reminded me somewhat of my Marouane Chamakh Wikipedia Adventure, where I traced the entertaining history of edits to Marouane Chamakh’s Wikipedia entry.

So I thought I’d treat you to the same sort of thing for the village of Mossblown. Let’s start with the initial appearance of the article, in November 2007.

Mossblown is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland, a little bigger than neighbouring Annbank.

INTERESTING FACTS: Life expectancy: 51 – Average salary: How much is a giro these days? – Currency: Ginger bottles – Local Drink: Buckfast – Favourite dish: Ferret soup

Wikipedia: Mossblown (26 November 2007)

By March 2008, the information relating to the local neds was building up and was becoming quite comprehensive, as well as providing information about the footballing loyalties of Mossblowners:

The local neds are known as the DSC (Drumley Soccer Casuals). They enjoy hanging around the local Spar and diet mainly on sausage rolls, sunny-delight and scampi fries. They stalk the streets wearing their usual attire: Kappa trackies, baseball cap, Berghaus jaicket and a pair ‘o gutties.

[...]Everyone in Mossblown supports AC Milan Football Club.

Wikipedia: Mossblown (3 March 2008)

It would appear though that Mossblowners are not particularly loyal football fans, as only a short while later…

Everyone in Mossblown supports Arsenal Football Club.Wikipedia: Mossblown (15 March 2008)

Unfortunately, by April it had become infested with an outbreak of block capitals:

THERE IS ALSO A HEALTH CLINIC FOR ALL THE WEE DIRTYS TAE GET CHECKED OUT :L THERE IS ANNBANK PRIM

Wikipedia: Mossblown (16 April 2008)

In July, the tourist virtues of Mossblown were extolled:

Mossblown is well known as a tourist hub – attracting literally some tourists every decade.

Wikipedia: Mossblown (29 July 2008)

But sadly, by October, some Wikipedians were disputing how useful and accurate the Mossblown piece actually was:

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia’s quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (September 2008)

This article may not meet the general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged or deleted.

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Wikipedia: Mossblown (12 October 2008)

By March 2009, information was starting to be added about some of the residents, although as no references or sources were cited for this, it should probably be treated with a certain degree of skepticism.

Lenny Cuthbert is a poofter.Wikipedia: Mossblown (5 March 2009)

By May 2009, significantly more information had been added about Mossblown and its residents (although the information on Lenny Cuthbert had by then been removed). Unfortunately, this updated and detailed information did seem to have been put together by someone with only a vague grasp of spelling and punctuation, although a nice, light conversational tone…

Speaking of the spar shop here is a list of the other local amenitys, first there are two pubs The Fourways and The Drumley which through the day keep the unemployed off the streets, you will find an array of characters in these premises most weekends…

Wikipedia: Mossblown (27 May 2009)

The article does not, as yet, appear to be marked for deletion, but I have a sneaking suspicion that sooner or later, someone will spot that it doesn’t quite meet Wikipedia’s quality standards…