Scots Scuil


Scots Scuil

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Still thou art blessed, compared with me!

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The present only toucheth thee,

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But, oh, I backward cast my e'e

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On prospects drear,

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And forward, though I cannot see,

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I guess and fear.

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Speaking the Scots language... For some, it comes naturally.

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For others, it's dusted down and used for a week in January.

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For six children from all over Scotland,

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a visit to Scots Scuil in Ayrshire gives them the opportunity to speak

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their ain leed for a week.

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For Thomas in Aberdeen, it's a chance to work out

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what's Doric Scots and what's not.

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For city dweller Nadia, it's the opportunity to learn a new language.

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And for horse-mad Milly, it's a chance to speak

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more like the rest of her family.

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In Ayrshire, Iona and Sandie show off their Scots,

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or Scottish as they call it, with confidence.

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And for Scots language lover Cameron,

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it's time to prove to his parents that Scots isnae slang.

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When I speak Scots I feel different from speaking English,

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cos it feels more like me.

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I am Scottish, I'm not English. And that's why I'd rather speak Scots,

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cos that's my first language.

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My name's Iona. I'm from Muirkirk and I'm nearly 11.

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My name's Sandie. I'm 10 and I live in Muirkirk.

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In Muirkirk, best friends Sandie and Iona are looking ahead

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and making some very big decisions.

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-So what are you taking?

-I'm taking my dad's fitba bag, so it's like...

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I'm taking a suitcase, a wee mini suitcase.

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I'm taking... I don't actually ken whit claes I'm taking yet,

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but I'm definitely taking these.

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-And I'm definitely taking my Converse.

-Aye, aw right.

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So whit do you actually think we'll learn at this Scots Scuil thing?

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Mair Scottish words and like mair ways to develop them.

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Well, the thing I really think is, the way we talk, like,

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we know our words, and it's the words we use.

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-And we're bilingual, whatever that is.

-Aye, bilingual.

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Then you actually just... You don't really need to learn much about Scottish if you're already Scottish.

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I ken, but we'll learn mair.

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I think it's important that people speak Scottish

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because it's the way they've talked all their lives roon aboot here.

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My language basically means everything to me.

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-Hiya!

-Hello, honey.

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-How are you?

-Fine.

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Sandie spends a lot of time at her grandparents' home.

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-They live a few doors down from her.

-When's the school going back?

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-When's the school going back?

-Aye.

-The 18th.

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But you have to buy my shoes on the 15th.

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Aye, you'll need to wait till the pension comes in, Princess.

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-You want something to eat?

-Mm-hm. A roll and cauld meat.

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-A roll and cauld meat? Whit kind of cauld meat you want?

-Onything.

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Onything?

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-Ye staying the nicht?

-Aye.

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Nae fighting, neither you nor Neil, because ony nonsense

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and ye ken whit I tell ye - you're back up that road.

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I'm no' putting up with it.

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-I ken.

-Aye, ye ken.

-She disnae mean it.

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-So whit are you doing the day, Papa?

-Me?

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I'm going to sort my gairden.

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I think the kids roon here speak the way they speak

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because it's what they've heard from mums and dads.

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I don't actually think they know any different.

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They speak the way they speak.

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-Stop playing with it. You've pooked all my jumper.

-Aye, because it was already.

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-I was just pu'ing it.

-It's worse pooked noo.

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I have thought about the way my grandweans talk,

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I've thought about what they're gonnae dae when they grow up,

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and I have thought, "Will the way they talk haud them back?"

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I widnae like to think so.

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I widnae like to think that there was prejudice

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in the way anybody speaks, in any language.

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-Have you got raspberries?

-Just an odd yin. I ate yin.

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I've got peapods, but I ate them tae.

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Aw right, but see when you've got mair,

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actually keep them for me, right?

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-Mmm, you need to be here, you need to be here.

-I ken this.

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Sandie McGraw fae up the raw, used to cry her Heid the Ba'.

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Papa Broon fae up the toon, his belly's awfy awfy roon.

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-Thank you, awfy guid of ye.

-And jelly tae.

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That's a cheap pair of shoes you're getting now.

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-Aye, so it is.

-Aye, you're getting a cheap pair.

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I think my language is important to me because it's my language.

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If I was told I widnae be able to speak Scottish,

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I don't really ken what I'd dae.

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I'd probably, like, speak it anyway.

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Aye, I'd dae that.

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Iona, have you got lost? You got it?

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I was expecting a pair of socks. You usually forget what you're up the stair for.

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'When I'm older I want to be a lawyer,

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'and I widnae change the way I talk

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'because it's my language and I widnae care if they couldnae understand me.'

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I think it's important because it's just, it's our way of talking,

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like, different from some folk.

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It's different from folk in England and America and all that.

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I always encourage Iona to be who she is and speak in her own

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sort of tongue and her own language.

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Sit doon a wee minute. What's the plans noo? What ye gonnae dae?

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-Going to go to the game's hall.

-What's on at the games hall?

-Bouncy.

-Bouncy, OK.

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'I don't think speaking Scots'll hold Iona back,

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'because she knows at times when to slow down a wee bit

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'to make sure people understand what she's saying.'

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It's important to encourage them because if we didn't,

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eventually the Scottish language would just die out

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and everybody would just be sort of the same.

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For Iona and Sandie, the encouragement to speak their language is

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reinforced at their local school.

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In Muirkirk, Scots is their first language for the majority of the children.

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We do have children that come in from different areas of Britain,

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and they very quickly pick up on the Scots because it is...

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Within the school, the children speak Scots quite a lot on their own.

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Within the classrooms, when I first went there about four years ago, I asked a question

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at the first assembly, and the whole place chorused back, "Aye".

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And I thought, "Hmm, very good." So obviously you are bilingual.

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If you speak Scots, English, you are bilingual.

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It's like doing any other language.

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So we have to have its place within the school as well for it.

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I think the most important thing about Scottish language is

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that everybody can speak English but not everybody can speak Scottish.

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This is Scots Scuil, specially set up for one week next to the

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cottage in Alloway where Scotland's bard spent his childhood.

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Scots Scuil has been specially set up for these children.

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It's here for a week.

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What the children are learning this week is skills to do with language,

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learning about Scots and English, the differences between them,

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where Scots comes from, different Scots words.

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Learning Scots, teaching people how to read,

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write and speak Scots as articulately as possible

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and as thoroughly as possible really is a big boost,

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or can be a big boost to their confidence because, if you think about it,

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if you are constantly told that your language is the language of

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the gutter, that it's slang or bad English, you're not going to value it.

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If, on the other hand, you are told that your language is valuable

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and then you realise that it's got a 700-year-old literature and it's got

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a wealth of material that is really fantastic, including

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the poetry of Burns and all the songs and so on that Scotland has,

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then you are going to look upon the language in a much more positive way.

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I think that feeds into self-confidence.

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Scott is about sharing, not excluding but about sharing language

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and that's what Scots Scuil is all about.

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My name's Cameron. I'm from Denny.

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I'm 11 years old and I like playing football and golf.

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When I speak Scots it makes me feel proud that I am Scots and that we've

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got our ain language, cos some countries use other folk's language.

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It's guid that we have our ain languege, eh?

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I like using the language cos I've got into a habit of it

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since it started.

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And it's fluent language, eh?

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Despite Cameron's enthusiasm,

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speaking Scots has caused a wee bit of a stooshie in the family.

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Cameron speaks in his own kind of language which I would say is slang.

