0:00:00 > 0:00:03Still thou art blessed, compared with me!
0:00:03 > 0:00:05The present only toucheth thee,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08But, oh, I backward cast my e'e
0:00:08 > 0:00:09On prospects drear,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12And forward, though I cannot see,
0:00:12 > 0:00:13I guess and fear.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Speaking the Scots language... For some, it comes naturally.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21For others, it's dusted down and used for a week in January.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25For six children from all over Scotland,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28a visit to Scots Scuil in Ayrshire gives them the opportunity to speak
0:00:28 > 0:00:30their ain leed for a week.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32For Thomas in Aberdeen, it's a chance to work out
0:00:32 > 0:00:35what's Doric Scots and what's not.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40For city dweller Nadia, it's the opportunity to learn a new language.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43And for horse-mad Milly, it's a chance to speak
0:00:43 > 0:00:45more like the rest of her family.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48In Ayrshire, Iona and Sandie show off their Scots,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51or Scottish as they call it, with confidence.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54And for Scots language lover Cameron,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58it's time to prove to his parents that Scots isnae slang.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02When I speak Scots I feel different from speaking English,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06cos it feels more like me.
0:01:06 > 0:01:12I am Scottish, I'm not English. And that's why I'd rather speak Scots,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14cos that's my first language.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27My name's Iona. I'm from Muirkirk and I'm nearly 11.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33My name's Sandie. I'm 10 and I live in Muirkirk.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39In Muirkirk, best friends Sandie and Iona are looking ahead
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and making some very big decisions.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47- So what are you taking?- I'm taking my dad's fitba bag, so it's like...
0:01:47 > 0:01:51I'm taking a suitcase, a wee mini suitcase.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55I'm taking... I don't actually ken whit claes I'm taking yet,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58but I'm definitely taking these.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00- And I'm definitely taking my Converse.- Aye, aw right.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04So whit do you actually think we'll learn at this Scots Scuil thing?
0:02:04 > 0:02:09Mair Scottish words and like mair ways to develop them.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Well, the thing I really think is, the way we talk, like,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16we know our words, and it's the words we use.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19- And we're bilingual, whatever that is.- Aye, bilingual.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24Then you actually just... You don't really need to learn much about Scottish if you're already Scottish.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26I ken, but we'll learn mair.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29I think it's important that people speak Scottish
0:02:29 > 0:02:32because it's the way they've talked all their lives roon aboot here.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35My language basically means everything to me.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37- Hiya!- Hello, honey.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40- How are you?- Fine.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Sandie spends a lot of time at her grandparents' home.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47- They live a few doors down from her. - When's the school going back?
0:02:47 > 0:02:51- When's the school going back? - Aye.- The 18th.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53But you have to buy my shoes on the 15th.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Aye, you'll need to wait till the pension comes in, Princess.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59- You want something to eat?- Mm-hm. A roll and cauld meat.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04- A roll and cauld meat? Whit kind of cauld meat you want?- Onything.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05Onything?
0:03:05 > 0:03:08- Ye staying the nicht?- Aye.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Nae fighting, neither you nor Neil, because ony nonsense
0:03:11 > 0:03:13and ye ken whit I tell ye - you're back up that road.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15I'm no' putting up with it.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18- I ken.- Aye, ye ken. - She disnae mean it.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21- So whit are you doing the day, Papa?- Me?
0:03:21 > 0:03:24I'm going to sort my gairden.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29I think the kids roon here speak the way they speak
0:03:29 > 0:03:33because it's what they've heard from mums and dads.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37I don't actually think they know any different.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39They speak the way they speak.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43- Stop playing with it. You've pooked all my jumper.- Aye, because it was already.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45- I was just pu'ing it. - It's worse pooked noo.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I have thought about the way my grandweans talk,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52I've thought about what they're gonnae dae when they grow up,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56and I have thought, "Will the way they talk haud them back?"
0:03:56 > 0:03:59I widnae like to think so.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02I widnae like to think that there was prejudice
0:04:02 > 0:04:05in the way anybody speaks, in any language.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09- Have you got raspberries? - Just an odd yin. I ate yin.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11I've got peapods, but I ate them tae.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Aw right, but see when you've got mair,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16actually keep them for me, right?
