0:00:02 > 0:00:03A couple of years ago,
0:00:03 > 0:00:07I made a TV programme called Tim McGarry's Ulster Scots Journey.
0:00:07 > 0:00:08People seemed to like it,
0:00:08 > 0:00:13though for some reason it was disgracefully overlooked for a Bafta.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14Discrimination!
0:00:14 > 0:00:17In the programme, I examined the long
0:00:17 > 0:00:20and close relationship between Scotland and Ulster.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25And despite having what I thought was an impeccable Papist background,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27I discovered that I had Ulster Scots ancestors
0:00:27 > 0:00:30just a couple of generations back.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Yes, I'm proud to say that I am part Ulster Scot.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38That's the little part of me that hates paying for things
0:00:38 > 0:00:41and the part of me that, occasionally,
0:00:41 > 0:00:43wants to do a bit of work.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47Well, a mere two years later, I've decided to do that bit of work.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50In this programme, I'm going to examine perhaps the most
0:00:50 > 0:00:54controversial aspect of our Ulster Scots heritage -
0:00:54 > 0:00:55the Ulster Scots language.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Some people may have a prejudice against Ulster Scots,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20but it's also true that we use Ulster Scots words
0:01:20 > 0:01:22and phrases without even thinking about them.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25You're rather thouither-lookin' today, Tim.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27He's no' as green as he's cabbage-lookin'.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28Your body's as lazy as sheugh water.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30She's a queer-eyed cooter on her.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34That's like a sharp nose from the cutter of a plough.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37She'd knock the eyes out of a flute... A hole, is that right?
0:01:37 > 0:01:40- That's a new one on me now!- You see, I'm a fluent speaker, as you know.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Your man's naething but a thaveless packel!
0:01:42 > 0:01:43LAUGHTER
0:01:43 > 0:01:45You know, it paints a picture!
0:01:45 > 0:01:47Another clean shirt will dae 'im.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50- Another clean shirt will dae 'im? - Will do him.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54He's that ill, one more clean shirt and he's ready for the next world.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57But Ulster Scots also has another problem.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Many people simply don't believe that it's a language at all.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05They see it as "merely" a dialect or just bad English
0:02:05 > 0:02:09or English with a Rab C Nesbitt accent.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Well, I would say a lot of them folk
0:02:11 > 0:02:14dinnae ken ocht ava aboot what they're talking about.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17That's daft! It's nae English with Scots words thrown in.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20I mean, if you looked at it properly from our point of view,
0:02:20 > 0:02:22you could argue it's the same way -
0:02:22 > 0:02:25"Aye, English is just Scots with a few English words thrown intae it."
0:02:25 > 0:02:29And sometimes they don't even recognise it when they see it.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33If you saw this sign, what language would you think this is?
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Well, Heichbrae Airt means "the high hill"
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and is the Ulster Scots version of Tullyard Way.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41And the reason this sign isn't hanging where it should be
0:02:41 > 0:02:44is because someone thought that Heichbrae Airt was Irish.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48A majority of residents of Tullyard Way on the Loyalist Clonduff Estate
0:02:48 > 0:02:52had backed the idea of having Ulster Scots signs in the first place.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Many of them supported a petition organised by local man Roy Adams.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Tullyard Way is an Irish name, as most of the streets round here are
0:03:00 > 0:03:03and it was ironic that the people who took it down
0:03:03 > 0:03:05were supporting Irish.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10Now, you don't need me to "curry your yoghurt" to know that sometimes
0:03:10 > 0:03:13language in this part of the world can become, well,
0:03:13 > 0:03:17controversial or embroiled in our sectarian politics.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Despite the best efforts of many Irish language
0:03:19 > 0:03:22and Ulster Scots speakers, both Irish and Ulster Scots
0:03:22 > 0:03:27are often seen as belonging to one side or the other.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30There is a perception that it only appeared in about 1998 and that,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33you know, A, that it's made up or B, that it is basically Protestants
0:03:33 > 0:03:35getting the same amount of money as the Irish speakers get.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37How do you answer that?
