“Gie him strong drink until he wink, That’s sinking in despair; An’ liquor guid to fire his bluid, That’s prest wi’ grief an’ care; There let him bowse, and deep carouse, Wi’ bumpers flowing o’er, Till he forgets his loves or depts, An’ minds his griefs no more.” - Solomon’s Proverb “Let other poets raise a frácas ‘Bout vines, an’ wines and drucken Bacchus, An’ crabbit names an’ stories wrack us, An’ grate our lug; I sing the juice Scotch bear can mak us, In glass or jug.” “O thou, my Muse! guid auld Scotch drink! Whether thro’ wimplin worms thou jink, Or, richly brown, ream owre the brink, In glorious faem, Inspire me, till I lisp an’ wink, To sing thy name!” - Scotch Drink by Robert Burns
Festival season is here again, and one of the ones I look forward to attending is the Ohio Scottish Games and Celtic Festival, held on June 27-28, 2025, at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. For more information on the Games go to OhioScottishGames.com or visit iIrish.us and search Ohio Scottish Games.
As you may remember, Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx are closely related, all descendants of Old Irish. The Scots Language Centre lists Scots Gaelic, Scots, and English as the three languges spoken in Scotland.
Scots is a collective name for Scottish dialects that evolved from Old English. The language has evolved to the point that it is no longer considered a dialect, but a language unto itself.
Robert Burns
It does however, resemble English enough that, with a little practice, reading and understanding spoken Scots is not out of reach. That allows us to appreciate the poems and songs by Robert Burns and other Scottish bards.
Scots language has it’s origins somewhere around 600AD, when the Angles arrived in Scotland. By the Middle Ages, the language was used by the Royal Court and all branches of government.
We know this by the many documents that have survived from those times. The Scots language saw changes after Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church in 1560 and the country became Reformed Calvanist.
The Reformers aligned with England and in 1707, the union became official. English became the language of the Scottish ruling class and was used in politics, business and in the courts.
The upper class spoke English, leaving Scots to the working class. Scots Gaelic was the predominate language in the Highlands.
After the defeat of the Jacobite Rising of 1745, both Scots and Scots Gaelic and many other cultural aspects of the Scots were being muted. In the 1800 and 1900s, the use of both languages were in decline. English only education was the standard.
Scotland has undergone a revival that began around the turn of the 21st century. In the 2011 Scottish Census, 1.5 million people, about 30% of the population, identified themselves as Scots speakers. English is still the leading language in Scotland, but Scots has firmly embedded itself into daily speech.
The Scots that is spoken is divided into four main regional dialects; each has it’s own sub-dialects and even those have sub-sub-dialects. The Doric dialect is spoken in the north-east, mostly farming and fishing traditions. Here the dialect can be difficult for even other Scots speakers to follow.
In the Shetland region, Shaetlan is the form of Scots. The differences are in the speed, accent, vocabulary, pronunciation and expression. So put on your baffies (slippers) and sit your bahookie (backside) in your favorite chair; maybe have a swallie (drink) of Scotch and enjoy these phrases and common expressions:
Aye is yes; auld is old; bairn is child; blether is a chatterbox or a long rambling conversation; cannae is can not; dae isdo; dinnae is don’t; dour is gloomy; dram is a measure of whisky; gallus is mischievous or bold; haver is to speak foolishly; ken is to know something; nae is not; naw isno; numpty is a stupid person; wee is small.
“Ah dinnae ken” – I don’t know
“peely-wally” – to look pale or unwell
“Gonny no dae that”- Please don’t do that
“Haud yer wersht” – a not so polite way to say be quiet
“Long may yer lum reek” – May your chimney smoke long, meaning may you live a long and happy life.
“We’re a’ Jack Tamson’s bairns”- We’re all God’s children.
“What’s fur ye will no go by ye” – What’s destined to happen will happen.
“A nod’s as guid as a wink tae a blind horse” – Sometimes you have to be direct, not everyone picks up on subtle hints.
“Foos yer doos?” – How are your pigeons – Meaning “hello, how are you?”
“Dinnae teach yer Granny tae suck eggs!”- Don’t try to teach people what they already know.
I can’t wait for the opportunity to use that last one!
