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Happy Birthday Scots Language Society
It was 36 years ago this year that the Scots Language Society was formed. At an open meeting held in May 1972 in the Wee Windaes Restaurant, High Street, Edinburgh (which is still there today), a group of like-minded Scots decided to form a society dedicated to the Scots language. It was decided ... more
Scots Tung
Scots Tung was founded in 1994 as a forum for campaigning for rights for Scots speakers and as a place for members to practice speaking the language in an informal setting. It began with 8 or 9 members and today has a core of 50 or so with various associates. It is centered on Musselburgh, East L... more
European Charter
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a Council of Europe treaty. You can find out about it here and through the links below.
About the Charter
The Charter was drawn up in 1992 to protect and promote regional or minority languages in Europe and give speakers of these... more
David Ogston
On a cauld Januar mornin in 1980, a wee curn o fowk frae St. John’s Kirk set oot for Balerno in sairch o a new meinister. As we herkent til a delichtfu an eimaginative sermon, we war awaur that here wes a rerr speirit. The letter o applicatioun that brocht us ti Balerno haed been haund-wrutten ... more
Conversation Now Translated into Scots
The Scottish Government’s 'National Conversation' document, published in the autumn of 2007, has now been translated into the Scots language. Ministers Linda Fabiani and Maureen Watt are to be congratulated for taking the decision to include Scots. Both of the ministers, who are currently explo... more
Kay calls on SNP to support Scots culture
Scots broadcaster and writer, Billy Kay, has urged the Scottish government to find ways to support Scots culture. In a letter to Culture Minister, Linda Fabiani, Kay, the author of Scots, the Mither Tongue describes his “shock” on hearing the news that the Scottish Arts Council is to cut fund... more
Scots campaigners blast 'nonsense'
Scots language campaigners have criticised recent comments by the TaxPayers’ Alliance as “ignorant nonsense”. Rod Lovie, convener of Strathisla Scots Spickers, condemned recent attacks on Scotland’s languages and cultures by the London based TaxPayers’ Alliance.
The Alliance has arg... more
Network for Multilingualism in Europe Established
The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) has decided to set up a network to promote European multilingualism, with a particular focus on Europe’s regional and minority languages. Many European regions are bilingual or multilingual, and the network’s main aim is to make better use of... more
Scots isn't alone
In April 2008, four students in Iceland paid a visit to the Education Ministry in Reykjavik in order to inform the government that they had founded an Association for Icelandic-speaking Youth, reported by Iceland Review Online. The students in question wish to support the Icelandic language for f... more
Ulster Scots set up speakers group
Scots speakers in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland have set up a group for people interested in speaking Scots. Charlie Reynolds from the group is reported to have said, "Some yins taak aboot it (Ulster Scots) - whereas we taak it!"
The full report can be read in the Ballymoney Times
http://www... more
Bill Wilson MSP Demands Support for Scots Language and Music
West of Scotland MSP Dr Bill Wilson has called for Scotland to follow Ireland in supporting indigenous culture.
Dr Wilson is a longstanding critic of the Scottish Arts Council’s cuts in funding for the Scottish Language Dictionaries and the Scots Language Centre. Speaking on 4th September a... more
Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity launched in Brussels
On 11th June, the new Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity (NPLD) was launched in Brussels. The NPLD has been established to work for the promotion and development of Europe’s less widely used languages.
The new network comprises the language departments of member states and autonomous g... more
New Chair at Shetland ForWirds
The dialect promotion group, Shetland ForWirds, has a new convener and vice-convener following its recent AGM.
Writer and former teacher, Laureen Johnson is now leading SFW, with Eileen Brooke-Freeman elected as the new vice-convener.
Both are founding members of the group which was formed ... more
Purves outlines the Way Forward for Scots
In the following article, veteran Scots campaigner, David Purves, outlines his views on the ways in which Scots could be encouarged and supported. The article first appeared in the Scots Independent. Thanks to the SI for allowing it to be reproduced here.
The Way Forward for Scots
By D... more
Euro Charter information added
Information on the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the ways in which it effects Scots is now available in the politics and activism section of the site. Click here to read more:
http://www.scotslanguage.com/b
more
Homecoming Scotland Shames Scottish Arts Council, Says MSP
Dr Bill Wilson, SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, says that the Homecoming Scotland Events Guide shows that EventScotland and VisitScotland "value indigenous Scottish culture and language, but the same cannot be said for the Scottish Arts Council". Read more at http://tinyurl.com/5t2quu more
Places still available at Scots debate
Places are still available at a debate to be held this evening (23 September) at the National Library of Scotland. A panel including Professor John Corbett, poet Rab Wilson, and Scots and Gaelic language activist, Gillian Munro, will discuss a range of questions connected with the language. SLC d... more
Scots activists celebrate
Scots activists are celebrating after nearly one third of the Scottish parliament’s members signed a motion from Liberal Democrat leader, Tavish Scott, calling on the Scottish Arts Council to continue funding the Scots Language Centre and Scottish Language Dictionaries.
