(a) The makkin o Scotland, the makkin o Scots
(b) Scots as a naitional leid
(c) A twa-leidit fowk
(d) Scots efter the Union o the Croons
(e) Scotland tynes its parliament an its tung
(f) Ramsay an Burns
(g) The 1872 Act
(h) MacDiarmid
(i) Scots in modren leetrature
(j) Scots on televeesion
(k) Scots: on the rocks or on the blocks?

(a) The makkin o Scotland, the makkin o Scots

The kintra we noo ken as Scotlan his bin pairtit bi leid fur mair nor twa thousant year. In the Roman Age, the Britons bided in the south o the kintra an thir leid wis a forebear o modren Welsh. Bit in the undefaitit north they spak Pictish, o whilk puckle is kent.

Whan the Romans quat, new invaders cam in, the Gaelic- speakin Scotti frae Erlan in about AD five hunner an the Angles frae Northumberlan tha spak a norlan kin o Anglo Saxon. In 638 the hinner fangit the British dun o Din Eidyn (noo Embro) an Lothian becam the hert o Anglo-Saxon Scotland. The first scrievit evident o a Scots-like leid is a puckle wirds o Norlan Anglo-Saxon poetry on a stane corse in Ruthwell Kirk (Dumfries an Gallowa).

Jist afore echt hunner the Norsemen soopit throu Norlan Ingland an Scotland. Speakin a sib tung tae Anglo-Saxon, their leid hud muckle mair effeck on the norlan nor the southlan dialeks, sae furdor sheddin the twa.

Atweenhauns the Gaelic wis winnin forrit frae the wast. In 843 the Kinricks o the Scots an the Picks wis jined thegither bi Kenneth MacAlpine. Wi the better o haein a scrievit furm (the first sic fowkleid in aw Europ), bi 1000 Gaelic hud absorbit Pictish tae be spoken ower the hail of Scotland sauf the Orkney an Shetlan Isles (tha wis yet in Norse hauns), an Lothian, yet speakin the Norse an Anglo Saxon mixter.

This wis the tap o the watter fur Gaelic. The key ongaun tha chynged the staunin o Anglo Saxon, noo cryed 'Inglis' (an jist tae conflummix ye, Gaelic wis cryed Irish!) wis the incum o the Normans tae Ingland efter 1066. They brocht wi them the new seestem o feudalism. The Scottish keengs Malcolm Canmore (1057-93) an his son David I (1124-53) biggit this seestem in lallan Scotland wi the stairtin o ' burghs' - the mercat toons whaur maist o the treffick wis in Inglish. Forby, monie Anglo-Normans cam tae Scotlan aither in flicht frae Keeng Wulliam o invitit. (Amang the hinner wis the faimlies Bailliols, Bruces and Stewarts tha wis tae pley sic a muckle pairt in Scotlan's history.) Efter the daith o the hinnermaist Gaelic keing, Alexander III, in 1286, the political mid o Scotlan wud muive tae the Inglish- speakin lallans.

The nixt three-fower hunner year wis tae see the flouerin o 'Scots' as a naitional leid. In 1314 Bannockburn o course makkit sicker the freedom o the kintra (fur a wee). In 1375 Barbour's Scots epic 'The Brus' cam out, in 1398 the Scottish Parliament stairtit tae pit its laws in Scots (insteed o Laitin). Doon south o coorse the Inglish wis growein an aw throu the warks o Chaucer an ithers. Bit it hid chynged, noo bein, a wheen say, mair an Anglo-Frainch 'creole'. The by- leid o the hame counties becam the offeecial naitional leid therr efter aboot 1450.

The Scottish leid, wi its Lochlan colorin, wis noo different eneuch to be cryed a saiprit tung an the by-leid aroon the Forth suin becam the national leid o keing an cowmoner alike. The makar Gavin Douglas (wha kent 'Inglish' Inglish weel) wis aiblins the first kenspeckle scriever tae own the difference an gie the tung its new nam. The makars Henryson, Dunbar, Lyndsay an Douglas hisel aw played a pairt in makkin Scots a heid European leid wi a warld-cless leeterature an staunin. In a wey, this wis noo the tap o the watter fur Scots, yaised in ilka aspeck o Scottish life, a rael an hail naitional leid. Frae nou on the Scots tung (an its speakers) wid hae tae thole ane dunt efter anithir.

The first dunt cam mair frae ill-luck nor ill-wull. In 1550 the Reformation yokit tae in Scotland. Therr wisna houanivvir a hail owersett o the Guid Buik intae Scots an the Ingish hud plenty Inglish vairsions tae haun, haein stertit thair ain Reformation a whein airlier. Sae suin God wis speakin in Inglish tae the Scots an Inglish stairtit tae be the leid o philosophy, thocht an theology, wi Scots bein yaised in the hoose, the wark an the howff.