0:03:37 > 0:03:39That's really infuriating.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44It is very antagonistic for those of us who work in this sector.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48You know, Ulster Scots is a form of communication.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51You could go to a hurling match between Dunloy and Lochgiel
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and you'll hear some of the finest...
0:03:53 > 0:03:55I wouldn't recommend that, by the way!
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Well, you'll hear some of the finest Ulster Scots spoken naturally.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59The fact is that,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03although 99% of native speakers of Irish are Catholic,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07or certainly historically would have been Catholic,
0:04:07 > 0:04:08the degree of homogeneity
0:04:08 > 0:04:11simply isn't there in the Ulster Scots community.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15It's perhaps only two-thirds or three-quarters Protestant.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19There is no doubt, in my view, that Ulster Scots would be best served
0:04:19 > 0:04:23being promoted on the basis of arts, rather than history or politics.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Do you think more Unionists are slightly embarrassed?
0:04:25 > 0:04:29There's a bit of a cultural cringe about Ulster Scots?
0:04:29 > 0:04:34The most opposition I find when I go to different events
0:04:34 > 0:04:36and talk about Ulster Scots,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38the greatest opposition comes from Unionists.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42It is spoken in a very widespread way
0:04:42 > 0:04:45in places which aren't Protestant.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48If you go up around parts of Antrim, North Antrim
0:04:48 > 0:04:52and round into part of Londonderry, you will find people
0:04:52 > 0:04:55who are perceived as not Protestant speaking a beautiful,
0:04:55 > 0:05:00beautiful broad Ulster Scots. It's definitely not a divisive language.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03So you don't have to be a Unionist to appreciate Ulster Scots?
0:05:03 > 0:05:04Preferably not.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08If you get beyond the political stereotype,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11I think that these words and expressions and these books
0:05:11 > 0:05:15live in the countryside regardless of your background,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17regardless of your politics or your religion.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20They are words that you can hear virtually everywhere.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24Unity in a society doesn't come from uniformity,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27it comes from understanding diversity.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29No more than that I will say.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Seamus Heaney said that from the start
0:05:32 > 0:05:35the tongue of Ulster Scots was in his ear.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Not literally, obviously. That would be disgusting!
0:05:40 > 0:05:43So, where does Ulster Scots actually come from?
0:05:43 > 0:05:47I'm going to stick my neck out here and guess...Scotland?
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Basically, Ulster Scots is a version of the Scots language
0:05:50 > 0:05:53that came to Ulster in the early 17th century.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55But where did it all begin?
0:05:55 > 0:05:56I need to find out.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00So I'm going on a journey.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03I don't really want to, but it's actually a criminal offence now
0:06:03 > 0:06:09to make a TV documentary and not go on a journey. But I'm a home bird.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13I'm only going somewhere if it reminds me of Belfast.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18TRUMPETS SOUND
0:06:22 > 0:06:24HE SIGHS
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Call this a peace wall? HE SCOFFS
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Hadrian's Wall was built by the Romans to keep out
0:06:30 > 0:06:32the barbarians to the north.
0:06:32 > 0:06:3773 miles long and 15 feet high, it ran from coast to coast.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Work started in 122 AD and was completed in just 14 years.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46To put that in perspective, that's about the same time as it takes
0:06:46 > 0:06:49the Housing Executive to fix your windaes.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Now, I know what you're thinking.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52"Tim, this is all very interesting,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55"but what's it got to do with the Scots language?"
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Well, the Scots language, like most things in life,
0:06:58 > 0:06:59starts with the Romans.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Because, although the wall has lasted nearly 2,000 years,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06the Romans didn't last so long.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10In 410 AD, the Roman legions left Britain.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14It was a bit like the European referendum debate in reverse.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Instead of Britain leaving Europe, Europe left Britain.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Yes, we finally got rid of those Italian scroungers coming over here,
0:07:21 > 0:07:26building walls and roads and baths and stuff...