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I'll just sit there box here the now and we'll go.

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I would say, "Are you going to speak properly?"

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And he will about the house, but when you hear him

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outside with his friends, it's a total different language.

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And I would just say it's slang.

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The speaking Scots, there is a time and place for it.

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Will it further his career or will it set him back the way?

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That's what I'm a bit frightened of.

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When my dad tells me off for speaking Scots, I always...

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I don't want to answer back because it's my dad,

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but I feel angry inside cos it's my language.

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He might be different to me, no' everybody's the same.

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-Is everybody enjoying it, then?

-Mmm! It's a lovely lunch.

-Yep.

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You won't need a dinner after this.

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In my eyes, when I was young, words like hame I thought were slang,

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or dinnae, words like that I defined more as a kind of slang rather

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than using proper English.

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I do think it is a good thing that they are teaching

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Scots at school, making the children now more aware of the Scots

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language, rather than the way I was brought up.

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-Papa, what poems did you used to read?

-Rabbie Burns.

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Most of his poems. I had books on it, Cameron.

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I was quite interested in them and what he did.

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And there were a lot of Scots words in Burns' poems.

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That was the thing that they spoke,

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that was the language that they spoke then.

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When my papa comes here or I go to his, we're always talking the Scots.

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And then if I get told off by my gran,

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he'll tell us it's our language.

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And cos he understands what I'm saying, like this,

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he doesn't hesitate in telling me to speak English.

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It's guid. I enjoy it mair.

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Cameron's very good at the Scots.

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You need to use it all the time,

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talking to people and that, you know?

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Though he knows the Scots words, it's not ones that are used regular.

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You won't get your sponge unless you...

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It's not a slang, it's a proper tongue.

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That was words that were used and they've just got forgotten

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because people don't use them.

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The connection between my language and Robert Burns' language is

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some of the words are the same but when he used the big giant words,

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I wouldn't use them, so that's when it becomes different.

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Things have changed from then

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and we just use the Scots that we want to use.

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John, you cut it like that.

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-CAMERON LAUGHS

-I'm only taking a wee bit.

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Whit are ye daein'?!

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If Cameron was going for a job interview, I would probably,

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in that instance, tell him to speak more proper.

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And then my phone, we'll need that.

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'If they speak English and not have slang words in with it,'

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cos I think people seem to still have that kind of thing about the way people speak.

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Scots will be useful for me, like, after I've got the job, but when I'm

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in my interview then I need to speak mair English, cos that's the way...

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Professionalism is English these days, eh? It's not...

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It probably used to be that you could speak Scots and get the job,

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but now you need to speak proper English to get the job.

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There are that many children in this country who feel that they

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dinnae have... That they aren't good enough to stand up in class.

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Folk tell them off for the way they speak.

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And that disnae develop a child's confidence,

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it does the opposite, it diminishes their confidence.

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I don't feel that I'm encouraged enough, because they want me

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to speak English and every time I try to speak Scots they will correct me,

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so it's not as if I'm getting, like, allowed to speak Scots.

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It's annoying.

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In Alloway, the children are arriving for their first

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taste of Scots Scuil.

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I'm looking forward to the rap and the songwriting and the poetry.

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I'm looking forward to all the workshops

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and I'm looking forward to the drama yin most.

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I think I'll learn loads of stuff,

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like about Burns' poems that I didnae ken, eh?

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Cos it's like, I'm not the biggest reader of poems,

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so if I knew mair of them it might get me into it, maybe.

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I'm really excited about coming here, having a new experience

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and working with other kids from other cities in Scotland.

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Over the next four days, they will discover more about their Scots

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language from leading experts, and use their new-found knowledge

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to put together a performance for family and friends for the last day.

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The word midge - boy's called midge?

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When children get a chance to use Scots in the classroom,

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when they hear a teacher using Scots, they see it in books

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and it's colourful and it's modern and there's TV programmes made

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out of Scots, it raises the status. They feel good about themselves

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and their confidence goes through the roof.

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What about snotterbox? THEY LAUGH

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That's actually quite cool.

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In Aberdeen, Thomas and his family

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use the Doric dialect of the Scots language.

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I'm Thomas, I'm 12 and I come fae Aberdeen, and I like fitba.

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See, one day, I was, like, doing rock climbing

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and it was like I got to the top and I said, "Jordan, what about noo? Are ye coming doon?"

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He says, "Nah, I'm away o'er." As soon as he seen us, he sprinted to Mooshie,

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and all the rope just came piling doon and I fell aboot 10 feet.

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-Was it sair?

-I hurt my bum.

-Did you cry?

-No.

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'There is definitely a clear distinction between'

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English speaking and Doric speaking because...

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Doric speaking has got a slang to it and...

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Proper is more clear.

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There's a clear difference and you can tell the difference.

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More so with young people. I can tell the difference

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with Thomas when he's speaking it.

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Sometimes... He's a young person, so he does stretch on it

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and there'll be extra bits at the end

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which is not Scottish or Doric at all.

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It's just him being as common as he can.

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When I was at the Isle of Skye,

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went out to a restaurant.

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'I think that my mum prefers me to speak English around her,'

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more sensible language and sometimes...

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we might not even understand words we're saying if we speak Doric.

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All language evolves so it's not surprising

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that the Scots we hear spoken and we speak in Scotland

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in the 21st century

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is substantially different from the Scots of the 18th century.

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So I just see Scots as being on a continuum.

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It's been around for a long, long time

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and I have no doubt at all it'll be around for a lot longer

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but it'll be different in the future from how it is now.

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That's good, Andrew. Well done, Daniel.

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Back, back.

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For Thomas, there is confusion about what language

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he and his friends actually speak.

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'Me and my friends, we normally speak slang.'

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We do speak Doric sometimes

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but nowadays everyone says words like gadgie,

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gadge, sound.

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Gadgie's for "a boy"...

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..and sound is just for "OK".

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Do you know that gadgie is a real Scots word

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and it's in the dictionary? What do you think about that?

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Erm..well, I never knew that.

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Now I know it is a Scots word.

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There is a clear difference between slang, common speaking,

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to Doric speaking.

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I think, as a parent, in understanding Doric speaking,

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you can clearly tell the difference.

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If Thomas could speak proper Doric and learn more about it

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then I would definitely encourage that.

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I think it'll make me more free to speak my own language...

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and I might learn more Scottish words out there

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'which will make me more interested to speak my own language.'

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That was in! That was a beauty. That was a post and in, gadge.

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Well done, Thomas. Keep on 'em, Bri.

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At Scots Scuil, the first class is led by Matthew Foot and James Robertson

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who've both devoted the last 15 years

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to promoting the use of the Scots language.

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The best way to start Scots Scuil might be to find out

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a Scots word fae each of us.

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So I wonder who we'll start with? Sandie, tell us a Scots word.

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-Mockit.

-Mockit, what a brilliant Scots word.

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-Why do you like that word, mockit?

-Just, "you're mockit".

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Who's mockit? Me?

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-I dunno. I just like using the word...

-Like the word mockit?

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I don't like going, "you're dirty". I like going, "you're mockit".

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Mockit's a great word. Tam, what about yourself?

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-Gadgie.

-What's a gadgie?

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It's like a man, but a scruffy man.

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-Does he always have to be scruffy?

-I think so.

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-Cameron?

-Fitba.

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-Fitba?!

-What do you kick the ball with?!

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Your fit.

0:18:500:18:52

And, Nadia?

0:18:520:18:53

-Cuddy.

-Cuddy?

