0:00:02 > 0:00:03My name is Lesley Riddoch.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09I grew up in Belfast because my parents, both Highlanders,
0:00:09 > 0:00:11moved there for work when I was aged three,
0:00:11 > 0:00:14then back to Glasgow when I was 13.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16So, I am a Scot.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18And as a journalist and writer,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Scotland is the focus of most of my work,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24but I have never lost touch with Northern Ireland.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28In this series, I'm going to explore the relationship
0:00:28 > 0:00:30between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33How it's expressed through community.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36I think the southern part of Scotland would nearly be like the seventh county,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39the amount of Northern Irish folk that have moved across.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40Through language.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43You would meet somebody every day that you would be talking Ulster Scots to.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Through culture and faith.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49And I'm going to meet people on both sides of the North Channel,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53for whom those things that link Northern Ireland and Scotland are an
0:00:53 > 0:00:57integral part of their lives, their identity and their future.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01I don't know if it's Ulster Scots or if it Scots-Irish or...
0:01:01 > 0:01:04what it is, I don't know what the label is, but there's something there.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Community isn't just the place where you live
0:01:21 > 0:01:24or even the religion or cultural tradition you grew up in.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30There are communities in Northern Ireland and Scotland
0:01:30 > 0:01:32built around music and sport,
0:01:32 > 0:01:36and communities whose identity is defined by the language they speak.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40I'm on my way to Londonderry
0:01:40 > 0:01:42to find out about a community of musicians
0:01:42 > 0:01:45that stretches from the west coast of Donegal
0:01:45 > 0:01:47to the Highlands of Scotland,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51and whose members share a passion for the Highland bagpipes.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00BAGPIPE MUSIC
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Colmcille Pipe Band are rehearsing
0:02:07 > 0:02:10for the forthcoming UK Championships,
0:02:10 > 0:02:12to be held in Stormont.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14Formed in 1978,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17it draws its members from the local community of Galliagh,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21from across the border in Donegal and from Scotland.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26Alec Brown is originally from Fife,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30but now lives on the island of Arainn Mhor, off the Donegal coast.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39The main reason we are here tonight, it's our last practice before the
0:02:39 > 0:02:42United Kingdom Championships up in Stormont.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45The thing we have to get right tonight is to get our team together.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49We are pretty confident.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52It is just we need to all click together on that day.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55And many bands will be hoping that you might not click,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58but we never say "Good luck",
0:02:58 > 0:03:01because good luck is not a thing I would use in piping, pipe-band terms,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05because it's not about luck, it's about the work you put in together.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07And all the other bands do exactly the same as us.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09I think that is why we all get on so well,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11because we understand the work that's put in.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Nobody wants to see anybody going under, you know.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18What is it that's making Northern Ireland perform so well in piping circles?
0:03:18 > 0:03:23I just see a hunger within, especially the Northern Irish,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27as opposed to some of the Scots, who might go along just for the ride.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29There's nobody in the North here goes along for the ride.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31They all want to win.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34The camaraderie is fantastic.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Everybody helps each other here.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40That's what I really liked - the friendship between all the bands.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Every week, I go and meet more and more people, and it's very difficult
0:03:43 > 0:03:46just to go for a walk without stopping and chatting,
0:03:46 > 0:03:47which is really, really nice.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51You grew up in Fife. There were many pipe bands there.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Did your father get involved in piping?
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Was that how you got the bug?