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Anyway, the point is, when the Romans left,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32they opened the door to a new tidal wave of immigrants.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36And these new ones were a lot worse. They were the English.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43Or, as their ancestors were known, Saxons, Jutes and Angles.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47Within 100 years, they had taken over most of England from the Romans.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51One group carved out the kingdom of Northumbria.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56And they brought with them their own language, Anglish or Englisk,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00which originated in Denmark and the Low Countries.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05The truth is it is a language and it's Northumbrian in its origins.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08The Scots language, and to some extent English,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11received English derived from Northumbrian.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16So, is Scots merely a version of English or is it a distinct language?
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Well, Scots language activists will tell you that Scots grew
0:08:20 > 0:08:22and developed apart from its sister tongue, English,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26to such an extent that a distinct language evolved.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30As you know, I could talk to you for hours about orthography
0:08:30 > 0:08:32and pluricentric languages
0:08:32 > 0:08:35with significant asymmetric mutual intelligibility,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37but I won't.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39I'll get somebody else to do that.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44A lot of people would say it's a dialect, it's a version of English,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46it's too similar to English to deserve
0:08:46 > 0:08:50the name of a language, unlike, say, Scots Gaelic.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Languages are related to one another so Norwegian and Danish,
0:08:54 > 0:08:59for example, Estonian and Finnish, Irish and Scots Gaelic.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03This is a normal thing with languages, so similarity
0:09:03 > 0:09:05to another language doesn't stop a language being a language.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Of course it's a language.
0:09:07 > 0:09:08One of the reasons I think people laugh at it
0:09:08 > 0:09:11is that people think there's something intrinsically funny
0:09:11 > 0:09:14about speaking a language which is indigenous to this country
0:09:14 > 0:09:16and which is part of the Plantation.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19I presume the planters spoke Scots, but it's also the language,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23I presume, of the 1798 Rebellion.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26So, it's a revolutionary language, it's a radical language
0:09:26 > 0:09:28and certainly it's part of my make-up
0:09:28 > 0:09:29and I say that as a Muilleoir,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31but also someone that's very proud of this place
0:09:31 > 0:09:33and proud to be an Ulster man.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35In the case of Scots, it's a qualified "no"
0:09:35 > 0:09:38in that it isn't currently a language,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41but it may have been in the past and perhaps could be in the future
0:09:41 > 0:09:43if the political will were there to make it so.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47In the case of Ulster Scots, it's pretty much an unqualified "no",
0:09:47 > 0:09:51because regardless of the functional relationship of Ulster Scots
0:09:51 > 0:09:55with standard English, structurally it will always be a form of Scots.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Basque, Catalan, Flemish, Dutch, Friesian,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02all the minority European languages
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and we tend to think of languages as belonging to a nation state
0:10:05 > 0:10:08and it doesn't work like that, I'm afraid.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16The Ruthwell Cross is a masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon art,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18dating from the eighth century.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22It was described as the greatest achievement of its date
0:10:22 > 0:10:23in the whole of Europe.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25The Saxons were pagans,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29but had been converted to Christianity by the seventh century.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Apart from the magnificent carvings,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34what is also remarkable about this cross
0:10:34 > 0:10:36are the runes cut into it.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40These could be the oldest surviving text in early English
0:10:40 > 0:10:41in the entire world.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47What's even more surprising is that Ruthwell is in Scotland.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51By the seventh century, the kingdom of Northumbria
0:10:51 > 0:10:54was one of the most powerful in all of Anglo-Saxon Britain,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57establishing itself in southeastern Scotland,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59up as far as the Firth of Forth.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Meanwhile, the Scotti, or Irish, expanded from the west
0:11:02 > 0:11:04into the north of Scotland,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08and their Irish-Gaelic language quickly overcame the Pictish areas.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Northumbria became a beacon of learning, with its famous monastery
0:11:11 > 0:11:14at Lindisfarne, which was also responsible for creating
0:11:14 > 0:11:17some of our most precious works of art,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20such as the imaginatively named Lindisfarne Gospels.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24The trouble was that precious things also attracted the wrong sort.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Vikings.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30The first Viking raid on England was in 793 AD on Lindisfarne.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35Within a few years, they had come to dominate most of Northumbria.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40Things changed in the year 1018, when the Battle of Carham
0:11:40 > 0:11:44established King Malcolm II's rule over all of Scotland.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Scotland's borders now ran to the River Tweed,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51and English-speaking Saxons living north of that border
0:11:51 > 0:11:53were now part of Scotland.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58But here, the Firth of Forth, or "Scots' Water"
0:11:58 > 0:12:02became the unofficial border between Gaelic-speaking Scotland
0:12:02 > 0:12:05and the Scots on this side of the river,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08who spoke a Danish-influenced version of Anglo-Saxon.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Trapped within a mainly Gaelic-speaking country,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14you'd have thought this Anglo-Saxon-speaking enclave
0:12:14 > 0:12:17might have soon disappeared, but it didn't.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19In fact, within 400 years,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22most Lowland Scots were speaking this new language,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26and the new language came to be known as Scots.