0:18:530:18:56

-Who's been on a cuddy?

-Me!

-You've been on a cuddy?

0:18:560:18:58

I think Millie's got... You've got a cuddy, haven't you?

0:18:580:19:01

Do you have a cuddy?

0:19:010:19:02

If you can think of any words at all that you think are Scots words,

0:19:020:19:06

can you write them doon?

0:19:060:19:07

Heid.

0:19:090:19:11

Puddock.

0:19:110:19:12

Clypes.

0:19:120:19:14

-Tumshie.

-Glaikit.

-Doon.

0:19:140:19:17

Bogle.

0:19:170:19:19

The initial input for the early part of the day was to see

0:19:190:19:22

if the children could tell us as many Scots words as they kent.

0:19:220:19:26

I was amazed that Scottish children tell you screeds and screeds

0:19:260:19:30

and screeds of Scots words.

0:19:300:19:32

You've given us all these brilliant braw Scots words,

0:19:320:19:35

written them down and spoken them out loud.

0:19:350:19:37

Where do you think they all come from?

0:19:370:19:39

Scots wasn't always for Scotland. It came to Scotland from somewhere.

0:19:390:19:43

A tribe of people called the Angles came from Denmark

0:19:430:19:50

round about the 5th century and they were looking for new land.

0:19:500:19:53

They thought, "Haud on here, that's looking quite nice.

0:19:530:19:56

"We're going to move there."

0:19:560:19:57

Their language is the origin of Scots.

0:19:570:20:00

Their language was the first German type language to come to this island.

0:20:000:20:04

There's another tribe who we've not mentioned so far who came from Ireland

0:20:040:20:09

around about the time that the Angles were coming over from Denmark.

0:20:090:20:12

What's the name of the tribe that came over from Ireland?

0:20:120:20:15

Scottish.

0:20:150:20:16

Yeah, the Scots had a different language.

0:20:160:20:19

-It wasn't Scots.

-Irish.

0:20:190:20:22

Brilliant. Irish. What language did Irish become?

0:20:220:20:25

-Gaelic.

-Gaelic, brilliant.

0:20:250:20:27

For a long time, in Scotland, they were speaking Scots and some people were speaking Gaelic,

0:20:270:20:31

and in England, they were speaking English.

0:20:310:20:33

In Scotland, around about the time of Robert the Bruce

0:20:330:20:36

and William Wallace, the kings and queens all spoke in Scots

0:20:360:20:40

but something happened...

0:20:400:20:42

round about 1600. Does anyone know what happened?

0:20:420:20:46

What do you think?

0:20:460:20:48

Did one of the kings go over to England

0:20:480:20:50

and then he started speaking English?

0:20:500:20:53

Does anyone ken what king?

0:20:530:20:55

-James?

-James. Absolutely brilliant.

0:20:550:20:59

What would have happened when he went to England to become King of England?

0:20:590:21:04

What would happen to his English skills?

0:21:040:21:06

His skills would have improved

0:21:060:21:08

and that meant the official language of Scotland

0:21:080:21:13

slowly stopped being Scots and started being...

0:21:130:21:19

-English.

-English.

0:21:190:21:20

The wee play that the pupils perform is called the Union of the Crowns

0:21:200:21:24

and I wrote it.

0:21:240:21:26

It was there as a structure for them to work on.

0:21:260:21:30

I'm King Jamie. Een, twa, three, four, five, six.

0:21:300:21:36

Jamie the Saxt of Scotland.

0:21:360:21:38

They've done very well with it. They've performed it beautifully.

0:21:380:21:42

The idea is to give children a dramatic sense of Scotland's history.

0:21:420:21:45

The news fae England, sir, is that Queen Elizabeth I isnae weel.

0:21:450:21:50

But I heard it's worse than that.

0:21:510:21:53

Aye, she's affy no' weel.

0:21:530:21:56

No, even mair worse than that.

0:21:560:21:59

Worse than affy no' weel?!

0:21:590:22:02

Whit's worse than affy no' weel?

0:22:020:22:04

Does that not mean she's...she's...

0:22:040:22:07

Aye. Deid as a bubbly-jock on Christmas time.

0:22:070:22:11

Thomas is a very interesting young man.

0:22:110:22:14

When he started to play King Jamie the Saxt, he was just going for it.

0:22:140:22:18

You felt like if he had been a real king in the late middle ages,

0:22:180:22:22

he might have been chopping people's heads off all over the place.

0:22:220:22:25

He really grew into that part and he's grown into the whole idea of what Scots Scuil is about.

0:22:250:22:30

Wha's going to rule England now?

0:22:300:22:32

Who will get to live in the braw-most palaces?

0:22:320:22:34

Wha will get their hauns on aw that English gold?

0:22:340:22:37

Me, that's who. See you efter.

0:22:370:22:40

King, are you not going to bide here and rule baith kingdoms fae Edinburgh?

0:22:400:22:45

Are you mad?!

0:22:450:22:46

The castles here are Baltic. See, in the winter,

0:22:460:22:49

the draft goes right up my nicky tams.

0:22:490:22:52

I'm going to walk to England. Cheerio, Scotland.

0:22:520:22:55

The fact that they've acted this out

0:22:550:22:58

means they will always remember who James the 6th was and that he went

0:22:580:23:01

to England and the impact that had on the Scots language.

0:23:010:23:04

Over a period of time,

0:23:040:23:06

English replaces Scots as the official language of Scotland.

0:23:060:23:10

And the Bible and Acts of Parliament and all those things start to be written in English

0:23:100:23:16

and everybody has to learn how to read and write English.

0:23:160:23:19

How do you think people in Scotland would feel when they saw

0:23:190:23:24

the Scots language being replaced by the English language?

0:23:240:23:27

-Upset.

-They'd be upset about it. Uh-huh. Why would they be upset?

0:23:290:23:34

They might feel, like,

0:23:340:23:36

a bit not important to the world, not liked.

0:23:360:23:40

Has anybody here ever been telt aff for speaking in Scots?

0:23:400:23:45

Has anybody here ever been given a prize for speaking in Scots?

0:23:450:23:50

-What did you get a prize for?

-For singing Tam O'Shanter.

0:23:500:23:54

Tam O'Shanter?

0:23:540:23:55

It shouldn't just be at Burns that you're allowed to use Scots.

0:23:550:23:59

I think you should be allowed to use it whenever you want.

0:23:590:24:02

I wonder if we can make a drama out of the situation

0:24:020:24:05

where you're praised for speaking Scots,

0:24:050:24:07

and around about the same time, telt aff for speaking it.

0:24:070:24:10

Say like at Burns, if somebody reads a Burns' poem

0:24:100:24:15

and then they say, "Go on, gie me my jaicket."

0:24:150:24:18

-Something like that?

-Aye.

0:24:180:24:20

Everyone is complimenting him when it comes to the last person,

0:24:200:24:24

they could say, "This kid's a blether." And then storms out.

0:24:240:24:27

So that person walks out?

0:24:270:24:29

Someone that paid to get in could say,

0:24:290:24:32

"I want my £5 back." Or, "My five poo-nds back."

0:24:320:24:36

Your five poo-nds back?!

0:24:360:24:37

LAUGHTER

0:24:370:24:39

So there's somebody who doesnae like the performance

0:24:390:24:42

and they want their money back?

0:24:420:24:43

'The workshop was fabulous.

0:24:430:24:45

'I enjoyed everything.

0:24:450:24:47

'We had a brilliant time with Matthew and James.'

