No deid yit!

Posted by Duncan

Ane o the common things ye hear fowk sayin about Scots is that its deid, or deein.  Maistly they say this wi sum regret, an mind on they wey their grandmither yaised tae talk.  I e'en mind bletherin wi a cheil frae Buchan (!) wha'd stairtit tae larin Gaelic acause he wantit tae be "more linguistically Scottish" an Scots wis deid.  The innin tae a dictionar o the Caithness dialeck said the beuk haed maistly been pit thegither as an "obituary".  Nou, this aw seems gey doolie, but gin ye gae back, it's naething new.  

Did MacDiarmid no ettle tae heize up a leid he thocht wis deid?  RL Stevenson, i his poem "The Makar" (1879) wrate o Scots sayin: "Few spak it than [i.e. langsyne], an noo there's nane."  Lowpin back anither hunner year tae 1777, a cheil frae Aiberdeen (!), Charles Keith gied his "Address in Scotch upon the Decay of that Language."  An o course there's monie fowk dout ye can see 1560 as the deith-dunt for the leid.  Is Scots no takkin an affy lang time about it!  As wi fowk muisic, bairns' gemmes an muckle centre-haufs, awbodie aye seems tae dout that they is seein the lest generation o Guid Thing X, an that ance they hirple aff this mortal coil, there'll be naebodie tae mind tae Guid Auld Days o sunshein, Berwick Cockles, Doric an Scotland makkin it tae the Wurld Cup.

Awa!

Scots is alive!  Gin ye tak a butcher's hook at the Scots Govrenment's survey on attitudes tae Scots that cam out i Januar, it actually finns that the group least likely tae speak Scots wis fowk *ower* saxty five.  Jist as James Hogg's mither thocht that efter Scott prentit the Border Ballads naebody wad sing thaim onie mair (they wis prentit i 1802 an 1803) an we nou hae sic braw fowk music frae the likes o Borderer Lori Watson (an i whit leid?  whit dialeck?).  Frae the Borders tae the North East, an we see the Doric Festival aye gaein strang efter saxteen year.  An the leid isna thirlt dae fowk music alane, as Saint Andrew frae Dundee shaws wi their bleezin mixtur-maxture o The Bonzo Dog Doo Da Band an Ivor Cutler.  Frae Facebeuk curns i Dundee dialeck tae yung fowk i Shetland makkin CDs o tales i their ain tung, tae adult lairners' clesses i South Lanarkshire, Scots is raxin out an gaein strang fower an hauf centuries efter we "ken" it wis kilt.

Nou, this isna tae say that Scots as a leid an the braw dialecks frae aw the airts dinna face challenges.  They dae.  Eddication is aye faur ahint o whit it needs tae be tae gie fowk that kens Scots confidence, an tae teach it tae thaim that dinna ken it.  The braidkestin media serrs Scots gey ill for the maist pairt, an the tabloids tak ilka chance they get tae ding the guid Scots tung doun.  There is aye fowk wi auld farrant notions about "wrang Inglish" an "nedspeak".  Whiles it's a sair fecht, an we canna kid wirsels that awthing can cairry on rosily i the face o monoglot mass media an a want o eddication in an about Scots at aw levels.  Whan progress is made intae new areas, it needs double the wark tae maintain it.  

But progress is bein made, an it is clear for aw tae see the positive reactions frae "rale fowk" (i.e., no activists) tae sic projecks as the Reading Bus an the wark wi weans i the schuills (tak tent that the govrenment survey shaws that fowk wi weans at the schuill is mair i favour o Scots eddication nor ither fowk).  The survey shaws owerwhelmin support for the place o Scots i wir public life, an for the tung as pairt o wir naitional culture.  An nae ferlie!  The Scots fowk want tae speak wi the guid Scots tung they hae i their heids, an gin wi dae wir bit, nae tabloid moliganterin or mental versions o the tawse is gaein tae stap thaim!


That's aw for nou,
Dunc

Sang o the week:  Saint Andrew - This World of Phuhl o' a Number o' Things.

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