Context :

Aims : We determine the metallicities of globular clusters ( GCs ) in the WLM and IKN dwarf galaxies , using VLT/UVES and Keck/ESI spectroscopy .
These measurements are combined with literature data for field stars to constrain GC formation scenarios .
For the WLM GC , we also measure detailed abundance ratios for a number of light , \alpha , Fe-peak , and n -capture elements , which are compared with literature data for the Fornax dSph and the Milky Way .

Methods : The abundances are derived by computing synthetic integrated-light model spectra and adjusting the input composition until the best fits to the observed spectra are obtained .

Results : We find low metallicities of \mathrm { [ Fe / H ] } = -2.0 and -2.1 for the WLM GC and the GC IKN-5 , respectively .
We estimate that 17 % –31 % of the stars with \mathrm { [ Fe / H ] } \leq - 2 in WLM belong to the GC , and IKN-5 may even contain a similar number of metal-poor stars as the whole of the IKN dwarf itself .
While these fractions are much higher than in the Milky Way halo , we have previously found a similarly high ratio of metal-poor GCs to field stars in the Fornax dSph .
The overall abundance patterns in the WLM GC are similar to those observed for GCs in the Fornax dSph : the [ Ca/Fe ] and [ Ti/Fe ] ratios are super-Solar at about +0.3 dex , while [ Mg/Fe ] is less elevated than [ Ca/Fe ] and [ Ti/Fe ] .
The [ Na/Fe ] ratio is similar to the averaged [ Na/Fe ] ratios in Milky Way GCs , but higher ( by \sim 2 \sigma ) than those of Milky Way halo stars .
Iron-peak ( Mn , Sc , Cr ) and heavy elements ( Ba , Y , La ) generally follow the trends seen in the Milky Way halo .

Conclusions : The GCs in the WLM and IKN dwarf galaxies resemble those in the Fornax dSph by being significantly more metal-poor than a typical halo GC in the Milky Way and other large galaxies .
They are also substantially more metal-poor than the bulk of the field stars in their parent galaxies .
It appears that only a small fraction of the Milky Way GC system could have been accreted from galaxies similar to these dwarfs .
The relatively high Na abundance in the WLM GC suggests that the [ Na/O ] anti-correlation is present in this cluster , while the high ratios of metal-poor GCs to field stars in the dwarfs are in tension with GC formation scenarios that require GCs to have lost a very large fraction of their initial mass .