0:03:55 > 0:03:57My father didn't, no.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01We were all from Lochore in Fife, which had its own pipe band.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04All the villages interconnect.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Every colliery had a pipe band.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09And most of the bands then were in full number one dress -
0:04:09 > 0:04:13the old-fashioned feather bonnets or hackles and the reason they could
0:04:13 > 0:04:18afford all that lovely uniforms was every miner had something off
0:04:18 > 0:04:21his salary deducted, and that went to the band funds.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Sadly, on the decline of the collieries in the early '80s,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26a big decline in the bands.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29So there's very few of those names left.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31When Alec retired to Arainn Mhor island,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33where his wife's family come from,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36he found not only a thriving local community,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39but one with its own strong links to Scotland.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44I was amazed at the amount of Scottish people
0:04:44 > 0:04:46that have married and come across.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49When I asked the question, of course, it makes sense,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51there was no employment being on an island.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55A lot of men worked in the coal mines.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59A lot of the families were picking tatties and would stay on the farms
0:04:59 > 0:05:01and, hence, relationships came about.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03I got married and resettled.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08The biggest amazement I got with the Arainn Mhor Pipe Band was that their
0:05:08 > 0:05:10repertoire was 90% Scottish.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17Driving from the North into the Republic in Donegal is very,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20very similar to the Highlands of Scotland.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23It is really nice, you know - the rough mountain terrain, the heather,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25the peat bogs, the lochs.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27You feel just... You're, like, at home.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39THEY PLAY A MARCH
0:05:59 > 0:06:02I've heard the pipes in Scotland in all sorts of different places -
0:06:02 > 0:06:05at the Edinburgh Tattoo, at weddings and Highland Games -
0:06:05 > 0:06:09and I have honestly never heard anything quite as thrilling
0:06:09 > 0:06:13as this group of people in this hall here in the north of Ireland
0:06:13 > 0:06:16mastering a Scottish instrument. What a surprise.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22I'm looking forward to catching up with Alec and the band at the
0:06:22 > 0:06:24competition in Stormont.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29But before that, I want to address a more contentious facet of the
0:06:29 > 0:06:32relationship between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35When I crossed the water to come here
0:06:35 > 0:06:38and live in Glasgow at the age of 13,
0:06:38 > 0:06:39this was a very scary place.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Of course, Belfast was pretty dodgy in the 1970s, as well,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49but there seemed to be some rules there.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Glasgow, by contrast, was a bit of a free-for-all.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59The tenements were black, scary, forbidding.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01There was a gang culture, and actually Glasgow had a higher
0:07:01 > 0:07:03murder rate than New York.
0:07:07 > 0:07:08If I could have had my way,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11our family would have time turned tail and gone straight back home.
0:07:15 > 0:07:16But things changed.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Glasgow improved.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22The stone cleaning removed the centuries of grime
0:07:22 > 0:07:24and the city brightened up.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30But it's always remained a melting pot of cultures,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33particularly of the two traditions from Ireland,
0:07:33 > 0:07:38mixing together and playing out their historic grudges.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48In the 19th and 20th centuries,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50the sea between Belfast and Glasgow
0:07:50 > 0:07:53was one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00There was a transport of raw material from Scotland
0:08:00 > 0:08:03- coal, steel and iron - to fuel the factories,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06shipyards and mills around Belfast.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10With that great movement of material,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12there was a movement of people,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16mostly from the north of Ireland to Glasgow, in search of work.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22As a result of the famine in Ireland in the 1840s,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24tens of thousands of Catholic-Irish
0:08:24 > 0:08:27relocated to the West Coast of Scotland.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Thousands of Ulster Protestants
0:08:30 > 0:08:33came to work in the shipyards along the Clyde.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37By the 1870s, there were two very distinct
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Irish communities in Glasgow.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Celtic and Rangers football clubs grew out of these two communities.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50And over the years the Old Firm rivalry
0:08:50 > 0:08:54has come to stand for societies divided along sectarian lines.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00To find out more, I've come to meet broadcaster and football pundit
0:09:00 > 0:09:05Stuart Cosgrove, who's covered many a Celtic-Rangers fixture
0:09:05 > 0:09:07in his radio show, Off The Ball.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09I was wanting to go back in time
0:09:09 > 0:09:11to an old Rangers legend, Roger Grynd.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15It's a hugely-important game in the history of Scottish football.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19These two clubs playing each other always attracts more media interest,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23more sponsorship, more revenue generation,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25so there's no question it's an important game.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29But when you boil it down, as well, the clubs, historically,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31their colours - green and white for Celtic,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34red, blue and white, the colours of the union, for Rangers -
0:09:34 > 0:09:36have always had this, kind of,
0:09:36 > 0:09:41oppositional point of difference and competition around them.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Layered on to them over years has been endless numbers of accusations,
0:09:45 > 0:09:49counter-accusations, what aboutery, and always, you know,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51trying to argue that the other one's worse than they are
0:09:51 > 0:09:54and all the rest of it.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57When you look at what's happening at an Old Firm match - the songs,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01the flags, the emblems - it's nothing to do with Scotland.
