Latest / The Story of Scotland: Clans, Crowns, and the Fight for Identity — Fexingo History / The Scots Language: From Inglis to Erse and Back Again
Transcript
- Lucas: We've talked a lot about the big battles and the political drama of Scottish history — Bannockburn, the Declaration of Arbroath, the Union. But there's another story that runs through all of it, and it's about how Scots actually spoke. Not Gaelic — we touched on that in the Lord of the Isles episode — but the other language that became a national tongue. Luna: You mean Scots, right? The thing people still argue about whether it's a language or a dialect? Lucas: Exactly that. And that argument itself is part of the story. Because Scots has been called 'a dialect', 'bad English', 'just slang' — but historically, it was the language of the Scottish court, of parliament, of poetry. It's a Germanic language descended from the Old English of the Northumbrian kingdom — the same roots as English, but diverging from around the 12th century onward. Lucas: What's fascinating is that in medieval Scotland, people didn't call it 'Scots' at first. They called it 'Inglis' — English. And they called Gaelic 'Scots', or 'Erse' — Irish. So the labels were almost reversed compared to today. It wasn't until the Wars of Independence that the idea of speaking 'Inglis' as a Scottish thing really took hold. Luna: So the language became part of the national identity, even though it was the same root language as the enemy's? Lucas: Exactly. And that tension runs through the whole story. After the wars, writers like John Barbour — he wrote 'The Brus' in the late 1300s — deliberately chose to write in his native Scots, not Latin or French, to celebrate Robert the Bruce. That poem is one of our earliest major Scots literary works. And it's very consciously Scottish. Lucas: But for centuries after that, Scots was the everyday language of Lowland Scotland — of burghs, of farmers, of nobles too. It had its own spellings, its own vocabulary. The Scottish court in the 15th and 16th centuries produced a golden age of poetry in Scots — the 'makars' like William Dunbar, Robert Henryson, Gavin Douglas. They were writing in a language that was sophisticated, flexible, and distinct from English. Luna: And then the Reformation and the Union changed that, I'm guessing? Lucas: Dramatically. The Scottish Reformation in 1560 used English Bibles — the Geneva Bible, the King James version — because the reformers wanted a standard text that could be used across Britain. That pushed Scots out of the church. Then the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI went south to become James I of England, brought English influence into the court directly. And the Union of 1707 really sealed it — English became the language of government, law, and education. Lucas: But here's the twist: Scots didn't die. It became the language of everyday life for millions. And in the 18th century, poets like Robert Burns wrote in a rich Scots vernacular that was still alive — though he also knew English perfectly well. He code-switched, really. And that's still true today — people in Scotland speak a continuum from broad Scots to Scottish Standard English, depending on context. Luna: And there's been a revival, hasn't there? Official recognition? Lucas: Yes — the Scottish government now has a Scots Language Policy, adopted in 2015. There's a growing movement to teach Scots in schools, to record and preserve it. But it's still controversial— some people dismiss it, others are fiercely proud. And the debate about whether it's a language or a dialect is really a political one. Because if it's a language, it's a marker of national identity; if it's a dialect, it's easier to marginalise. Luna: It's almost like the whole history of Scotland in miniature — fighting for recognition, for a voice. Lucas: That's beautifully put. And that's why it matters — not just as a linguistic curiosity, but as a living part of Scotland's story. You can hear it in the streets of Glasgow, in the poetry of Kathleen Jamie, in the way people tell jokes. It's stubborn, it's resilient, and it's still changing. Lucas: If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode — and if the story of Scots and its fight for a place in its own country resonates with you — listener support is what keeps this show ad-free and independent. You can help us keep telling these stories at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Just a small thing, but it means a lot. Luna: Yeah, it's how we stay free to explore the corners we want. And speaking of corners — what about the regional varieties of Scots? Like Doric in the northeast? Lucas: Oh, absolutely. Doric is a wonderful example — it's the Scots dialect spoken in Aberdeenshire and the northeast, and it's so distinct that some people argue it's almost a separate language. It has its own grammar, its own vocabulary. For instance, 'fit' means 'what', 'far' means 'where', 'quine' means 'girl' — it's immediately recognisable if you know it. Luna: And there's also Ulster Scots, right? From the plantations. Lucas: Yes, that's a fascinating offshoot. When Scots-speaking Lowlanders were planted in Ulster in the 1600s, they took their language with them. Ulster Scots is still spoken in parts of Northern Ireland — and it's recognised as a regional language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, same as Scots in Scotland. So the language crossed the sea and took root there too. Lucas: There's also the question of influence from other languages. Scots absorbed a lot from Norse, from French, from Dutch through trade, and of course from Gaelic. Words like 'bairn' from Old English, 'brae' from Scots, 'loch' from Gaelic — it's a layered thing. And that's part of its richness. Luna: I guess the big question is: where is Scots going now? Is it growing or fading? Lucas: That's the million-pound question. There are real signs of revival — more media in Scots, more education initiatives, the Scottish Parliament even uses some Scots in its proceedings. But the pressure of global English is enormous. What's happening is that the traditional dialects — the broad, rural ones — are declining, but a kind of urban Scots, mixed with English, is very alive in cities. It's evolving, not dying. Lucas: And at the heart of it, the question of identity remains. Speaking Scots, or even using a few Scots words, is a way of saying 'I'm Scottish'. It's a political act, even if you don't mean it to be. And that's been true for seven hundred years. Luna: That's the real story — not just the words, but what they stand for. Lucas: Exactly. Next time, we'll look at another side of Scottish culture that's been shaped by that same tension — the story of Scottish music, from the bagpipes to the bothy ballads. Until then, keep listening.