0:24:470:24:50

I've learnt more how Scotland lost the language of Scots

0:24:500:24:55

and then how it's come back in.

0:24:550:24:59

'My name is Nadia and I'm 11 years old and I live in Glasgow.

0:25:060:25:11

'At home, I speak English, a bit of Scots

0:25:160:25:20

'and a tiny bit of Urdu,

0:25:200:25:22

'but I enjoy mostly Scots and English.'

0:25:220:25:26

The Scots language is fun...

0:25:260:25:30

..and it's my own magic, secret language.

0:25:310:25:36

Scots poetry is nice and magical to me

0:25:380:25:43

but sometimes rough and a bit gentle sometimes,

0:25:430:25:48

because it can get really loud,

0:25:480:25:50

and at that point, it can be a bit angry sometimes.

0:25:500:25:54

I'm Nadia's dad and I'm a writer. I've used a lot of Scots words

0:25:540:25:58

in my short stories and novels, too,

0:25:580:25:59

and words from Glasgow, in different ways.

0:25:590:26:02

Although a learner of Scots,

0:26:020:26:05

Nadia's interest in it has been fired up by her dad.

0:26:050:26:09

You can write in really deep Scots

0:26:090:26:11

using lots of almost forgotten words, semi-forgotten words.

0:26:110:26:15

Or you can just pepper English with well-known words

0:26:150:26:18

like glaikit and dreich, that if you live in Scotland you will hear,

0:26:180:26:21

but when you go out of Scotland, people don't know what they mean a lot of the time.

0:26:210:26:25

So it's quite good to use those words

0:26:250:26:28

and you give different readers different ways of entering the story

0:26:280:26:32

and understanding it in different ways if you use these other words.

0:26:320:26:36

Living in the West End, which is quite cosmopolitan

0:26:360:26:39

because of Glasgow University and a lot of student population,

0:26:390:26:43

'you do get to hear different languages and that, of course,

0:26:430:26:47

'includes Scots language as well.'

0:26:470:26:50

We also have to think about what you want to pack

0:26:500:26:53

and take when you go for your week at the Robert Burns...

0:26:530:26:57

'For the children of the first and second generation immigrants,'

0:26:570:27:01

it is important to know or become familiar with the Scots language

0:27:010:27:07

because it is the historical language of Scotland

0:27:070:27:11

'and as a lot of our languages are becoming extinct in a way

0:27:110:27:15

'which are from smaller communities and minorities

0:27:150:27:18

'and I think Scots language is in a similar situation.

0:27:180:27:22

'In terms of the first and second generation immigrants,'

0:27:220:27:25

I think it's a challenge not only for them but also

0:27:250:27:28

for the mainstream Scottish population as well

0:27:280:27:31

that their children learn or retain the Scots language

0:27:310:27:34

which is part of their ancient identity.

0:27:340:27:37

-Did we put any salt or pepper in last time?

-Yeah. And butter.

0:27:370:27:42

'I would like to go to Scot Scuil because...'

0:27:420:27:45

it will be quite fun

0:27:450:27:47

and I'd like to learn more Scots and improve my confidence

0:27:470:27:52

'because everyone says that I'm a bit shy.

0:27:520:27:56

'In the school reports, it's always,

0:27:560:27:58

'"She needs to improve on her confidence."'

0:27:580:28:00

Are you looking forward to next week? Hmmm?

0:28:000:28:04

I think Nadia will get a lot out of the Scots Scuil.

0:28:050:28:08

I think she'll get on with the other kids there and if they are all

0:28:080:28:11

immersed in Scots in that context then I think she will respond.

0:28:110:28:18

I think hearing it being spoken by people in that way,

0:28:180:28:21

as a living tongue, not just on the page, is crucial.

0:28:210:28:25

Especially with a language like Scots.

0:28:250:28:27

It's oral and I think she will respond to that.

0:28:270:28:31

In Alloway, it's the day of the music workshop,

0:28:340:28:38

but with show-time looming, the pressure is on.

0:28:380:28:41

The girls have to put together a Scots song with folk musician

0:28:410:28:45

Emily Smith.

0:28:450:28:47

Hi, girls. My name is Emily, this is Jamie and we play folk music.

0:28:470:28:52

I'm a folk singer.

0:28:520:28:53

So, to get started, girls, we're going to sing you

0:28:530:28:56

a little bit of a type of song I would normally sing,

0:28:560:28:58

an old, old Scots song called The Beggar Man.

0:28:580:29:02

# A beggar, a beggar

0:29:090:29:11

# Came ower the lea

0:29:110:29:13

# He was asking lodgings for charity

0:29:130:29:17

# He was asking lodgings for charity

0:29:170:29:22

# Saying, would ye loo a beggar man

0:29:220:29:25

# Laddie wi' my tow row ray

0:29:250:29:28

# A beggar, a beggar... #

0:29:280:29:30

'To start off this morning, I sung them a little excerpt of a folk song.

0:29:300:29:33

'The kind of song that I would usually sing.'

0:29:330:29:36

# I had ae dochter and Jeanie was her name

0:29:360:29:40

# She ran awa' wi' a beggar man

0:29:400:29:44

# Laddie wi' my tow row ray

0:29:440:29:46

# Laddie wi' my tow row ray. #

0:29:460:29:49

-Thank you.

-That was guid, you're an awfu guid singer.

0:29:510:29:54

-Thank you very much.

-You're an awfu guid guitar player.

0:29:540:29:58

Singing in Scots is really important to me

0:29:580:30:01

and I'm passionate about it because it's my culture. It's my heritage.

0:30:010:30:04

Girls, we're going to try and write a song together today

0:30:040:30:08

and what we're going to try and write it about is identity.

0:30:080:30:12

So, we're going to think about what makes us who we are as individuals

0:30:120:30:18

and, Nadia, if you could write down some of the ideas that we

0:30:180:30:21

maybe are going to come up with.

0:30:210:30:24

Just words, just random words

0:30:240:30:26

and phrases that might pop into your heads.

0:30:260:30:29

-What makes us different from anyone else?

-The way you speak.

0:30:290:30:33

The way you speak is a big one, especially this week.

0:30:330:30:37

-What about where you live?

-Oh, aye.

0:30:370:30:40

We all live in Scotland but we all live in different parts.

0:30:400:30:43

These are good.

0:30:430:30:44

-Colour of your skin?

-Colour of your skin.

0:30:440:30:47

-What about the things that you like to do.

-Sing?

-Singing.

0:30:470:30:51

I'll just write for Milly, singing.

0:30:510:30:53

-For Sandie, it's everything.

-Animals.

-Animals.

0:30:550:31:00

Really, the environment around you forms who you are, doesn't it?

0:31:000:31:04

We've got a country girl, a village girl and a city girl.

0:31:040:31:09

We did a bit of a brainstorming session

0:31:090:31:11

just jotting down some ideas and then from there,

0:31:110:31:14

we started to try and form a chorus to frame the song upon.

0:31:140:31:17

What about, "This sang is made for me"?

0:31:170:31:22

-Sitting beside the window?

-Sing beside the window?

0:31:220:31:26

-Sitting beside the window.

-Sitting beside the window.

0:31:260:31:30

-To sing beside the window?

-To sing beside the window.

0:31:300:31:34

Maybe about aw the folk ootside.

0:31:340:31:35

This sang is made for me tae sing beside the window.

0:31:350:31:39

Watching aw the folk that's ootside.

0:31:390:31:42

Don't forget, we can change it if we want to.