0:12:26 > 0:12:27So, what happened?
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Well, towns happened.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44The Scottish kings, copying their Norman counterparts to the south,
0:12:44 > 0:12:46started a process of urbanisation,
0:12:46 > 0:12:51and these new institutions, or "burghs" such as Edinburgh,
0:12:51 > 0:12:57used Anglo-Saxon terms like "craft, gild, toll, gate and wynd."
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Soon, towns like Edinburgh were trading with the Dutch, Flemish
0:13:01 > 0:13:04and Scandinavians whose language had more in common
0:13:04 > 0:13:05with English than Gaelic.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09But even Gaelic words were incorporated into
0:13:09 > 0:13:13this evolving language, adopting words such as "clan, loch, ceilidh."
0:13:13 > 0:13:18The language was also influenced by Latin and French.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23And so this Scottish Saxon tongue began to diverge
0:13:23 > 0:13:26from its southern English counterpart,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and it would soon come to be known as Scots.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34# O flower of Scotland
0:13:34 > 0:13:40# When will we see your like again? #
0:13:40 > 0:13:44The Scottish kings weren't hostile to their English-speaking subjects,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46but up until the 1300s,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Gaelic was still the prestige language of Scotland.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52If you wanted to get on, you spoke Gaelic or French, for some reason.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55But that all changed with the accession onto the throne
0:13:55 > 0:13:57of this man, Robert the Bruce.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02# Proud Edward's army
0:14:02 > 0:14:07# And sent him homeward
0:14:07 > 0:14:11# Tae think again... #
0:14:11 > 0:14:13It was Robert the Bruce who finally confirmed
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Scotland's independence from the English.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20His triumph here at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314
0:14:20 > 0:14:23also meant the continuation of the Scots language
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and its separate development north of the border.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Perhaps more importantly, the Scottish Crown now passed
0:14:29 > 0:14:31to three Lowland families -
0:14:31 > 0:14:35the Bruces, then the Balliols, and finally, the Stuarts.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37What that meant was that in the Highlands,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39people continued to speak Gaelic,
0:14:39 > 0:14:45but the new kings were Lowlanders, and their language was Scots.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Scotland's capital moved south from Perth to Edinburgh,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52a long-standing Scots-speaking area.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55From this time in the late 1300s
0:14:55 > 0:14:58comes the first surviving literary text in Scots,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01John Barbour's epic poem The Brus.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07The Brus is so valuable they keep it under lock and key.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Imagine not trusting people from Northern Ireland.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14It's spelt B-R-U-S, but it is about Robert the Bruce.
0:15:14 > 0:15:15Robert the Bruce, yes.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18It's very much about King Robert the Bruce
0:15:18 > 0:15:20and his struggle for power within Scotland,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24and his struggle for independence for Scotland as a whole.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28It is one of only two manuscripts of one of the earliest examples
0:15:28 > 0:15:31we have of substantial Scots writing,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34substantial text written in early Scots.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38It is already different from the English written at the time.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41The country was at war with England when this was written.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45The king had Anglophile leanings, and many Scots were against that.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47This is why things like The Brus
0:15:47 > 0:15:51and also the later epic The Wallace became very popular again.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53So, there's a nationalist hue to it.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56It's about Bannockburn and uniting Scotland,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59it's about driving the English out, there's certainly that feel to it.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00Yes, definitely.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04If I was to put this under my arm and leave the library,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07what would the fine be per day for this?