[By-scrieve: In fack this is a gey cowmon happenin in maist kintras. Hauf the fowk o the warld the day is twa-leidit an awbodie his o hur dialeck. Whaur therr twa (o mair) leids o dialecks wi differin yisses an aften differin staunins in the kintra, leenguists cry it 'diglossia'. The heuch kin is fur releegion, lairnin, buiks, papers an televeesion, whilk the 'laich' kin is maistly fur bletherin wi freens an faimlie, sayin hoo ye fin yersel etc. Nou afore ye think ainlie puir dilecks is laich, in pairts o Italy an Hungary the warld-leid o Gairman is yet the 'laich' tung.]

The nixt dunt ti Scots cam wi the Union o the Croons in 1603 whan Keeng James the Saxt gaed aff tae Lunnon, taein wi him his leeteraie freens, his makars an muckle o the tap o Scots society. The Inglishin o Scotlan noo stairtit wi a wull. Noo in yon times the Croon gied a muckle haun tae cultur. Wi the coort in Ingland, the makars yokit tae lernin Inglish, an the Scottish Government, yet at hame, bacam mair an mair Inglisht an aw. Inglish wis noo the leid tae speak, no jist in the Kirk, bit fur onie lad or lassie o pairts.

The nixt an aiblins waur dunt cam abou a hunner year aifter wi the Union o the Parliaments in 1707, efter whilk aw the offeicial scrievins wud be in Inglish. The speakin leid, o coorse, steyed Scots, or hauf an hauf. The kinch wis tha Scots 'on the mak' suin foon tha the Inglish lauched at thair speak an in the first eident o the kenspeckle Scottish 'creenge' ower-cless Scots ettilt tae lern Inglish. Fur sic fowk Braid Scots wis 'auld warld' an gleg Scottish scrievers hud their een on the mair muckle Inglish speakin mercat. Sae the flouerin o Scottish Culture tha follaed the Union wis maistlie cairriet on in Inglish. Scots becam seen as 'ill- mouthit' Inglish an e'en kenspeckle fowk like David Hume lairnt lang leets o Scotticisms tae jouk. (An this is no just in the bygane, raicentlie mair nor ane warkin-cless Labour MP his gied aff tae 'elocution lessons' tae lairn tae speik 'richt').

Bit mair cannie Scots wisna taen in bi the fashion fur mim-mou'd Suddrone. In the 1720's Allan Ramsay prentit 'The Gentle Shepherd' in Scots, follaed bi Fergusson an the big yin hisel - Rabbie Burns (1759-96). Houanivver the diglossia wis bi noo warkin weel an thair subjecks wis maistlie the couthie an the humourous. E'en Burns seemed noo an than riven atween the twa leids, thou he aften yaised his twaleidit-ness tae wunnerfou effeck in his wark. In ane respeck, thou, Burns did a fair bit o skaith wi the yiss o apostrophies in his orthography. Burns o coorse stairtit the tradeetion tha Scots wis best fur poetrie forby, an the yiss o Scots fur prose wis amest tint, thou it wis aften yaised fur crack in buiks bi Scott an ithirs in the airlie ninteent century. They gie a rerr insicht o the braid yiss o Scots throu yon times.

Bit mair nor hunner year hid passit syne the Union, anithir dunt fur the leid wis sharlie aucht! Alang it cam shair eneuch wi the 1872 Education Act that set out the Inglish language as the ainlie ane allooed tae be spak in Scottish scuils. E'en gin yer no a socialeest, it's herd no ti see this as a cless weir in the clessruim. The bi noo weel- Inglisht middle-cless representit bi the dominies ettlin tae scoor an skelp oot warkin cless or fowk cultur frae the heids o the puir scuilbairns.

In the 1920's thare stairtit a muivement agin sic cultural an linguistic 'cleansin'. The 'Scottish Renaisance' wis inspirit bi Hugh MacDiarmid, wha thocht Scots cud be biggit again intil a hail leid. MacDiarmid's slogan (a Scots Gaelic wird bi the wey) 'Dunbar - Nae Burns!' coontered diglossia bi sayin Scots cud be yaised fur onie subjeck, like in the Gowden Age o the makars afore 1603. Houanivver McDairmid's sicht wisna hin- luikin at aw bit wis ruitit in the praisent an wis modrenist an internaitionalist in its ootluik. He devailopit the leeterarie dialeck cried 'Synthetic Scots' (o bi his critics, o whilk thair wis monie, 'Plastic Scots') frae his ain speak an the dictionar. Souter, Garioch, Young, Goodsir Smith wis aw hied makars o the 'Lallans' scuill tha follaed. This tradeetion gaes on tae the day wi monie modren makars an playrichts yaisin Scots in thair wark. In the 70's an 80's plays frae fowk like John McGrath an Liz Lochhead yaised Scots dialogue. Houanivver, this century fyow scrievers hae adoptit Scots fur prose wark, althou it's nae uncowmon tae see Scots dialogue. Ane exception wis Lewis Crassic Gibbon, that yaised a Scots/Iglish mix in the trilogy 'The Scots Quair' tae gran effeck in tha he caucht the 'rhythm' o Scots.