Support for Mr Scott... more
Ulster Scots post highlights funding imbalance
Scots Language Centre Director, Michael Hance, has said that an advert for a new post at the Ulster Scots Agency demonstrates how large the gap is in funding for language support in the two territories. Hance said, “This advert on the USA web site for a Finance and Administration Director tells... more
NLS debate report
A debate about Scots held last month at the National Library of Scotland brought in an audience of over 100 people. Here David Purves gives his impression of the evening's events.
At the moment the report is only available in English.
This event was essentially a panel discussion, chaired... more
SNP Conference Calls for "fair treatment" for Scots
On 16 October the SNP conference voted unanimously for a motion that calls on the Scottish Government to "guarantee fair treatment for Scotland’s unique cultural inheritance".
The motion welcomes the Government’s audit of Scots language provision and calls it "a key area very badly affecte... more
MSP Writes on Wedding Row
Dr Bill Wilson, SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, has written to Linda Fabiani, the Scottish Government Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, asking her to inform all Scotland’s registrars that they must conduct wedding ceremonies in Scots, if couples request it.
Dr Wilson’s l... more
“Aw human sowels is born free and equal in dignity and richts.”
Amnesty International Scotland is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by presenting the First Minister, Alex Salmond, with a framed copy of a Scots translation of the UDHR. The presentation, which takes place on 10th December, is part of a series o... more
Scots Translation of UDHR Accepted by UN
The Scots translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has been accepted by the United Nations and will be added to its list of more than 300 languages in which the document is available.
This is a result of Amnesty International’s publication of a poster of the UDHR in Sc... more
MSP Spreads Scots from Aberdeen to Argentina!
Dr Bill Wilson, SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, shared his love of the Scots language with primary school pupils aboard The Reading Bus on Friday 16th January.
Dr. Wilson read two Scots poems by Hugh Macdiarmid, “The Watergaw” and “The Sauchs in the Reuch Heuch Hauch”, and talked abo... more
New Scots web site
Bob Fairnie, a long standing campaigner for the Scots language and former editor of the monthly newsletter, Scots Tung Wittins, has set up a new Scots language web site. Here he tells what he hopes the site can achieve.
"The Juist Scots wabsite, www.juist-scots.com is juist whit it says. It’... more
Study shows dialect change in Lerwick
The results of a recent survey of dialect use in Lerwick were discussed at a meeting held in the Shetland capital last week.
Dr Jennifer Smith of Glasgow University who carried out the study gave details of her research to an audience of dialect activists and interested observers. The findings... more
Homecoming Blog Brands Scots as Slang
Highlands MSP Rob Gibson has forced a Homecoming Scotland blog to change references to Scots as “slang”. Mr Gibson, convener of the cross-parity group on Scots, took witnesses from VisitScotland and the Scottish Government to task about the blog post at the most recent meeting of the Economy,... more
Scots language on 2011 census
The General Register Office for Scotland has revealed in its report 'Scotland's Census 2011 Recommendations on Content' that the Scots language will be included on a census of Scotland for the first time. Campaigners who have fought long and hard since 1993 for a question on Scots language abilit... more
Scottish Government Considering Research into Scots in Schools
Last Thursday, the Minister for Schools and Skills, Keith Brown MSP, revealed that the Government is thinking about comissioning research into Scots language provision in our schools. Responding to a question by Bill Wilson MSP, Mr Brown said that Scottish Government officials met on 18 March to ... more
Third European Charter Report Released
The Third periodical report relating to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages has been released in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter. This Report, which relates to languages in the United Kingdom, runs to 364 pages and will interest any one wishing to learn what officald... more
MSP's controversy in the aisles
Dr Bill Wilson, MSP for West of Scotland, has proposed that supermarkets and other shops in Scotland should label produce with their Scots names as well as the English equivalents. In response to this idea, it has been reported that Richard Todd, of the Scottish Retail Consortium, has said that t... more
Thousands visit site
Statistics from internet search engine Google show that the new Scots Language Centre web site has attracted thousands of visitors since it was launched last October. Reacting to the news, Michael Hance, Director of the Centre, said, "I'm very pleased with the figures - they show that people are ... more
Aboot the Ainu
Whit d'ye mak o this?
- http://www.iht.com/articles/20
Thir's ae braw line, juist at the end, that gar me lauch out loud: "It's not healthy to keep blaming discrimination or history, and not work and pay taxes..." more
The Audit & Rabbie Burns, Inglis speaker?
Weil weil, that's the audit out the nou, an am blythe it is. I ralley dinna hae mair tae eik ayont whit the main story on the site says, jist tae say that I howp this'll gie a heize tae the fowk an organisations that warks for the future o Scots. Gin naething else, the recognition o the vital ... more
Parochial smarochial...
I jalouse like maist o ye I wis mair nor a wee bittie bemused by David Starkey's comments on the telly a couple o days syne. Offendit? Na, no ralley, jist a bit dumfounerit. Mainly I wis wunnerin whit he meant by crying Rabbie Burns a "provincial poet" as though this wis a bad thing... I thoch... more
A Sober Student Looks at MacDiarmid
Weil, first aff I maun say "weil duin" tae Billy Kay on gettin his honorary degree frae the University of the West of Scotland (read about it i the news section o the site). He ralley deserrs recogneition for the braw wark he's duin for the Scots leid an the cultur o Lawland Scotland ower the ye... more
