By Julie Steele
Published: Feb 24, 2023More by Julie
By Julie Steele
Published: Feb 24, 2023More by Julie
At Wilderness Scotland, we love to share our beautiful country with visitors from all over the world: its landscape, wilderness, wildlife, culture, food, history – and language. Or, more accurately, languages. Did you know that there are three main languages in use in Scotland today? English is obviously the most prominent language, by custom and general usage. Although as we’ll see, ‘Scottish English’ is a more accurate description of what you’ll hear during your travels here.
Gaelic was confirmed by law as an official language of Scotland in 2005 by the Scottish Parliament. Having been around for at least 1500 years as a distinct spoken language, Gaelic is now used by 1-2% of the Scottish population and the Bòrd na Gàidhlig promotes its development. Visitors to Scotland will be familiar with the prevalence of Gaelic signage, particularly around the Highlands and Islands.
So what is our third language? ‘Scots’ is the collective name for our Scottish dialects. Chances are you already know some Scots words without even realising it – ‘aye’ and ‘wee’, perhaps. The traditional song derived from the famous poem by Scots poet Robert Burns, ‘Auld Lang Syne’, is sung the world over on New Year’s Eve – or Hogmanay, as it’s called in Scots!
“Surely our language is the image of our soul.”
William Soutar
The origins of the Scots language began 1400 years ago, around AD600, when the Angles arrived in southeast Scotland. They spoke the Germanic language ancestral to Scots. Over the following centuries, the language absorbed many influences from Latin, Dutch, French, Gaelic and Scandinavian.
By the 1400s, Early Scots was the language used by the parliament, royal court and burghs. There are many historical documents written in Scots dating back to these times. Over the next hundred years or so, it evolved into the full language of the state. There then came significant change after Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church in 1560. Parliament abolished Catholic mass, and the Scottish Kingdom officially became Reformed Calvinist, but there was no ideologically approved text available in Scots. An English translation of the Bible was used and had to be paraphrased and translated into speech so that the Scots congregations could understand it.
The Reformers favoured alliance with England, and over the following centuries, there was increasing influence from the English language. This was compounded by the Union between England and Scotland in 1707 when the Scottish ruling class adopted English as their language of politics, business and law. The division started to become more defined, between more educated, wealthy sections of Scottish society using English, while the workers continued to use Scots. This became more underlined after the failed Jacobite Rising of 1745 and the crushing defeat at Culloden. What followed was systemic clearances of the highlands alongside removing many of the cultural aspects of Scots culture. Through the 1800s and 1900s, the percentage of Scottish people using Scots faced a steady decline. English-only education and mass media became the norm.
Since around the turn of the 21st century, Scots has enjoyed somewhat of a revival. Scots has been recognised by the Council of Europe’s Charter on Regional and Minority Languages since 2001. In the 2011 Scottish Census, some 1.5 million people – making up around 30% of the population – identified themselves as Scots speakers. Since that time, there’s been a resurgence of interest in Scots, with increased enthusiasm for policy that will give it more recognition and prevent it fading from daily use in favour of English.
There’s a feeling of swelling pride in our ‘mither tongue’, and the days when children were told off for speaking Scots in school are in the past. Instead, there’s increased interest in incorporating it into our education system. In 2019 the annual Scots Language Awards were established to recognise achievement in Scots, and bring it into the public and media eye. In 2022, the Scottish Government is consulting on its proposed Scottish Languages Bill, which seeks to cement its commitment to the recognition and status of Scots across our society.
In Scottish arts and culture, there are important offerings that highlight the richness and beauty of our Scots language. Scottish folk music is vibrant, with new generations of musicians stepping into the fold, many singing in Scots dialects. Check out Iona Fyfe, Malinky and Shona Donaldson for starters. Scottish singer Eddie Reader has a beautiful album of Scots songs by our bard, ‘The Songs of Robert Burns’. It’s well worth a listen to her beautiful interpretations of these classic Scots songs.