0:10:01 > 0:10:02It's all to do with Ireland.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05It's just a re-enactment, really, of Irish struggles.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Many fans who are not fans of Celtic or Rangers, for example,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13fans of my club, I see on message boards all the time,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15"Oh, here we go again,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18"a re-enactment of 17th-century Dutch history"
0:10:18 > 0:10:22or "a re-enactment of 1916 in the Irish war of liberation"
0:10:22 > 0:10:23or whatever.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27I think there are two kind of metaphors that go around this game,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30one of which is the boiling pot theory.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35All of the troubles that have come about in Northern Ireland around
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Unionism versus Republicanism could easily have happened in Scotland,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44but the game, the Celtic-Rangers game, has become a way of, almost,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47a pressure cooker, and it's allowed those things to be simulated
0:10:47 > 0:10:49around that game and, therefore,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51they have not spilled out into the wider civic society.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53That's one theory of it.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Another theory is the proxy theory,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00which is, well, this game just keeps those debates alive,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04no matter how distantly relevant they are to Scotland,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08as we move through an issue around our own constitutional identity
0:11:08 > 0:11:10and our own status, and our own relationship to
0:11:10 > 0:11:11Westminster and the Union.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13I'm not sure where I am on it.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17I think I'm probably somewhere near the second.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21I think that it becomes a proxy for the history of Ireland,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23rather than actually something
0:11:23 > 0:11:26that's deeply meaningful to me in modern Scotland.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Many people would say to you,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33"Why can it not be just about the football?"
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Well, in lots of ways, it would be nice if you could rip up
0:11:35 > 0:11:38200 years of history, but that's a very naive thought.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40It's not going to just be about the football.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41Some of it is baggage.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Some of it is actually genuine cultural identity
0:11:45 > 0:11:49and cultural support, on both sides, Celtic and Rangers.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51And I think there's a way where,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54if people want this fixture to simply become
0:11:54 > 0:11:56another bland inter-city fixture,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59like Sheffield United versus Sheffield Wednesday,
0:11:59 > 0:12:00they're really dreaming, you know.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Watching this Old Firm match starting to assemble
0:12:12 > 0:12:16is like watching a battlefield start to be pieced together,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18with all the division between the fans.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23If you look at the faces of the individuals in the crowd,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26what you see are family groups, fathers and sons,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28and lots of friends gathering.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35So, it's hard to know whether it's a proxy for other issues,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39as Stuart suggested, or just a celebration of different cultures.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Or maybe, a bit of both.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49If football stirs up community tensions, language can unite them.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55And Scots, in particular, has a special place in my heart.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03There are three languages in Scotland and, in my time,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05I've tried to learn the lot of them.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Obviously, I am managing in English at the moment.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11I tried for three fruitless months to learn Gaelic at evening school,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14and both my parents were Broad Scots speakers.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16So broad that neither my brother nor I
0:13:16 > 0:13:20could understand a word that either set of grandparents ever said.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24So, in Belfast, I spoke with a Northern Ireland accent,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27but I had a whin of Scots words drappit through.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31And when I crossed to Glasgow, I had to learn another variant on Scots.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34A lot more blunt, perhaps a bit more aggressive one -
0:13:34 > 0:13:37"Goannae no' dae that?!", for example -
0:13:37 > 0:13:38before moving across here to Fife,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41a fairmin' community with a softer tongue.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45But one thing's for sure, despite all these variants of Scots,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48if you take away the language from a community,
0:13:48 > 0:13:49you take away what defines it.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53You take away stories and history and, above all,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55you take away a sense of self.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01This is Billy Kay, spearin' what's happening' to Scoats thi day,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04in a new and final episode o' The Scoats Tongue -
0:14:04 > 0:14:09an archive series on the history of the leid I wrote back in 1986.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Based in Dundee, writer and broadcaster Billy Kay is
0:14:12 > 0:14:15a passionate advocate for the Scots language,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19and his BBC radio series explores the rich history and culture of
0:14:19 > 0:14:21the language he grew up with.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23In my book, Scots: The Mither Tongue,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26I described speaking Scots as an activity engaged in
0:14:26 > 0:14:29by consenting adults in the privacy of their ain hame.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32But noo, mair and mair native speakers have come oot the hoose,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34say tae speak.
0:14:36 > 0:14:37OK, Billy, nuts and bolts.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40The Scots language, where does it come fae?
