The Scots language over the water

The province of Ulster, which largely constitutes Northern Ireland today, has received input of Germanic speech on two or three occasions: firstly through the Norsemen between the 9th and 12th centuries, secondly from speakers of English, from the 12th century onwards, and lastly by way of Scots speakers first attested in the 16th century. The earliest Scots documents in an Ulster context are those issued by the Scottish MacDonald clan who sought an alliance with the English Crown in the 1540s. Though normally Gaelic-speaking, the MacDonalds used Scots as the nearest language they had to English. Thereafter Scots was used by various individuals, but most notably by communities of Scottish Lowland settlers in Ireland in the wake of the Ulster Plantation (1609). The use of Scots in administration in Ireland went into decline after 1640 but there was a revival in poetry in Scots during the 18th century by men such as William Starrat. Presbyterian ministers also continued to preach in the language. The form of Scots spoken in Ulster is derived from West Central Scots – a reflection of the large scale settlement from Ayrshire and the surrounding region - with an accent distinct to Ulster. Scots is also spoken in Donegal within the Republic of Ireland. There is a very useful book by James Fenton 'The Hamely Tongue A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim' (republished by the Ullans Press in 2000) which should serve as a good introduction to Scots across the water.

There are many links on the internet which deal in more detail with various aspects of the Scots language in Ulster, including the following:

Ian James Parsley maintains a website which answers many basic questions related to the use, status and background of Scots as spoken and written in Ulster today: http://www.ianjamesparsley.net

For official policy relating to the Scots language in Ulster please follow this link to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland: http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/index

The Ulster Scots Agency is an organisation devoted to the various aspects of Ulster identity and heritage of which language forms a part. There is some information on the language here: http://www.ulsterscotsagency.c

Ian Adamson, for long a language campaigner in Ulster, has some very interesting material related to comparisons between Gaelic, Frisian and Scots: http://www.ianadamson.net/inde

Richard Archibald maintains a website with samples of Scots vocabulary which allow visitors to hear Ulster pronunciation: http://uk.geocities.com/richar

For an example of the Scots language in Donegal – and the way in which it is pronounced there – the East Donegal site includes vocabulary among its heritage interests:
http://www.eastdonegalulstersc