The world-famous children’s picture book ‘The Gruffalo’ by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler has been translated from English into Scots, and also into several other dialects including Doric, Orkney and Shetland. Scottish imprint Itchy Coo has also published Scots translations of many other popular children’s books including Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, and The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr.
Although the majority of native and settled Scots may not speak fully in Scots day-to-day, our language is peppered with Scots words, turning it into ‘Scottish English’. It’s so embedded that at times it’s almost hidden from us. Often we don’t even realise ourselves that what we are saying is a Scots word, or has developed a particularly Scottish usage or meaning. I worked in London some years ago, in the publishing industry.
I remember one misunderstanding when I pointed out a problem with a book cover design, telling my manager that it was ‘squint’. He didn’t have a clue what I was talking about! In southern England, the word ‘squint’ is a verb or noun relating to one’s eyes, whereas in Scotland, it’s also used as an adjective to describe something that’s not straight or level. Cue much frustration on my part, being told that what I was saying ‘wasn’t a word’!
The four main dialects of Scots are Insular, Northern, Central, and Southern. But within each of those are further sub-dialects, and even sub-sub-dialects! As you travel around Scotland and listen to the locals speak, you’ll notice the differences in speed, accent, vocabulary, pronunciation and expression. The longer you spend here, the easier it will become to understand what people are saying!
A couple of the more distinctive dialects you might encounter on your travels include Doric and Shaetlan.
You’ll hear this in the north-east of Scotland, mainly around Aberdeenshire and further north. It’s an area with farming and fishing traditions, and a good awareness of its own dialect. To the untrained ear, a person speaking Doric in full flow can be quite difficult to understand, even for other Scots! You’ll notice that ‘f’ is often used instead of ‘wh’ so that ‘how, what, where and when’ become ‘foo, fit, far and fan’. The classic novel trilogy ‘A Scots Quair’ by Aberdeenshire author Lewis Grassic Gibbon is a fantastic immersion in Doric Scots and the history of farming life in the early 20th century.
Examples of Doric:
quine – girl
loon – young man
fit like? – hello, how are you?
foos yer doos? – how are your pigeons? (meaning the same as Fit like!)
‘Shaetlan’, as it’s known by Shetlanders, is similar in many ways to other Scots dialects but noticeably different in terms of its Norwegian influence. The ancient Pictish island society was invaded and settled by the Norse (Vikings) during the 9th century AD. The local form of Norwegian, known as Norn, developed and was used as the language of administration until the 16th century. Vowel sounds are similar to those used in Scandinavian languages. There’s a beautiful lilting quality to the dialect that makes it a pleasure to listen to while you tune in.
Examples of Shaetlan:
du – you
peerie – tiny, small
dey hed dem a fun – they enjoyed themselves
ah my mindin – as long as I can remember
auld lang syne – literally ‘old times since’ – ‘times gone by’ ‘times long past’
aye – pronounced ‘eye’, meaning ‘yes’
bahookie – bum/backside eg ‘sit yer bahookie doon there’
baffies – slippers
bairn or wean – child
blether – a long-winded chat
cannae – can not
clyping – telling tales
coorie – cuddle, snuggle
crabbit – grouchy, grumpy, bad-tempered
dook – dip in liquid/water
dour – gloomy in manner or appearance
dram – a measure of whisky. Example ‘Aye, I’d love a wee dram’.
dwam – daydreaming, not paying attention – ‘Ah wis in a dwam’
een – eyes
faff – to take some time to sort something out/get something done, often involving some inefficiency and/or delay. Example ‘That was a total faff’.
