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Ballads, Ridings and Truces
Summer time in Scotland marks the celebration of the Common Ridings during which some towns – particularly in the Borders – organise ceremonies to confirm the boundaries of the town and other lands. In former centuries the local landowners were often asked to inspect boundaries which were in ... more
Origins of Orkney Scots
Three languages are known to have been spoken in Orkney’s history. Pictish (a P-Celtic language related to Welsh) is presumed to have been spoken until about AD 900 and then Norwegian until the 18th century. The third language spoken in Orkney is described by The Orkney Dictionary in the follow... more
Norwegian and Scots
The Norwegian language – then Old Norse – was brought to the Orkney islands by the Vikings during the 9th century. Later studies suggest that the form of Old Norse brought to Orkney originated in the south-west of the country around the district of Rogaland near Stavanger. In the Scots langua... more
How Scots became a royal language
Read here how Scots became a royal language, how it developed, and how, ultimately, it was abandoned by the ruling family. In this feature we look at the early period down to 1437. On the menu at the left read all about Scots in the period 1437-1542 in 'Courtly conversation' and for the years 154... more
Courtly Conversation
JAMES II 1430-1460, ruled 1437-1460
James became king at the age of seven and took power in his own right during 1449. James II is not noted for literary or linguistic interests but rather for his strong temper and pursuit of warfare. However, like his father, many documents were issued in his n... more
The Gaberlunzie Man
This month's song from the TMSA archive is 'The Gaberlunzie Man' sung by Kay Thomson. Allegedly composed by King James V, this ballad is said to describe the Kings amorous adventures while travelling in disguise. At the time of King James V, a gaberlunzie man was a licensed beggar who would seek ... more
Glasgow Beginnings
The place name ‘Glasgow’ derives from a Gaelic description of a ‘green place’ on the banks of the river Clyde. In Older Scots this was variously written as Glasgu, Glasgow and even Glaskow. In the older language u, v, and w were interchangeable and so these spellings show that the pronunc... more
Border Ballads
The publication of Sir Walter Scott’s ‘Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border’ in 1802 was the foundation for the belief that the ballads of the Scottish Borders constituted the greatest ballad tradition in Scotland. In fact, the North East of Scotland also ranks equally with the Borders in ball... more
Oldest Diplomatic Act in Scots
The background to the Common Ridings was the lawless nature of the borderlands which persisted between the 13th and 17th centuries. There were often feuds between kindreds and frequent raiding by armed gangs known as reivers (‘thieves’). On a national scale, Scotland was often at war with Eng... more
Saint Andrew - what's in a name?
Saint Andrew was the younger brother of Saint Peter, both fishermen from Galilee in the Holy Land, and followers of Jesus. The orginal form of his name – Andreas – is Greek, but we do not know what his Aramaic name was. Andrew lived during the late first century BC and early 1st century AD an... more
Twa Corbies
Search on the internet for the Twa Corbies and you’ll see how much of an impact this Scots ballad has had on the worlds of poetry and traditional music. Here is a Danish version of the song by Norwegian folk-rock group, Folque. You can read the Scots words at http://www.twocrows.co.uk/twa_ more
Anniversary of oldest surviving document in Scots
The month of March marks the anniversary of the oldest entire text in Scots, strictly speaking. On 12 March 1380 (1379 old calendar) Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk put his seal to a letter (see text below) which is now the oldest original document – wholly in Scots – to survive. To this we may ... more
Oldest act of government in Scots
In the year 1397 – apparently during the month of April – a General Council of the Kingdom was held at Stirling. The significance of this Council for Scots was the statute that it passed in the name of King Robert III (ruled 1390-1406). The Statute of Stirling is now the earliest surviving a... more
Download 'The Brus' free
John Barbour's epic Scots poem, The Brus, is available as a free download on the web site of Aberdeen based cultural magazine, Leopard. The free download is accompanied by a short article on the life of Barbour by Derrick McClure of Aberdeen University.
The article and download are at http://w... more
John Barbour Anniversary
The 614 year anniversary of the death of John Barbour - recognised as the father of literature in Scots - will occur on 13 March 2009. John Barbour was born about 1316 and obtained the archdeanary of Aberdeen in 1356. He is known to have visited England and France in the 1350's and 1360's, partly... more
A braw nicht, thanks tae the SLC
Hello aw, howp ye hae been makkin the maist o wit braw simmer...or the twa-thrie braw hours we hae been gettin. Michael wis sayin this wad be the year fer a bonnie simmer - but sae faur it's ainlie been sunny whan I'm warkin inbye, an whan I'm daein pentin outside it buckets doun!
It wis ma 1... more