0:31:420:31:44

Watching aw the folk.

0:31:440:31:47

This sang is made for me to sing beside the windae.

0:31:470:31:51

-Would you say window or windae?

-Windae.

0:31:510:31:53

Let's try and look at this last line here.

0:31:530:31:55

This sang is made for me to sing beside the windae,

0:31:550:31:58

watching aw the folk ootside.

0:31:580:32:01

-When there's nothing else tae dae.

-Needs more Scottish in it, like.

0:32:010:32:05

-Nu'hin.

-Nu'hin or naethin'?

-Nu'hin.

-Naethin'.

0:32:050:32:10

I think it depends where you come from, doesn't it?

0:32:100:32:13

I think now is the time we're going to ask Jamie to come in

0:32:130:32:16

and help us write our melody.

0:32:160:32:18

We've got our chorus words and we gave them happy sounds, sad sounds,

0:32:200:32:25

fast, finger-picked, strumming.

0:32:250:32:28

Does that sound happy? If it was sad it would sound more...

0:32:280:32:33

Bonnie, it sounds bonnie, but in a bonnie, jumpy way,

0:32:330:32:37

no' a bonnie, pretty way.

0:32:370:32:39

It's kind of sad-sounding, isn't it?

0:32:410:32:44

We're not going to go down that way. We're going to stick

0:32:440:32:47

-with a happy...

-Happy, happy.

-Sandie says happy.

0:32:470:32:50

-Jamie can play in different ways.

-In the jungle.

0:32:500:32:53

We just started talking the words of the chorus over

0:32:530:32:57

with Jamie playing some chords and through that we found our melody.

0:32:570:33:01

# This sang is made fir me tae sing beside the windae

0:33:010:33:06

# Watchin aw the folk ootside when there's naethin else tae dae. #

0:33:060:33:11

Did you hear he changed a little bit at the end? Did you like that?

0:33:110:33:14

We've got to change the chord a wee bit in there.

0:33:140:33:17

'Then we moved on to the verses.'

0:33:170:33:19

We focused in on where

0:33:190:33:20

each of my three girls in the workshop came from.

0:33:200:33:24

Milly is from a country background, grew up on a farm.

0:33:240:33:26

From ma house, you've got a window where the kitchen is

0:33:260:33:29

and you can see outside the grass, the horses and then

0:33:290:33:33

if you look down a bit further, you can see the pony.

0:33:330:33:37

I watch ma ponies fae ma windae.

0:33:380:33:42

-There's another word that could rhyme with it - straw?

-Straw.

0:33:420:33:46

-Watch ma ponies fae the windae munchin on their straw?

-Aye.

0:33:460:33:50

-You know what, Milly, to make this even more Scots.

-I was thinking...

0:33:500:33:56

-were you going to say champin there?

-I was.

-So was I!

-That's amazing.

0:33:560:34:03

Sandie, she's from Muirkirk, so it's a wee toon.

0:34:030:34:07

We talked about, even though she lives in the toon,

0:34:070:34:09

she likes to gaze up at the sky.

0:34:090:34:11

-I like tae watch the stars.

-Do you like to watch the stars?

0:34:110:34:15

-That's quite nice.

-Through ma windae I like to watch the stars.

0:34:150:34:20

-You've got your windae as well?

-Aye.

0:34:200:34:22

That's what you're going to need to rhyme with.

0:34:220:34:24

I know what I'm going to dae.

0:34:240:34:27

Ma dad helps me look at Mars cos he does. Wi his big telescope.

0:34:270:34:31

Then moved on to the city for Nadia's verse and just about

0:34:310:34:35

the people she knows, the people she sees coming and going

0:34:350:34:38

and saying hello to them.

0:34:380:34:41

# I bide in a city, the West End is ma hame

0:34:410:34:44

# I've neighbours up and doon the stairs and I ken aw their names... #

0:34:440:34:49

Nadia's neighbours.

0:34:490:34:52

I guess, just to tie the end of that verse together

0:34:520:34:56

was about all of us, basically.

0:34:560:34:58

Not just the three or four of us but everybody and about bringing it back

0:34:580:35:02

to the language, I suppose, which is what today is about - the Scots.

0:35:020:35:07

# Some o us were born here, some cam fae far awa

0:35:070:35:11

# But we fin oot the way we speak unites us yin and aw... #

0:35:110:35:16

The singing she wrote was amazing, I loved it.

0:35:180:35:20

It was one of ma favourite things.

0:35:200:35:22

Just the way that we put aw the work into daeing it

0:35:220:35:26

and you didnae get bored ae it.

0:35:260:35:29

I didnae get bored of anything else that much

0:35:290:35:31

but I liked the singing thing, the way that we got a singer in

0:35:310:35:36

and she actually helped us write our ain song.

0:35:360:35:38

My name is Milly, I am 10 years old.

0:35:550:35:58

I live in Selkirk and my hobbies are horse riding, singing and art.

0:35:580:36:05

We've always noticed that Milly does speak slightly different

0:36:070:36:11

from us, which some of us make a joke out of it and that, because I'm

0:36:110:36:16

that broad and Milly just seems to be posh, we call her the posh kid.

0:36:160:36:21

If I say a word, if I say, "aye" and "hoose,"

0:36:220:36:26

she'd say, "yes" and "house".

0:36:260:36:28

We just seem to have that border tongue

0:36:280:36:31

and Milly's got this different accent.

0:36:310:36:33

Where it comes fae, I've no idea. I'm as broad as you'll probably get

0:36:330:36:37

and Milly just seems to be the totally other end of the scale.

0:36:370:36:41

I think it's from singing because my singing teacher...

0:36:410:36:46

I have to pronounce my words properly because

0:36:460:36:51

If I don't, when you're singing, they're not going to hear you.

0:36:510:36:54

I think that's why I'm a bit clear

0:36:540:36:58

and different language from my family a bit more.

0:36:580:37:03

When Dad's at the side gaun on aboot the ladders

0:37:030:37:06

but they were gaun tae go on doon tae the hoose.

0:37:060:37:08

They were just missing the top of the house.

0:37:080:37:11

THEY SPEAK BROAD SCOTS

0:37:110:37:17

'When I'm with my family, when my gran and grandpa and all that come,

0:37:220:37:27

'and my auntie and everybody comes in the house, I speak more broader'

0:37:270:37:32

and when I go with my friends, I speak a bit more posher.

0:37:320:37:37

Two, three, up! That's it.

0:37:380:37:41

Sometimes I do speak Scottish words

0:37:410:37:44

and I think I'm speaking English but I'm actually speaking Scots.

0:37:440:37:50

It suits the countryside.

0:37:500:37:51

It would be a shame if it all just disappeared and English took over

0:37:510:37:56

and the English language took over,

0:37:560:37:58

because it's been the history for a long time.

0:37:580:38:02

Robert Burns used them and he's quite famous.

0:38:020:38:07

It's like, all the famous people are just going to get washed away

0:38:070:38:11

by the English language and I don't really want that.

0:38:110:38:15

Every little border town has got their own accent

0:38:150:38:19

and little special words they use,

0:38:190:38:22

so you know where you come from because of the words that you use

0:38:220:38:26

and the accent, the different tones in the voice.

0:38:260:38:29

I hope I learn a lot from the Scots Scuil

0:38:330:38:35

and I've a feeling I am going to learn a lot because I feel

0:38:350:38:39

there's going to be a lot of Scottish people there and I hope

0:38:390:38:42

that will improve my language, a bit more Scots

0:38:420:38:45

other than speaking English. All the rest of my family speaks Scottish

0:38:450:38:49

and I am like the odd one out here.