Ae criticism o Scots novels is hoo dialogue an prose ar for ordinar scrievit in unalike leids, lavin a waikniss or pit-on at the hert o Scottish liteerature. Mair raicentlie a puckle o modren Scots screivers sic as James Kelman (that wan the Booker Prize) an Irvine Welsh ('Trainspotting' bein ane o the best sellin paperback buiks in Scotland this year) hae ettilt tae answer thon bi yaisin maistlie (Laich) Scots text. This lingueestic freedom gies the buiks undootit pooer, bit the subjecks ur yet fair restrictit ti the urban unnercless. Mibbie oor slogan noo cud be 'Dunbar - Nae Kelman'! (Ainlie jokin.) Sae in poetry an a wee bittie in theatre an buiks, ye cud say Scotland is in a wey awreddie twa-leidit (or three-leidit, coontin Gaelic), bit in aw ither aspecks o Scottish cultur, Inglish is keeng.

Lavin aside the orra adaptit theater play the ainlie time ye hear Scots on TV is fur humour. Frae Parliamo Glasgow in the 60's throu Billy Connolly in the 70's an on tae Rab C Nesbitt the noo, the mither tung his bin yaised tae raise a lauch. Nae ill thing in itsel - thir a lang tradeetion o humorous yiss o Scots - bit athoot exemplars o ithir yisses the hechle is it becomes near imposseeble tae think o yaisin Scots fur mair sairious ettles. Interestinlie eneuch, A mind a Catalan bodie sayin tae me that at first monie fowk cudna git yaised wi the yiss o Catalan on TV fur news an the lik - it jist didna soon 'richt'. Ye cud jalouse the same repone fur Scots!

In an interestin experiment in the airlie 80's BBC Scotland did an adaptation o 'The Scots Quair' bit wis hecklt frae Scots an Inglish alike. The former thoucht (richt) the Scots wis wattered doun fur the Inglish mercat, and the hinner cudna unnerstaun it oniegate. The experiment hasna bin repeatit an the actors near aw 'sairious' new series stellt in Scotlan (eg Taggart) hae tae speak 'pan loaf' in case the pair Inglish ar a bittie slaw on the uptak. Houanivver a wee brekthrou seimed tae come wi the screenin o Billy Kay's series 'Scots: The Mither Tongue' bi BBC Scotlan in 1986 that pit the case fur mair yiss o Scots in aw pairts o Scottish life. In maugre o a muckle repone frae aw ower the kintra at the time, thare bin nae real follae up in the nine year syne (nae TV clesses fur exemplar).

Houanivver Scots his bidit unco thrawn an maistlie kis it aloos fowk tae express thaimsels an thair heft in a wey Inglish jist canna (monie Scots wirds is gey unowersettable). It is, o coorse, muckle shrunkelt syne Burns' time an his hid by-ordinar 'interference' frae Inglish (aye the leid o pooer an buik-lair).

The leid spoken in lallan Scotlan the day is a continuum atween dialecks o Scots, a wheen o sindrie Scottish dialecks o Inglish an standart Scottish Inglish itsel. This mixter- maxter is happit wi an accent that reflecks the fack that altho monie Scots an Inglish wirds shair consonants, the vooels in the twa tungs differ in a radical an gey unspaeable wey ie Inglish wirds is aften spoken as if they wis Scots anes. We hae monie o the swatches o a border patois wi speakers 'wheechin' takin a len an makkin up, shawin a jonick (gin ill- kent) twaleidit-ness. The border is ower time an no ower lan, bit the idea is muckle the same (excep tha Scots canna be 'vailidatit' - gien a staunin - sae maistlie losses out at the hinneren). Aw this is o coorse haillie oral as therr yet amest a hunner per cent illeeteracie in Scots (the 1872 ack wisna chynged till 1991 an than ainlie a puckle).

Sae whit's the upcum o aw this? Nae doot Scots his tint muckle syne it wis the offeecial tung o Scotland, bit yet the spoken leid cud (mebbie ainlie jist) be cryed a leid. Eneuch bides tae form the foons o a new Scots, gin we wiss it. Monie say we ainlie hauf a leid we'r ainlie hauf a fowk, an gin we tyne Scots, we'll tyne oorsels. The skaith his aw cum frae Scottish fowk (we canna wyte the Inglish fur this) an its haillie up tae us tae sort it. But, we'll hae tae dae it suin. We hae ainlie tae fin the wull an the smeddum.

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© Clive P L Young August 96
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