0:04:16 > 0:04:20- Mmm, you need to be here, you need to be here.- I ken this.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Sandie McGraw fae up the raw, used to cry her Heid the Ba'.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Papa Broon fae up the toon, his belly's awfy awfy roon.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30- Thank you, awfy guid of ye. - And jelly tae.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32That's a cheap pair of shoes you're getting now.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35- Aye, so it is. - Aye, you're getting a cheap pair.
0:04:35 > 0:04:41I think my language is important to me because it's my language.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44If I was told I widnae be able to speak Scottish,
0:04:44 > 0:04:45I don't really ken what I'd dae.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50I'd probably, like, speak it anyway.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Aye, I'd dae that.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Iona, have you got lost? You got it?
0:04:55 > 0:04:59I was expecting a pair of socks. You usually forget what you're up the stair for.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01'When I'm older I want to be a lawyer,
0:05:01 > 0:05:03'and I widnae change the way I talk
0:05:03 > 0:05:08'because it's my language and I widnae care if they couldnae understand me.'
0:05:08 > 0:05:13I think it's important because it's just, it's our way of talking,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16like, different from some folk.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19It's different from folk in England and America and all that.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22I always encourage Iona to be who she is and speak in her own
0:05:22 > 0:05:24sort of tongue and her own language.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Sit doon a wee minute. What's the plans noo? What ye gonnae dae?
0:05:27 > 0:05:31- Going to go to the game's hall. - What's on at the games hall?- Bouncy. - Bouncy, OK.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33'I don't think speaking Scots'll hold Iona back,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36'because she knows at times when to slow down a wee bit
0:05:36 > 0:05:38'to make sure people understand what she's saying.'
0:05:38 > 0:05:43It's important to encourage them because if we didn't,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45eventually the Scottish language would just die out
0:05:45 > 0:05:48and everybody would just be sort of the same.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57For Iona and Sandie, the encouragement to speak their language is
0:05:57 > 0:05:59reinforced at their local school.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03In Muirkirk, Scots is their first language for the majority of the children.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07We do have children that come in from different areas of Britain,
0:06:07 > 0:06:12and they very quickly pick up on the Scots because it is...
0:06:12 > 0:06:17Within the school, the children speak Scots quite a lot on their own.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Within the classrooms, when I first went there about four years ago, I asked a question
0:06:21 > 0:06:24at the first assembly, and the whole place chorused back, "Aye".
0:06:24 > 0:06:28And I thought, "Hmm, very good." So obviously you are bilingual.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31If you speak Scots, English, you are bilingual.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33It's like doing any other language.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36So we have to have its place within the school as well for it.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41I think the most important thing about Scottish language is
0:06:41 > 0:06:46that everybody can speak English but not everybody can speak Scottish.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55This is Scots Scuil, specially set up for one week next to the
0:06:55 > 0:06:59cottage in Alloway where Scotland's bard spent his childhood.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Scots Scuil has been specially set up for these children.
0:07:03 > 0:07:04It's here for a week.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08What the children are learning this week is skills to do with language,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11learning about Scots and English, the differences between them,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14where Scots comes from, different Scots words.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Learning Scots, teaching people how to read,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20write and speak Scots as articulately as possible
0:07:20 > 0:07:23and as thoroughly as possible really is a big boost,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26or can be a big boost to their confidence because, if you think about it,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29if you are constantly told that your language is the language of
0:07:29 > 0:07:32the gutter, that it's slang or bad English, you're not going to value it.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34If, on the other hand, you are told that your language is valuable
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and then you realise that it's got a 700-year-old literature and it's got
0:07:38 > 0:07:42a wealth of material that is really fantastic, including
0:07:42 > 0:07:46the poetry of Burns and all the songs and so on that Scotland has,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49then you are going to look upon the language in a much more positive way.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51I think that feeds into self-confidence.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Scott is about sharing, not excluding but about sharing language
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and that's what Scots Scuil is all about.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06My name's Cameron. I'm from Denny.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10I'm 11 years old and I like playing football and golf.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16When I speak Scots it makes me feel proud that I am Scots and that we've
0:08:16 > 0:08:20got our ain language, cos some countries use other folk's language.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23It's guid that we have our ain languege, eh?
0:08:23 > 0:08:27I like using the language cos I've got into a habit of it
0:08:27 > 0:08:30since it started.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32And it's fluent language, eh?