0:38:490:38:51

I really like the Scots language.

0:38:510:38:53

-I hope I'll start speaking that language a bit more.

-Good.

0:38:530:38:56

Make a wish, but dinnae tell us.

0:38:560:38:58

It's the morning of the poetry workshop at Scots Scuil.

0:39:030:39:07

Today's class is perfect for a potential poet like Nadia

0:39:070:39:10

who's looking for a language to write in.

0:39:100:39:12

The teacher is poet Liz Niven,

0:39:120:39:14

who's been teaching Scots poetry for over 20 years.

0:39:140:39:18

It's cried, Let's Hear Whit The Dragon's Got To Say.

0:39:180:39:21

Listen, it's no gonnie be easie this.

0:39:210:39:24

If ye think it's a skoosh case ye're wrang.

0:39:240:39:26

A've been ettlin tae mak masel heard fir yonks

0:39:260:39:30

An naebodie a mean naebodie listens.

0:39:300:39:33

A've goat ma shades, ma iPod, ma Nokia

0:39:330:39:35

An a've stoapt spittin fire.

0:39:350:39:39

That's a good line, that.

0:39:390:39:41

It's good how she was taking it from a kid's point of view

0:39:410:39:47

with the dragon and the Nokia,

0:39:470:39:49

the iPod and the realistic features into the imaginative features.

0:39:490:39:56

It was good how she done that.

0:39:560:39:58

We concentrated on two different forms of writing.

0:39:580:40:01

One of them was looking at each kid's individual toon,

0:40:010:40:06

where they came fae, because it's something that each child knows

0:40:060:40:10

about, a lot about their own place so the comfort of actually

0:40:100:40:13

writing about material they know well was a way in to get them writing.

0:40:130:40:18

Although most of them are really good speakers of Scots,

0:40:180:40:20

they find it difficult to write in it cos it's no what they're used tae.

0:40:200:40:23

How do you spell "farm" in Scots again?

0:40:230:40:28

-F-E-R-M.

-Thanks.

0:40:280:40:32

OK, folks, that's fantastic, you can stop all your busy screeving

0:40:320:40:36

and writing the noo. Ye've got two choices, twa choices.

0:40:360:40:40

You can write in English and in Scots, baith thegither in the same poem.

0:40:400:40:44

If you're wanting to rhyme, "fitba" and "ma" works, "football" and "mum" disnae.

0:40:440:40:49

So it's brilliant, Scots opens up the choices of

0:40:490:40:52

a whole lot of different words and rhymes.

0:40:520:40:54

Ask yourself if you've got any changes of vocabulary.

0:40:540:40:57

If you've said the sky, do you want to say the lift?

0:40:570:41:00

If you've said a wee bit of a fuss, do you want to have a stooshie?

0:41:000:41:05

A boorach? Right, Sandie, let's hear your poem.

0:41:050:41:08

Tabby's Brig.

0:41:080:41:10

In winter, icy water, freezin caul, I cracked the ice wi ma mates

0:41:100:41:16

and ma faither chuckin aw the stanes into the water.

0:41:160:41:19

That was great, Sandie.

0:41:190:41:20

A lovely atmospheric poem connected with the seasons

0:41:200:41:24

and the time of year. Thank you.

0:41:240:41:25

-Thomas, could you read your poem now?

-The pitch And Me.

0:41:250:41:31

A 75 metre-long rectangle, concrete-flaired

0:41:310:41:34

Fitba pitch wi the ba pounding off the wa

0:41:340:41:37

Wi the birds humming to the beat

0:41:370:41:39

That sunny lift that nothing could beat.

0:41:390:41:42

That's lovely. I love that.

0:41:420:41:44

'The second exercise that we worked on today was we wrote riddle poems.'

0:41:440:41:48

We had a discussion about what is a riddle

0:41:480:41:52

and what is the point of a riddle and they knew exactly what that was,

0:41:520:41:55

that it's a kind of trick poem.

0:41:550:41:58

We then asked the children to write their ain poems,

0:41:580:42:01

they could maybe choose an animal or a beast

0:42:010:42:04

or a bird or a person or something and then think through

0:42:040:42:08

different aspects or properties of that person or animal.

0:42:080:42:13

What its size was, what its colour was and then it's a "Whit am I" poem,

0:42:140:42:19

so at the end of it all,

0:42:190:42:21

the listener has tae work out what's being described.

0:42:210:42:25

I'm as wee as a moose and as muckle as a tiger,

0:42:250:42:29

I'm as saft as a baby's skin and as strong as a boxer,

0:42:290:42:33

I'm furry and four leggit

0:42:330:42:35

and my name starts wi the fourth letter of the alphabet.

0:42:350:42:39

Whit am I?

0:42:390:42:40

-Dog?

-Aye.

-That was easy.

0:42:410:42:44

I can be as tall as a door and as small as the length o' your arm

0:42:440:42:51

when I come into the world, I can live in something tall

0:42:510:42:56

and big that's warm,

0:42:560:42:58

my skin colour can be pinky-white to black,

0:42:580:43:02

I have to go to bed at night,

0:43:020:43:05

I can only live for at least 100 years or 99 years.

0:43:050:43:10

What am I?

0:43:100:43:12

It's a human!

0:43:120:43:14

OK, let's have a wee chat, folks, a wee blether about which poem

0:43:160:43:20

you would like to read in your performance.

0:43:200:43:23

Ye've got a riddle poem and ye've got a poem about your toon.

0:43:230:43:26

-Thomas, what do you think?

-I think a riddle.

0:43:260:43:29

I think a toon because I think we get mair Scots language in it.

0:43:290:43:34

Right. That's what this is about, isn't it?

0:43:340:43:38

Trying to get using our Scots a wee bit mair.

0:43:380:43:40

-OK, what do you think, Cameron?

-I think the riddle.

0:43:400:43:45

Can you explain why you prefer the riddle to the toon?

0:43:450:43:49

I think the riddle's kinda... Even though I like doing the toon one,

0:43:490:43:54

I think the riddle's kinda mair fun cos...

0:43:540:43:57

'I'm hoping that they learn from the workshops today'

0:43:570:44:00

that they havenae to feel, when they're writing in Scots,

0:44:000:44:04

that every word has to be different fae English.

0:44:040:44:07

I'm hoping they take away fae it a mair relaxed feeling

0:44:070:44:10

about their writing in Scots and also maybe listen to their own voices

0:44:100:44:14

'and think, "I can speak Scots, therefore I can try and write it."'

0:44:140:44:19

Sometimes, I can sometimes live for 100 year. Would that work?

0:44:190:44:23

-I can sometimes live for 100 year, or even mair.

-Or even mair.

0:44:230:44:27

That would work fine, wouldn't it?

0:44:270:44:29

Is there a kind of feeling, then, that you quite like Nadia's?

0:44:290:44:32

Aye, I like Nadia's.

0:44:320:44:34

OK, I think we're going to go with Nadia's.

0:44:360:44:38

My name is Eunice, aka Sweets from NorthernXposure.

0:44:400:44:44

And I've been rapping since about the age of 13.

0:44:440:44:48

OK, so, today we're going to be doing some Scots Scuil action

0:44:480:44:53

and we are going to be talking

0:44:530:44:54

and, hopefully, writing a wee rap in Scots.