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Scots is a Germanic language, which is close to English,
0:14:44 > 0:14:45which came into Scotland
0:14:45 > 0:14:49roughly at the time Gaelic came into the west of Scotland,
0:14:49 > 0:14:54with influences from Flemish, French, Gaelic, Norse.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58And eventually, because of these influences and because of politics,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00gradually Scots and English diverged,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04and then with the political differences between Scotland and England,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Scots became the national language of Scotland.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10So much so that, for example,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13the Gaelic-speaking clan chiefs in the north would have to learn Scots,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17to get on at court, to get on in society.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20So, Scots was the language of prestige and power,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23until really the 17th century.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27What about the idea that Scots really is only a dialect
0:15:27 > 0:15:28and not a proper language?
0:15:28 > 0:15:31You mentioned it being a dialect yourself.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34What is it that gives it the status of something more?
0:15:34 > 0:15:38Well, historically, it was a dialect of Old English,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41but it developed into a national language.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44It's recognised by the European Parliament,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49by the British Parliament and by the Scottish government as a language.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52So anybody who tells me that Scots is just
0:15:52 > 0:15:54a series of provincial dialects,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58I'll say, "Well, ye ken nought about linguistic history."
0:15:59 > 0:16:03What is it that's driven you to write the book you've written,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05to do the radio series, the TV series?
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Where's the passion coming from?
0:16:07 > 0:16:09The passion comes from being steeped in it,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11as a wee boy growing up in Ayrshire.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17My hale world picture was seen through the prism of Scoats.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21It was also the language that was sung at faimily get-togethers,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23because Burns was a great traditional in Ayrshire,
0:16:23 > 0:16:25as you can imagine. My sister's a great Burns singer.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29So, given that rich linguistic background
0:16:29 > 0:16:32and realising how rich it was,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34it made me determined.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41What is it that Scots gives you, particularly, that English doesn't?
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Another window in the world, simple as that.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Every language has its own genius.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Scots describes the landscape, the people,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54the culture in Scotland like no other.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58Language can, because it's rooted in a living landscape.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02So, what does Scots do for the communities in Scotland
0:17:02 > 0:17:04that do actually speak it?
0:17:04 > 0:17:08It's a huge part of local identity to the extent that,
0:17:08 > 0:17:13sometimes, people think I speak Farfar or Dundonese or Glesga,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18raither than Scots, so it is a very strong badge of identity.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22The Border boroughs, like Hawick, Gala, Selkirk,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24part of the identity,
0:17:24 > 0:17:28along wi' Riding the Marches and looking o'er the border at England,
0:17:28 > 0:17:33is the local poetry and the local songs in the Scots language
0:17:33 > 0:17:39that are part of the language they learnt at their mither's knee,
0:17:39 > 0:17:41the language of the culture that surrounds them,
0:17:41 > 0:17:45and the language of the culture they want to continue using.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50When Scottish people came to Ireland,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52they brought that culture with them,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55and their language became Ulster Scots.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00I've come back to Northern Ireland,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03to discover if Ulster Scots is as deeply rooted
0:18:03 > 0:18:07in the living landscape here as it is in Scotland.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14And whether it's as vital to community identity.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20"Whut has heppin't tae the countryside,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22"since you an' me wus wains?
0:18:24 > 0:18:26"When folk had time tae tak' tae ye
0:18:27 > 0:18:29an' al' the kye had names.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34"The Clydesdales stud abane the men, as gentle as a lamb,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40"And the oul' men proud o' whut they dane, they know'd aboot the lan.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45"The wather it wus better then Och!
0:18:45 > 0:18:46Mebbe that's joost me
0:18:49 > 0:18:53"An' burds noo naw so plentifu', they sung fae ivery tree
0:18:55 > 0:18:59"Spring rowl't intae simmer an' it seem't tae g'on for iver,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03"But th wurld's in sich a hurry noo,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06"It's changed since we wus wains.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10"Al' the sime, I lake't it, whun al' the kye had names."
0:19:14 > 0:19:18This is the eastern-most part of Ireland, and it's here,
0:19:18 > 0:19:19on the Ards Peninsula,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23where large-scale migration from Scotland to Ulster began.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27In 1604,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32Ayrshire men James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery acquired land here from
0:19:32 > 0:19:33Ulster chieftain, Con O'Neill.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38And they settled it with families from Scotland,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41whose ties to home remained so strong that,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45right up till the 1800s, some rowed across the Channel
0:19:45 > 0:19:49to have their children baptised on Scottish soil.