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Despite Cameron's enthusiasm,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39speaking Scots has caused a wee bit of a stooshie in the family.
0:08:39 > 0:08:46Cameron speaks in his own kind of language which I would say is slang.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50I'll just sit there box here the now and we'll go.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55I would say, "Are you going to speak properly?"
0:08:55 > 0:08:58And he will about the house, but when you hear him
0:08:58 > 0:09:02outside with his friends, it's a total different language.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07And I would just say it's slang.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13The speaking Scots, there is a time and place for it.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Will it further his career or will it set him back the way?
0:09:16 > 0:09:19That's what I'm a bit frightened of.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23When my dad tells me off for speaking Scots, I always...
0:09:23 > 0:09:25I don't want to answer back because it's my dad,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28but I feel angry inside cos it's my language.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32He might be different to me, no' everybody's the same.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36- Is everybody enjoying it, then?- Mmm! It's a lovely lunch.- Yep.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39You won't need a dinner after this.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44In my eyes, when I was young, words like hame I thought were slang,
0:09:44 > 0:09:50or dinnae, words like that I defined more as a kind of slang rather
0:09:50 > 0:09:52than using proper English.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57I do think it is a good thing that they are teaching
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Scots at school, making the children now more aware of the Scots
0:10:01 > 0:10:04language, rather than the way I was brought up.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07- Papa, what poems did you used to read?- Rabbie Burns.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Most of his poems. I had books on it, Cameron.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12I was quite interested in them and what he did.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15And there were a lot of Scots words in Burns' poems.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19That was the thing that they spoke,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21that was the language that they spoke then.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26When my papa comes here or I go to his, we're always talking the Scots.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28And then if I get told off by my gran,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31he'll tell us it's our language.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35And cos he understands what I'm saying, like this,
0:10:35 > 0:10:40he doesn't hesitate in telling me to speak English.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42It's guid. I enjoy it mair.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Cameron's very good at the Scots.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47You need to use it all the time,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49talking to people and that, you know?
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Though he knows the Scots words, it's not ones that are used regular.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57You won't get your sponge unless you...
0:11:00 > 0:11:02It's not a slang, it's a proper tongue.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05That was words that were used and they've just got forgotten
0:11:05 > 0:11:07because people don't use them.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12The connection between my language and Robert Burns' language is
0:11:12 > 0:11:16some of the words are the same but when he used the big giant words,
0:11:16 > 0:11:21I wouldn't use them, so that's when it becomes different.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Things have changed from then
0:11:23 > 0:11:26and we just use the Scots that we want to use.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28John, you cut it like that.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31- CAMERON LAUGHS - I'm only taking a wee bit.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Whit are ye daein'?!
0:11:33 > 0:11:37If Cameron was going for a job interview, I would probably,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41in that instance, tell him to speak more proper.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43And then my phone, we'll need that.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48'If they speak English and not have slang words in with it,'
0:11:48 > 0:11:54cos I think people seem to still have that kind of thing about the way people speak.
0:11:54 > 0:12:00Scots will be useful for me, like, after I've got the job, but when I'm
0:12:00 > 0:12:05in my interview then I need to speak mair English, cos that's the way...
0:12:05 > 0:12:10Professionalism is English these days, eh? It's not...
0:12:10 > 0:12:14It probably used to be that you could speak Scots and get the job,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18but now you need to speak proper English to get the job.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22There are that many children in this country who feel that they
0:12:22 > 0:12:25dinnae have... That they aren't good enough to stand up in class.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Folk tell them off for the way they speak.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29And that disnae develop a child's confidence,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32it does the opposite, it diminishes their confidence.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38I don't feel that I'm encouraged enough, because they want me
0:12:38 > 0:12:43to speak English and every time I try to speak Scots they will correct me,
0:12:43 > 0:12:48so it's not as if I'm getting, like, allowed to speak Scots.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50It's annoying.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55In Alloway, the children are arriving for their first
0:12:55 > 0:12:57taste of Scots Scuil.
0:13:01 > 0:13:07I'm looking forward to the rap and the songwriting and the poetry.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10I'm looking forward to all the workshops
0:13:10 > 0:13:13and I'm looking forward to the drama yin most.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19I think I'll learn loads of stuff,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23like about Burns' poems that I didnae ken, eh?