0:16:07 > 0:16:09I don't know if you could put it like this,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11you might lose your liberty!
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Right, it's like that, hear that?
0:16:15 > 0:16:17By the late 14th and early 15th century,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Scots had supplanted Gaelic and French
0:16:19 > 0:16:22to become the language of the royal court.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27In 1424, King James I of Scotland wrote The Kingis Quair,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29"The King's Book".
0:16:29 > 0:16:32He wrote it in Scots.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36It was, in Scotland, the language of the court, in early modern Scotland.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41The saying was you spoke Scots to your king, French to your lady,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43and Gaelic to your God.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45English didn't get a look in!
0:16:50 > 0:16:53It was in the late Renaissance that Scots language enthusiasts
0:16:53 > 0:16:57believe that written Scots reached its literary high watermark.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00There was an explosion of creative activity,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02with Stirling Castle at its epicentre.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09Stirling Castle was the favoured hang-out of the Stuarts.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Writers such as Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, Gavin Douglas,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16and David Lyndsay, through to Alexander Montgomerie,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18made a group of outstanding writers
0:17:18 > 0:17:21who are known collectively as the Makars.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26The Makars were sort of court poets to the Scottish court
0:17:26 > 0:17:29of the 15th and early 16th century.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34The Makars brought Scots poetry to new heights,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37drawing on such influences as Dante and Chaucer.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41Sadly, however, much of their work was later lost or destroyed.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45One of the greatest of these Makars was Blind Harry,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49who wrote The Wallace, which takes as its subject
0:17:49 > 0:17:52that other hero of Scottish independence, William Wallace.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58And a bit like Mel Gibson's film, it is a wee bit inaccurate.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01But also like Mel's film, it was hugely popular,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04and it elevated Wallace to the status of national martyr.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06And as we've seen,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10John Barbour's The Brus glorified the struggles of Robert the Bruce.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13So, it is clear to see that the early writers in Scots
0:18:13 > 0:18:17identified themselves closely with the cause of Scottish freedom.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20There's a slight irony here in that Ulster Scots
0:18:20 > 0:18:24is perceived to come from a Unionist background.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Over here, is Scots part of the nationalist revival?
0:18:27 > 0:18:32If you found someone in Scotland who was hostile to the Scots language,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35who regarded it either as a historical anomaly,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37or an artificial creation,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40they would probably be of a Unionist disposition.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43There are people quite capable of saying
0:18:43 > 0:18:46the cultural argument for Scots, the existential argument for Scots,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50but dinna ging along with the desire for independence.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53To folk like me, that doesn't make sense.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55The only way to save the Scots language is to be independent
0:18:55 > 0:18:56and to be proud of it.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59I dinna see how we can be proud of ourselves
0:18:59 > 0:19:01if we're nae proud of ourselves. Put it that way.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Let me put the Unionist argument, then,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06which is that this is cultural separatism.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08This is a part of saying, "We're different from England,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12"we deserve to be separate because we're culturally separate."
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Scotland doesn't have to validate a national identity.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17It's one of the strongest national identities in the world.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21If the question in Scottish politics is, "Is Scotland a nation?"
0:19:21 > 0:19:24then you'll get 98% of people saying yes.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27You don't have to be a Scottish nationalist to believe
0:19:27 > 0:19:30in nourishing and flourishing the Scottish culture and language.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32But it would be the case, I suspect,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35that most Scottish nationalists would think that was a good idea.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39The Makar period is said to have reached its pinnacle
0:19:39 > 0:19:43with Gavin Douglas's Eneados, his version of Virgil's Aeneid,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47the first translation of an ancient text into an Anglic language.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50It was published in the year 1513.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58But that year was also a disastrous year for Scotland,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and the start of the decline of the Scots language.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05In 1513, a Scottish army invaded England to aid France,
0:20:05 > 0:20:07which was being attacked by Henry VIII.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Despite being outnumbered,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14the English annihilated the Scottish army.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17King James IV died on the battlefield.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20He was the last monarch in the British Isles to do so.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29The power vacuum in Scotland led to massive political instability,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32which the Tudor monarchs were only too happy to exploit.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34And then along came the Reformation.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38In 1560, encouraged by Protestant England,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41and spurred by the fiery preaching of John Knox,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44the Church of Scotland broke with the Church of Rome.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Parliament abolished the Catholic Mass,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49and the country officially became Calvinist.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Scotland, now newly Calvinist, needed a Bible.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57There was no approved Scots version, so the Scottish Calvinists
0:20:57 > 0:21:00used an English translation of the Geneva Bible.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03The preachers probably had to paraphrase it into Scots
0:21:03 > 0:21:07so that their congregations could understand why they would soon be
0:21:07 > 0:21:11cast into the fiery depths of hell, but the text was in English.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16This lays claim to being the house where John Knox lived.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Wouldn't have been much craic, living with John Knox, would it?
