OpenLearn Works Unit 14: Scots and the history of Scotland by James Robertson Copyright © 2019 The Open University 2 of 30 https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/view.php?id=4190 Thursday 23 January 2020 Contents Introduction 4 14. Introductory handsel 4 14.1 The status and use of Scots from c.1100 to the present 7 14.2 Historical events with an impact on Scots 11 14.3 Scots language in narratives of historical events 15 Example 6 19 14.4 Scots in oral history 22 14.5 Scots in fiction, legend and song 25 14.6 What I have learned 28 Further research 29 References 29 Acknowledgements 30 3 of 30 https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/view.php?id=4190 Thursday 23 January 2020 Introduction Introduction In this unit you will learn about the relationship between the Scots language and the history of Scotland. An understanding of the past needs to include an awareness – though not necessarily a thorough knowledge – of the languages that people used in earlier times. In Scotland, the main languages that have been used for the last 1,000 years include Gaelic, Scots, French, Latin and English. Many other languages have also been spoken by people living in Scotland throughout this period, including the present: for example, according to the 2011 census Scotland has about 54,000 speakers of Polish and 24,000 speakers of Urdu. This unit is divided into six sections in which you will learn who used the Scots language and how Scots interacted with other languages during different historical periods. Historical events and stories associated with them often contain memorable Scots words and phrases. Some examples of these will be explored in this unit. Important themes to take notes on throughout this unit: ● the status and use of Scots at different periods of history ● historical events which had an impact on the use of Scots ● narratives of historical events in which Scots is used in speech or in writing ● the use of Scots in oral history, fiction, legend and song. Activity 1 Before commencing your study of this unit, you may wish to jot down some thoughts on the important details we suggest you take notes on throughout this unit. You could write down what you already know about each of these points, as well as any assumption or question you might have. Provide your answer... 14. Introductory handsel A Scots word and example sentence to learn: Stane Definition: As in English phrase stane and lime, masonry, masoned stone. Generally, Scottish forms and usages of Eng. stone. Adj. stanie, stan(e)y etc. ○ Example sentence: “He’s gaun tae bigg a dyke wi aw thae stanes ower there.” ○ English translation: “He’s going to build a wall with all those stones over there.” 4 of 30 https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/view.php?id=4190 Thursday 23 January 2020 14. Introductory handsel Activity 2 Click to hear the sentence above read by a Scots speaker. You can then make your own recording and play it back to check your pronunciation. Voice Recorder is not available in this format. Go to the Dictionary of the Scots Language for a full definition of the word Language Links The Scots stane and the English ‘stone’ are cognates, which means that they come from a common ancestor, the Old English stān. Scots is a Germanic language, so it has many cognates with languages such as German, Dutch or Swedish. Stane is one of such words – notice the German equivalent ‘Stein’ and the Dutch ‘steen’. Note that the word stane, like many other words in Scots and English, can be used as a noun, verb and in combination with other words e.g. stane-deif, drystane dyke, chuckie- stane etc. Stane can also refer to a mass of rock, to large boulders or smaller stones, pebbles and pieces of rubble. The picture shown, for example, is of the Dwarfie Stane, a megalithic chambered tomb carved out of a large block of sandstone on the island of Hoy in Orkney. Related word: Dyke Definition: A low wall made of stones, turf, etc., serving as an enclosure. ○ Example sentence: “Geen doon yun broo an ower the dyke.” 5 of 30 https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/view.php?id=4190 Thursday 23 January 2020 14. Introductory handsel ○ English translation: “Go down that hill and over the wall.” Activity 3 Click to hear the sentence above read by a Scots speaker. You can then make your own recording and play it back to check your pronunciation. Voice Recorder is not available in this format. Go to the Dictionary of the Scots Language for a full definition of the word 6 of 30 https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/view.php?id=4190 Thursday 23 January 2020 14.1 The status and use of Scots from c.1100 to the present 14.1 The status and use of Scots from c.1100 to the present During the 12th and 13th centuries, Scots (or ‘Inglis’ as it was then commonly known) expanded into areas of Scotland, which had previously been Gaelic-speaking. In this period, Scots became the most widely spoken language of the country, although Latin and French were also very important means of expression for those few people who could read and write – some churchmen, lawyers and merchants and some members of the royal court and nobility. During this period and later, Latin was the main language of legal and academic discourse. University lectures were delivered exclusively in Latin until the early 1700s; also the Acts of Scotland’s Parliament were written in Latin until 1424, after which they were written in Scots for about 180 years. Language Links To give you an impression of one the first Acts written in Scots, you can see and listen here to an extract from an Act of 1457 ordering wapinschawingis (weapon-showings) to be held throughout the land and for men to practise use of weapons instead of playing games: Item: it is decretyt and ordanyt that wapinschawingis be haldin be the lordis and baronys spirituale and temperale four tymis in the yere. And that the fut ball and the golf be utterly cryt doune and not usyt. And that the bowe merkis be maide at ilk paroch kirk a paire of buttis and schuting be usyt ilk Sunday.… (K.M. Brown et al. (eds) 2007-2019) Audio content is not available in this format. How did you find reading and listening to this extract? Can you identify links with English here? You might have found reading the extract fairly straightforward and noticed that the spelling of some of the words is close to English, and so is the word order. When looking up words from the text, such as ordanyt, in the DSL, you will see that they mostly appear in the listing of results prior to 1700, meaning that these are words where there are not many examples of use post-1700 in Scots. There was then a transition period, which meant that by the end of the 1600s the Acts of Parliament were written mostly in English – which was from then on the language of formal writing. These changes reflect the shifting fortunes of the different languages in relation to political, economic and social developments: for a period, Scots supplanted Latin as the language of power, but was itself in turn supplanted by English. 7 of 30 https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/view.php?id=4190 Thursday 23 January 2020 14.1 The status and use of Scots from c.1100 to the present Statue of Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld In literature, Scots flourished from the late 14th century – when John Barbour (c.1320– 1395) wrote his epic poem about King Robert I, The Brus – through to the glories of the Renaissance period when the court of James IV patronised poets such as William Dunbar (c.1460–c.1520), who wrote in a rich, ornate and complex Scots. Dunbar’s contemporary Gavin Douglas (c.1474–1522), Bishop of Dunkeld, made a magnificent Scots translation of Virgil’s Aeneid, the Eneados, the first translation of this text into any Germanic language. Slightly earlier, the Dunfermline schoolmaster Robert Henryson (c.1420–c.1490) had written his versions of Aesop’s Fables and other poems such as The Testament of Cresseid. All these poets acknowledged the influence of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer on their work, but Gavin Douglas renamed the language he used as Scottis rather than ‘Inglis’: the Eneados, he said, was ‘writtin in the langage of Scottis natioun’. This was a deliberate political distancing from the English of England, although the languages used either side of the Border had already become very distinct in terms of vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation. Activity 4 In this activity, you will be working with an extract from Eneados (Douglas, G., 1839, Book 1, line 104ff). This extract is particularly interesting as it provides a strong statement by Douglas about his use of Scots, or Scottish, as the language of his poetry. Part 1 First of all, listen to the extract and try to follow Douglas’ statement. Audio content is not available in this format. Part 2 a. Read the extract and try to establish what Douglas states about using the Scots language in his poetry. Take some notes. In order to be able to understand this very old version of Scots, it might be best to read this out loud. Please note that ‘y’ is often used in words when today an ‘i’ would be used. b.