fankle – to entangle, a confusion or tangle
gallus – cheeky, mischievous, bold
glaikit – foolish, stupid, thoughtless, not ‘with it’
greet – to cry
guising – equivalent to trick or treating at Halloween
hackit – ugly
hee haw – nothing
keek – a quick look, a stolen glance
haver – to chat away foolishly – heard in the song ‘500 Miles’ by The Proclaimers – ‘And if I haver, hey, I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who’s havering to you’
hoachin’ – disgusting, ugly, smelly
ken – to know something or someone. Example ‘Ah dinnae ken’ – ‘I don’t know’.
lugs – ears
nae – not or no
naw – no
numpty – stupid person
oxter – armpit
peelie-wally – looking off-colour, ill, sickly, pale
sassenach – ‘outlander/foreigner/English – heard in the Outlander TV series – Jamie often calls Claire a ‘sassenach’, although initially meant offensively, it becomes a term of endearment between them.
scunnered – annoyed, weary, maybe bored
shoogle – to shake, shoogly – wobbly – Scottish band Shooglenifty
squint – off the straight, set at an angle/awry
stramash – commotion, braw
wee – small
barry – great
boggin’ – as for ‘mingin’’ below.
bonnie – pretty or lovely
braw – beautiful
brig – bridge
burn – a stream
cauld – cold
clarty – dirty or muddy
crackin’ – very warm and sunny
dauner – to stroll, saunter, walk idly
dreich – pronounced ‘dreech’, meaning overcast/drizzling/grey/cold weather
drookit – very wet/soaked/drenched
gloaming – dusk
gubbed – to defeat heavily/thrash, or very tired
howff – a natural or improvised shelter in the mountains
jaggie – spiky, prickly; example ‘those nettles are a wee bitty jaggie’
mingin’ – to describe anything from not very nice to awful. Example ‘that weather was pure mingin’’
nippy – cold
pech – to pant
roastin’ – very hot (which in Scotland can be anything over 18 degrees C!)
skelf – splinter
stravaig – to roam, stroll, wander, ramble
taps aff – ‘tops off’ – in very hot weather, Scottish men like to take their ‘taps aff’
trauchled – exhausted, tired out, dishevelled
wabbit – tired, exhausted
wee beasties – small, pesky insects
brock – badger
coo – cow
craw – crow
cuddie – horse
deuk – duck
doo – dove
dug – dog
hoolet – owl
moose – mouse
puddock – frog
tod – fox
blootered – very drunk
boak – vomit; example ‘It gies me the boak’ – ‘It makes me feel sick’
chow – to chew
druthy – pronounced ‘droothy’, meaning ‘thirsty’
piece – sandwich
poke – bag; used to describe a bag of chips or sweets
scran – food
spurtle – a wooden porridge stirrer
swallie – a big gulp or mouthful; a drink or drinking session
totie – tiny, small; example ‘a totie tattie’ – ‘a tiny potato’; ‘oan ye go, a totie bit’ll no dae ye oanie herm’ – ‘on you go, a tiny bit will not do you any harm’
‘Skinny malinky long legs’
Meaning – a tall, thin person
‘Whit’s fur ye’ll no go by ye’
Translation: what’s for you will not go by you
Meaning: what’s meant to happen will happen
‘Lang may yer lum reek’
Translation – Long may your chimney smoke
Meaning – I wish you well for the future
‘Haud yer wheesht’
Translation – Hold your tongue
Meaning – Be quiet!
‘Keep the heid!’
Translation – keep your head
Meaning – stay calm and carry on!
‘Many a mickle maks a muckle’
Translation – Many a small thing makes a big thing
Meaning – All the small things add up (For example: one step may add up to a big distance)
‘Ye mak a better door than a windae’
Translation – You make a better door than a window (sarcastic)
Meaning – You are obscuring my view!
‘Dinnae fash yersel’
Translation – Don’t anger/trouble yourself
Meaning – Don’t worry (reassuring).
‘It’s blowin’ a hoolie ootside’
Translation: It’s very windy outside
‘Gie it laldy’
Meaning – give it a bit of oomph/gusto
‘Up to high doh’
Meaning – all worked up about something
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