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Apparently, Knox's daughter committed the terrible sin
0:21:23 > 0:21:26of coming down late for breakfast one morning.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Knox pointed an accusing finger at her and shouted,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31"Spawn of the devil!".
0:21:31 > 0:21:35To which she replied, "Good morning, father."
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Yes, "fun-loving" and "easy-going" aren't exactly phrases
0:21:39 > 0:21:42we associate with 16th century Scottish Protestantism.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46It was all a bit stern and hostile to artistic works.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Now, most Scots literature at the time
0:21:49 > 0:21:52tended to be Catholic in content and artistic in nature,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57which is why Knox described the Scots language as the "language of Popery."
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Mind you, you'd have thought John Knox would have ended up
0:22:02 > 0:22:04somewhere better than this.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05I mean, buried in a car park?!
0:22:06 > 0:22:09But, it wasn't all one-way traffic.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11I mean, what did you do when you were 17?
0:22:12 > 0:22:16King James VI of Scotland wrote a book, "Reulis and Cautelis".
0:22:16 > 0:22:21"Rules and Cautions" - basically a guide to writing poetry in Scots.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Mind you, he was a king - probably got somebody to write it for him.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28But, when King James VI of Scotland
0:22:28 > 0:22:31became the King James I of England and Scotland,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35he issued the new King James Bible,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37which was, of course, in English.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39The key thing was the union of crowns,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41because it moved the court from Scotland,
0:22:41 > 0:22:46where Scots was spoken, to London, where English was spoken.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49Although the early court commentators of James I,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52as he became, James VI to Scotland,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55were complaining that they could not understand the Scots courtiers
0:22:55 > 0:22:59who had come down to London, so obviously that was a crucial thing.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Yes, the royal court was now in London and its language was English.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Scots quickly became displaced as the language of government
0:23:07 > 0:23:09and commerce and literature.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11In our neck of the woods,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14James is probably most famous for the Plantation.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Scots settlers poured into Ulster, but the indigenous population
0:23:18 > 0:23:21would also affect how the Scots language developed in Ulster.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Ulster was the most Gaelic part of Ireland.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27There was an awful lot of Gaelic still spoken here at that time,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31and that was going to absorb into the everyday parlance
0:23:31 > 0:23:32of the people that came here.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Also, you had existent Elizabethan English,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38and hangovers of Norman French as well,
0:23:38 > 0:23:39so all these things go into a melting pot,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and a lot of these different words and phrases
0:23:42 > 0:23:44have got absorbed to make Ulster Scots
0:23:44 > 0:23:47subtly different in pronunciation and vocabulary,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50from modern-day Scots in different parts of Scotland.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52- So there are bits of Irish in there as well?- Aye.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54If I said, "Haud yer wheesht",
0:23:54 > 0:23:57"wheesht" or "whisht" is from a Gaelic derivative.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58Also, "I was into clabber" -
0:23:58 > 0:24:02"clabber" is from the Irish "clabair" for mud,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05and that has been absorbed into Ulster Scots terminology.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07There is a rule in local TV.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10If you're making a documentary about history, culture,
0:24:10 > 0:24:15art or literature, well, you will end up in the Linen Hall Library,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18even if you don't want to. And the reason is simple -
0:24:18 > 0:24:21the Linen Hall has everything.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Where's the largest collection of Ulster Scots literature?