0:44:540:44:57

'The first thing I did is I performed one of the tracks off my new album.'

0:44:570:45:01

I did that kind of just to make them feel a bit more comfortable.

0:45:010:45:06

Cue the music.

0:45:060:45:07

# You can take the game oot the block

0:45:090:45:11

# But you just cannae stop them people wanna flock

0:45:110:45:14

# Street like vox shop

0:45:140:45:15

# Rough like dry rot weak as hip hop

0:45:150:45:18

# And we havenae got a lot but we still use too hot

0:45:200:45:23

# We getting tipped up we getting tipped up

0:45:230:45:26

# Life is a wan stop shop or should I say wan short stop?

0:45:260:45:30

# Wan short stage

0:45:300:45:31

# Revelations bout to blow you away and reap what you want to see

0:45:310:45:35

# Play how you want to play be what you want to be

0:45:350:45:38

# See what you want to see say what you want to say... #

0:45:380:45:41

'I think it is very helpful for them

0:45:410:45:44

'to hear somebody rapping with a Scots accent.'

0:45:440:45:49

So, that's it.

0:45:490:45:51

Thank you very much. That's wicked, give me five.

0:45:530:45:57

-It's a sweet tune.

-Do you like that tune?

0:46:010:46:03

Do you get it? Sweet, Sweets!

0:46:030:46:07

So, I'm thinking we should do something to do with, like, identity.

0:46:070:46:12

Like ourselves.

0:46:120:46:14

-Aye, ourselves.

-Well, Scotland.

0:46:140:46:17

'When it came to creating the actual rap itself,

0:46:180:46:22

'we were just brainstorming, asking the kids,

0:46:220:46:25

'OK, what Scots words do you know?'

0:46:250:46:27

-Hame.

-Hame. Perfect.

0:46:270:46:29

'And then we were just making a list of the different words that we knew.'

0:46:290:46:34

-Masel.

-Masel, we'll write that doon.

0:46:340:46:37

'The words that we thought were really important to be in the rap.'

0:46:370:46:40

Faimily.

0:46:400:46:41

Faimily.

0:46:410:46:43

Could be something like, "It's oor hame."

0:46:430:46:46

It's oor hame. Let's write that sentence down.

0:46:460:46:48

Then we've used "oor" as well.

0:46:480:46:50

So, we've got Scotland is oor hame.

0:46:500:46:53

Sometimes it's freezin' in the rain.

0:46:530:46:57

-So that uses your word.

-So, will we write our next bit?

0:46:570:47:00

'The kids were fantastic.

0:47:000:47:01

'They really understood the concept of what we were trying to do.'

0:47:010:47:05

You could have Scotland is oor hame. Sometimes it's freezin' in the rain.

0:47:050:47:10

But other times... the weather is our gain.

0:47:100:47:14

We could write that down.

0:47:140:47:15

But sometimes the weather is our gain, you says, aye.

0:47:150:47:20

-Aye.

-Is our gain.

0:47:200:47:22

That's good, I like that cos that makes it quite positive.

0:47:220:47:27

'They understood about adding in the Scots.

0:47:270:47:30

'They actually had a wide vocabulary of Scots, but they might not

0:47:300:47:33

'have been necessarily aware that that is actually defined as Scots.

0:47:330:47:37

'It's something we use on a day-to-day basis.'

0:47:370:47:40

We decided the best thing to do was to look at

0:47:400:47:43

how we were actually going to deliver the rap.

0:47:430:47:46

So, we got together with the drummer

0:47:480:47:51

and it enabled us to add a little bit of movement to the actual rap

0:47:510:47:55

and then go on to add a little bit of character and a little bit of fun.

0:47:550:47:59

# Scotland is oor hame.

0:47:590:48:01

# Sometimes it's freezing in the rain

0:48:010:48:04

# But while the weather is our gain... #

0:48:040:48:07

For this crew, the rap, whatever the language,

0:48:070:48:11

is a bit of a guddle for now.

0:48:110:48:13

That was an epic fail!

0:48:160:48:18

I found it easier to do it like fast then slow.

0:48:180:48:21

I know, that's why you need to practise it slow.

0:48:210:48:24

Well, let's do it again from the top, right?

0:48:240:48:26

I'll tell yous what it is, right?

0:48:260:48:29

So, Scotland is oor hame, sometimes it's freezing in the rain

0:48:290:48:34

but while the weather is our gain the main thing is we are all the same.

0:48:340:48:39

We are nae daen it for the fame, masel and ma faimly play the game,

0:48:390:48:43

we're wan of Scotland's biggest names, if you're no listning...

0:48:430:48:47

..What ye daen?

0:48:470:48:48

That's it, let's try it again from the top, right?

0:48:480:48:51

Mr Drummer.

0:48:510:48:53

DRUMMING

0:48:530:48:55

OK, guys.

0:48:570:48:59

One, two,

0:48:590:49:01

one, two, three, four.

0:49:010:49:04

# Scotland is oor hame

0:49:040:49:06

# Sometimes it's freezing in the rain...#

0:49:060:49:09

The words in the rap are sort of, like, special,

0:49:090:49:14

cos they do tell the truth about Scotland, the cauld,

0:49:140:49:18

freezing weather and we're all from Scotland.

0:49:180:49:21

And it does, like, speak to me and Cammy

0:49:210:49:26

cos it includes some of the features we like

0:49:260:49:29

and some Iona likes and some Eunice likes.

0:49:290:49:32

# If you're no listening what you daein? #

0:49:320:49:36

-Yeah, that was good.

-We need it better.

0:49:360:49:38

-Let's do it again.

-Gie it laldie!

0:49:380:49:41

It's performance day at Scots Scuil

0:49:430:49:45

and the children hope to put nerves to one side

0:49:450:49:48

and show off all they've learned and practised during the week.

0:49:480:49:51

APPLAUSE

0:49:510:49:54

Still thou art blest, compared wi' me!

0:49:560:50:00

The present only toucheth thee.

0:50:000:50:02

But, oh! I backward cast my e'e,

0:50:020:50:04

On prospects drear!

0:50:040:50:07

An' forward, tho' I canna see,

0:50:070:50:08

I guess an' fear.

0:50:080:50:10

-Och! He was gad.

-He was great!

0:50:160:50:18

-Certainly gied it laldie but he's an awfu blether, that boy!

-Ach!

0:50:180:50:21

He just blethered on and on. I want my five pound back.

0:50:210:50:25

-Wheesht!

-I've the receipt here in ma pootch somewhere.

0:50:250:50:28

Shut yer mooth, pal!

0:50:280:50:30

-Jolly good show!

-Bravo!

0:50:300:50:33

'The drama performance today was absolutely amazing.'

0:50:330:50:37

Those kids had not done much drama until, I think, I met them.

0:50:370:50:41

And they have suddenly become actors.

0:50:410:50:44

I think there were actors inside them anyway

0:50:440:50:46

and the fact that they were doing it in this language, this strange,

0:50:460:50:50

weird language, Scots language, is something amazing.

0:50:500:50:53

So I'm really pleased with them.

0:50:530:50:54

Well, Alan, you said your poem so beautifully, you are the winner!

0:50:540:51:00

Here's your book token.

0:51:000:51:02

What are you going to buy with it, Alan?

0:51:050:51:07

Thanks, Miss, I'm going to buy hunners of books wi' it.

0:51:070:51:11

Hunners? The proper word is hundreds, isn't it, Alan?

0:51:110:51:14

(No.) Aye, I suppose so!