0:19:49 > 0:19:50But what about now?
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Are those connections to Scotland still strong?
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Is the language and culture of Ulster Scots still important to the
0:19:57 > 0:19:59communities of the Ards Peninsula?
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Well, it seems that in recent years
0:20:04 > 0:20:06there's been a bit of a revival going on.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09And as part of a week-long festival,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Ballywalter is hosting a night of Ulster Scots music and dance.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17This is our tradition we're trying to keep alive.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Er, the fifes and the drums. As you see, we're a mixed group of ages.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Ould boys like me and young...
0:20:22 > 0:20:26We're going to gie ye a well-known American tune.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28This is how you can join in, clap your hands.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31You'll hear the drummers banging the sticks and so on.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33Yous get hammered into it.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Jackie Thomson was born and brought up on the Ards Peninsula
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and has got involved in efforts to promote
0:20:39 > 0:20:41the culture and language he grew up with.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50So, Jackie, where did this all start for you, then, the Ulster Scots?
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Well, I was brought up in the area
0:20:52 > 0:20:56and we just spoke as we normally did.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Unknown to us, this has now been, sort of, classed as Ulster Scots.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03I just heard words every day from my ma and da,
0:21:03 > 0:21:04and that was the words I used.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09But you've just said that in English and I'm speaking in English now,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12and we could both be speaking in Scots to each other.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13So why are we not doing it?
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Once you get into a familiarity with somebody,
0:21:16 > 0:21:17then you break into your own tone.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19- Aye.- And that's...
0:21:19 > 0:21:23It's when you left your own community,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25you had to switch over to English.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27It was because it was stigmatised when I was growing up
0:21:27 > 0:21:29that it was beat out of me, to hear,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32"That's the way you've got to talk if you're going to go outside
0:21:32 > 0:21:35"the community to work and things like that."
0:21:39 > 0:21:40Have you got children?
0:21:40 > 0:21:43- Aye, just the one.- And did you teach the bairn yourself Scots?
0:21:43 > 0:21:46I mean, teach, in a conscious way, Ulster Scots?
0:21:46 > 0:21:49She would have told me off for saying things like,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52you know, I would say,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55"Lift them ould shunners oot the fire," or,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57"Get us a bit of kiln." And she... "What are you talking about, Da?"
0:21:57 > 0:22:00And I would have said, "Shut that door after you."
0:22:00 > 0:22:05"Da, it's door. It's not the dug, it's the dog."
0:22:05 > 0:22:07So she would have sort of tapped into me, in a sense,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09and I would have said, "Listen, this is in my DNA,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12"you're not going to beat it out of me at your age" sort of thing.
0:22:12 > 0:22:13So that...
0:22:13 > 0:22:16But saying that now, she's 33 now
0:22:16 > 0:22:19and she would throw in wee Ulster Scots words.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21And I'm... Happy days.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29The Ards Peninsula and the Ards area,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33is this the sort of Scots glen or whatever of Northern Ireland,
0:22:33 > 0:22:34of Ireland?
0:22:34 > 0:22:39Portpatrick, Donaghadee, first boys came across, 1600s.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41It's on our doorstep.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44We would puff our chest and say, "We're the Ulster Scots folk."
0:22:45 > 0:22:47County Antrim men would say differently
0:22:47 > 0:22:49because they're as fluent as me,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51maybe even better at it, lots of them.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Yes, you would meet somebody every day
0:22:54 > 0:22:57that you would be talking Ulster Scots to.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03What does it mean to you, then, Ulster Scots?
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Is that your identity?
0:23:05 > 0:23:10Does that carve this set of communities out as being very particular?
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Ulster Scots is more to me than a language.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14It's...
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Even music... It's something in you, it's in you, you know.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20You say, "Can you teach somebody Ulster Scots?"
0:23:20 > 0:23:25You can teach them certain words and you get boys that want to learn
0:23:25 > 0:23:30Ulster Scots and they're saying these words, but the same sort of...