0:24:24 > 0:24:28No, it is not a trick question. It is here.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Scots language literature was being printed in Belfast,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36and was being imported during the 1600s and 1700s.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41The 17th century in Ulster was a turbulent time for those settlers.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43There was a lot of instability,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45so there's not as much written material available.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47There's the Ulster Miscellany.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51It contains a whole variety of poems and prose and riddles
0:24:51 > 0:24:53and verse, and different things, nearly all anonymous.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55At the back of it are nine poems,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59which have come to be known as the Scotch Poems from Donegal.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03# The English steel we could... #
0:25:03 > 0:25:05By the end of the 17th century,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08it was clear that Scots was under pressure.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11In Scotland, Scots was commonly spoken by 70%
0:25:11 > 0:25:14of the non-Gaelic speaking population.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18However, the written and printed word was almost universally in English.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23# A parcel o' rogues in a nation... #
0:25:25 > 0:25:31On May 1, 1707, in this very hall, the Scots Parliament
0:25:31 > 0:25:35voted itself out of existence and instead joined with England
0:25:35 > 0:25:38and Wales to form the United Kingdom.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Parliament was now in London.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43From the very outset, the new Scottish MPs were mocked
0:25:43 > 0:25:48by their English counterparts for their use of the Scots language.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53300 years on and Alex Salmond has exacted a little revenge.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56In the House of Commons, you're not allowed to insult somebody
0:25:56 > 0:26:00personally, so if you called somebody a thieving, slimy rogue,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03you'd be upbraided by the speaker immediately.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06If you call him a "sleekit scunner",
0:26:06 > 0:26:08then it has two great virtues.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Firstly, you get off with it,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13in terms of parliamentary protocol.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Secondly, it also has a great virtue in that the minister concerned
0:26:16 > 0:26:20knows he is being insulted, he's just not quite sure to what extent.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24The English translation of sleekit scunner would be "a slimy emetic,"
0:26:24 > 0:26:27a walking emetic, and Hansard writers would send me down a note
0:26:27 > 0:26:29saying, "What is 'sleekit'?"
0:26:29 > 0:26:31I'd put "slimy, untrustworthy".
0:26:31 > 0:26:35"What is 'scunner'?" "Sick-making, odious",
0:26:35 > 0:26:37and send it back up again,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40so they'd have the translation, and they'd put "Scots usage".
0:26:40 > 0:26:44One expert in the Scots language writing about the significance
0:26:44 > 0:26:49of 1707 stated that, to the extent that Scots is a provincial dialect,
0:26:49 > 0:26:53it only became so once Scotland began to think of itself
0:26:53 > 0:26:56as a province, rather than a nation.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01After 1707, the Scottish elite turned to English.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06In 1754, the Select Society - sounds a bit like the Bullingdon Club -
0:27:06 > 0:27:10was formed in Edinburgh to promote the use of English.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Many at the head of the Scottish Enlightenment, such as David Hume
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and Adam Smith, sought to eradicate the use of Scots from their writing.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20Books were written designed to,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24"Correct improprieties of Scots speech and writing."
0:27:24 > 0:27:28These efforts drove Scots away from its position as a national language.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31But the language clung on.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34It continued to be spoken and written in regional varieties
0:27:34 > 0:27:38in large parts of the country, but it was clearly under pressure.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43What I love about Northern Ireland is that there will be people
0:27:43 > 0:27:47watching this at home thinking, "Hmm, a fella from Sinn Fein
0:27:47 > 0:27:50"and Alex Salmond support the Ulster Scots?
0:27:50 > 0:27:53"Damn! I'll have to pretend to like it now!"
0:27:53 > 0:27:55And there'll be other people thinking,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58"Hmm, a fella from Sinn Fein and Alex Salmond?
0:27:58 > 0:28:01"That has put me off my Ulster Scots."
0:28:01 > 0:28:03But take the politics out of it.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07You have got to admit that Scots has legitimate linguistic roots,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11and a literature going back seven centuries to The Brus.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13In the second part of Minding Our Language,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17we'll take a close look at the Scots and Ulster Scots literature,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21and we'll find out why Ballycarry needs an airport.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25And, how Moneyreagh pre-dated Ashley Madison.