0:51:140:51:16

Gauin gie us ma jaiket, ower?

0:51:160:51:18

Oh, Alan, it's your jacket, not your jaiket.

0:51:180:51:21

But it's pouring doun wi' rain oot there, I'm goin' tae git droukit.

0:51:210:51:24

Oot! He doesnae act like this at hame.

0:51:240:51:27

I just dinna ken where he gets it fae!

0:51:270:51:29

I'M YOUR HEADMISTRESS!

0:51:300:51:34

TALK PROPERLY, BOY!

0:51:350:51:37

I'm your faither, talk properly, son.

0:51:370:51:40

And dinna ye speak slang, no in front o' yer old granny.

0:51:400:51:44

# Dinna talk Scots, boy Dinna speak slang

0:51:450:51:49

# Dinna speak Scots, boy ye ken it's aw wrang

0:51:490:51:52

# Dinna speak Scots, boy help ma Boab

0:51:520:51:55

# Dinna speak Scots boy you'll never get a job. #

0:51:550:51:59

NO! IT'S NO FAIR!

0:51:590:52:02

You gave me a prize for speaking Scots,

0:52:020:52:05

then you gie me into trouble for speaking it.

0:52:050:52:07

Scots was good enough for Robert Burns,

0:52:070:52:09

how's it not good enough for me?

0:52:090:52:11

We will now perform a poem written by Nadia.

0:52:200:52:23

Helped along with the rest of us called, "Whit Am I?"

0:52:230:52:26

You can try and guess what it is at the end.

0:52:260:52:29

Whit am I?

0:52:290:52:30

I can be as tall as a door or as smaw as yer airm.

0:52:300:52:35

I started off as a wean when I came into the world.

0:52:350:52:37

I can be black, broun, yellow or white

0:52:370:52:39

and when I got a beamer I gaun reid.

0:52:390:52:42

I can live for a hundred year and I'm no close to extinction.

0:52:420:52:46

I have a bahookie, hurdies, twa lugs and I live in a faimily.

0:52:460:52:51

Sometimes I'm bonnie but sometimes ma fizzog is pure minging.

0:52:530:52:58

-ALL:.

-Whit am I?

0:52:580:53:01

Human?

0:53:010:53:02

Aye!

0:53:020:53:04

It was happy, it was sad because it was the last day and it was...

0:53:060:53:11

It was just everything.

0:53:140:53:16

# This sang is made for me Tae sing aside the windae

0:53:200:53:26

# Watching all the folk ootside when there's naething else tae dae

0:53:260:53:31

# This sang is made for me Tae sing aside the windae

0:53:310:53:36

# Watching all the folk ootside when there's naething else tae dae

0:53:360:53:40

# I live on a ferm where the air smells fresh and braw

0:53:450:53:49

# I watch ma ponies fae the windae champing on the straw

0:53:490:53:55

# I live in a toon where I like to watch the stars

0:53:550:53:59

# Through ma windae tae the sky I hae a keek at Mars

0:53:590:54:04

# This sang is made for me Tae sing aside the windae

0:54:040:54:09

# Watching all the folk ootside when there's naething else tae dae

0:54:090:54:14

# This sang is made for me Tae sing aside the windae

0:54:140:54:19

# Watching all the folk ootside when there's naething else tae dae

0:54:190:54:24

# I bide in a city the West End is ma hame

0:54:280:54:33

# I've neighbours up and doon the stairs

0:54:330:54:35

# And I ken aw their names... #

0:54:350:54:37

I liked the bit where we had just finished off the chorus

0:54:370:54:41

and Nadia's bit of the song and then the rapping comes straight in.

0:54:410:54:45

# But while the weather is our gain

0:54:530:54:56

# The main thing is we're aw the same

0:54:560:54:58

# Me and ma faimily play the game

0:54:580:55:00

# We're wan of Scotland's biggest name

0:55:000:55:03

# If you're no listnin'

0:55:030:55:04

# Whit ye daen? #

0:55:040:55:06

# This song is made for me Tae sing aside the windae

0:55:060:55:10

# Watching aw the folk ootside... #

0:55:100:55:14

'Well I think today's performance went fantastically well,

0:55:140:55:17

'the kids really all worked together

0:55:170:55:19

'and they really came through or gave it laldie!'

0:55:190:55:22

'I think they did it fantastic, yeah,

0:55:220:55:26

'they were oozing with confidence and they remembered their lines

0:55:260:55:29

'and they did me proud.'

0:55:290:55:32

#..Made for me. #

0:55:320:55:35

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

0:55:350:55:39

I love hearing them speaking out their Scots really confidently

0:55:470:55:51

and loudly and there was a mixture of the moral of speaking it in January

0:55:510:55:56

and no' speaking it later and then there was fun elements

0:55:560:55:58

and rhythmic elements. So, I think it was a really excellent mixture

0:55:580:56:02

of different things going on.

0:56:020:56:04

Absolutely brilliant.

0:56:040:56:07

Didn't know Scotland had as many talented children

0:56:070:56:10

in the one small place. It was phenomenal.

0:56:100:56:14

What an experience for them to get, you know? Song, poetry writing.

0:56:140:56:19

It was great to see what they'd been getting up to all week

0:56:190:56:23

and seeing the finale of what they'd been learning.

0:56:230:56:26

And it's definitely made me as a parent look at the Scots language differently

0:56:260:56:30

and encourage both my children to use it more.

0:56:300:56:35

Coming to Scots Scuil, I think it's built up my confidence

0:56:350:56:38

but don't remind me I have to leave.

0:56:380:56:40

Cos I don't want to leave.

0:56:400:56:43

Going to Scots Scuil has helped a lot with my confidence.

0:56:430:56:48

She is familiar with Scots but to know it at such a deep level,

0:56:480:56:52

I think it's been great for her.

0:56:520:56:54

It just made me feel mair positive and everything in myself

0:56:540:56:59

and it's made me realise that I don't need to be shy

0:56:590:57:02

about everything I dae.

0:57:020:57:04

I do think that I'll talk more Scots now than I used to

0:57:040:57:12

and I do think I'm sounding much more Scots than I used to.

0:57:120:57:19

So I hope I'm more like the family now instead of the odd one out.

0:57:190:57:24

While I was watching the play, I could see in myself

0:57:240:57:28

the way the head teacher was correcting

0:57:280:57:32

when they were using the Scots language after performing the poem.

0:57:320:57:36

That was kind of like myself and Cameron was using words

0:57:360:57:39

and I was correcting him.

0:57:390:57:41

And it kind of made me think, well, you shouldn't correct them,

0:57:410:57:44

you should allow them to use the language, it is the Scots language.

0:57:440:57:48

So, I think from that, it's made me not be so quick in correcting him

0:57:480:57:54

and just let him go with it.

0:57:540:57:56

What I'm really interested in is what happens next

0:57:560:57:59

to those wee performers.

0:57:590:58:01

Like, is there a legacy for that now in their lives

0:58:010:58:05

and when they go back into school?

0:58:050:58:07

And when they talk about their language issues

0:58:070:58:10

with their parents and with their faimilies and with their friends,

0:58:100:58:13

I think it'll be interesting to see

0:58:130:58:15

is there increased confidence about their use of Scots?

0:58:150:58:19

You can speak it, you can sing it, you can write it,

0:58:190:58:21

so I'm hoping that it's raised their feeling

0:58:210:58:25

about the status of the language.

0:58:250:58:27

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:490:58:51

E-mail [email protected]

0:58:510:58:53

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