0:23:30 > 0:23:33It has to come from your heart, Ulster Scots.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35That's the way I feel about the Ulster Scots language.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37It's built in you and it has to come from inside you.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Just before we bed ourselves,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44we look at our wee lambs.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Tam has his arm around wee Rab's neck.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51And Rab, his arm around Tam's.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56I lift wee Jimmy up the bed, and as I stroke each crown.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58I whisper till my heart fills up.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Oh, bairnies, cuddle doon.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I'm finding myself unexpectedly moved in the middle of
0:24:07 > 0:24:09this little ceilidh here tonight
0:24:09 > 0:24:12because this would be like being in Scotland.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Someone has just recited my mother's favourite poem.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17My mother came from Wick in Caithness.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19It's as far north in Scotland as you can get.
0:24:19 > 0:24:20It's hundreds of miles from here.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24But "bairnies cuddle doon", that's what she used to recite to me.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27My father's favourite pipe tune, The Rowan Tree, was played there,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and the whole set was finished up with Mhairi's Wedding,
0:24:30 > 0:24:31played at my own wedding.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36This is as if I'm stretched across the sea here between Scotland and
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Northern Ireland because the two are one.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Tonight, here, this could be in Scotland.
0:24:41 > 0:24:42It's marvellous.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51If I could only greet, my heart it wouldnae be so sair.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53But tears are gone.
0:24:54 > 0:24:55And the bairns are gone.
0:24:57 > 0:24:58And baith come back nae mair.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05PIPE BAND PLAYS
0:25:09 > 0:25:11When I left Colmcille Pipe Band in Derry,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14they were rehearsing long into the night.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Today, they're competing at the UK Pipe Band Championships at Stormont.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23I'm blown away by the sheer number of people here.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27There are bands from all over the UK and Ireland taking part,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30and people of all ages and backgrounds.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Lochlainn Fergusson is one of the younger members
0:25:36 > 0:25:39of the Colmcille Pipe Band.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Lochlainn, I'm just fascinated to know why someone like you -
0:25:43 > 0:25:46young, you're not really born into this tradition completely -
0:25:46 > 0:25:48but why on earth the pipes, what is it?
0:25:48 > 0:25:51I've been here since I've been a young boy, age 11.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53And at the start, I came as a social thing.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Not many of my friends are doing it. I like to drum and I like meeting
0:25:56 > 0:25:59other people. People that I've never really had a chance to meet.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Different religions, different cultures.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05And then when you filter in the whole music side of things,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07when you're standing with your band, with all your friends,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10it's just that feeling... I like this type of sport.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14I also like a bit of competition.
0:26:14 > 0:26:15We all have a goal to succeed.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18It's the same situation here, but only... We've got rivals
0:26:18 > 0:26:21but they're also our best friends as well.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23There's bands from all around Northern Ireland, Scotland,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26all over the world. There is fierce competition here,
0:26:26 > 0:26:27as you'll see later on the day,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29but after it's just a matter of going over,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31shaking hands and saying, "How did you play today?"
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Getting to know them and just joining with real friends again.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Is there anything else that the Scots bring to this?
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Scots bring a neutrality to here,
0:26:42 > 0:26:48cos here in Northern Ireland there's a lot of unneeded politics, I think.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50And when you bring the Scottish over, the Scottish are very...
0:26:50 > 0:26:53They don't really care about that kind of thing
0:26:53 > 0:26:55and it neutralises the field.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58If there's any hostility here,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01the Scots just kind of wipe it away because it's just their personality.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04They're great fun, great character, their bands are amazing,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07and it just brightens up the whole day.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Gosh, you make me feel proud to be both Scottish and Northern Irish.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12But anyway we'll let you get back to the practice
0:27:12 > 0:27:14- and good luck with it. - Thank you very much.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17It's the moment of truth for Colmcille Pipe Band
0:27:17 > 0:27:20as it's their turn to perform for the judges.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24THE BAND PLAY A MARCH
0:27:47 > 0:27:49APPLAUSE
0:27:52 > 0:27:56Communities, like families, can be complicated.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59The Old Firm rivalry is certainly divisive.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Though, I suspect those football fans have more in common
0:28:02 > 0:28:04than some of them would like to admit.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Other communities are struggling to keep alive the culture and language
0:28:10 > 0:28:11that gives them their identity.
0:28:13 > 0:28:14But here today,
0:28:14 > 0:28:18I see a community bound by a Scottish musical tradition
0:28:18 > 0:28:21that's as strong and vibrant in Northern Ireland
0:28:21 > 0:28:23as it is in Scotland.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27And, for the record, Colmcille Pipe Band came first in their grade.