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Cos it's like, I'm not the biggest reader of poems,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29so if I knew mair of them it might get me into it, maybe.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40I'm really excited about coming here, having a new experience
0:13:40 > 0:13:45and working with other kids from other cities in Scotland.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52Over the next four days, they will discover more about their Scots
0:13:52 > 0:13:55language from leading experts, and use their new-found knowledge
0:13:55 > 0:14:00to put together a performance for family and friends for the last day.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02The word midge - boy's called midge?
0:14:04 > 0:14:07When children get a chance to use Scots in the classroom,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10when they hear a teacher using Scots, they see it in books
0:14:10 > 0:14:13and it's colourful and it's modern and there's TV programmes made
0:14:13 > 0:14:16out of Scots, it raises the status. They feel good about themselves
0:14:16 > 0:14:19and their confidence goes through the roof.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22What about snotterbox? THEY LAUGH
0:14:22 > 0:14:23That's actually quite cool.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27In Aberdeen, Thomas and his family
0:14:27 > 0:14:31use the Doric dialect of the Scots language.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35I'm Thomas, I'm 12 and I come fae Aberdeen, and I like fitba.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40See, one day, I was, like, doing rock climbing
0:14:40 > 0:14:45and it was like I got to the top and I said, "Jordan, what about noo? Are ye coming doon?"
0:14:45 > 0:14:49He says, "Nah, I'm away o'er." As soon as he seen us, he sprinted to Mooshie,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53and all the rope just came piling doon and I fell aboot 10 feet.
0:14:53 > 0:14:59- Was it sair?- I hurt my bum. - Did you cry?- No.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04'There is definitely a clear distinction between'
0:15:04 > 0:15:09English speaking and Doric speaking because...
0:15:09 > 0:15:14Doric speaking has got a slang to it and...
0:15:16 > 0:15:18Proper is more clear.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22There's a clear difference and you can tell the difference.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25More so with young people. I can tell the difference
0:15:25 > 0:15:27with Thomas when he's speaking it.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31Sometimes... He's a young person, so he does stretch on it
0:15:31 > 0:15:34and there'll be extra bits at the end
0:15:34 > 0:15:37which is not Scottish or Doric at all.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39It's just him being as common as he can.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42When I was at the Isle of Skye,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46went out to a restaurant.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51'I think that my mum prefers me to speak English around her,'
0:15:51 > 0:15:57more sensible language and sometimes...
0:15:57 > 0:16:01we might not even understand words we're saying if we speak Doric.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04All language evolves so it's not surprising
0:16:04 > 0:16:08that the Scots we hear spoken and we speak in Scotland
0:16:08 > 0:16:10in the 21st century
0:16:10 > 0:16:13is substantially different from the Scots of the 18th century.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15So I just see Scots as being on a continuum.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17It's been around for a long, long time
0:16:17 > 0:16:20and I have no doubt at all it'll be around for a lot longer
0:16:20 > 0:16:23but it'll be different in the future from how it is now.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27That's good, Andrew. Well done, Daniel.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Back, back.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37For Thomas, there is confusion about what language
0:16:37 > 0:16:39he and his friends actually speak.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44'Me and my friends, we normally speak slang.'
0:16:44 > 0:16:46We do speak Doric sometimes
0:16:46 > 0:16:50but nowadays everyone says words like gadgie,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53gadge, sound.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Gadgie's for "a boy"...
0:16:57 > 0:16:59..and sound is just for "OK".
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Do you know that gadgie is a real Scots word
0:17:04 > 0:17:07and it's in the dictionary? What do you think about that?
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Erm..well, I never knew that.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12Now I know it is a Scots word.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17There is a clear difference between slang, common speaking,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20to Doric speaking.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26I think, as a parent, in understanding Doric speaking,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28you can clearly tell the difference.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33If Thomas could speak proper Doric and learn more about it
0:17:33 > 0:17:35then I would definitely encourage that.
0:17:35 > 0:17:41I think it'll make me more free to speak my own language...
0:17:41 > 0:17:44and I might learn more Scottish words out there
0:17:44 > 0:17:49'which will make me more interested to speak my own language.'
0:17:49 > 0:17:51That was in! That was a beauty. That was a post and in, gadge.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Well done, Thomas. Keep on 'em, Bri.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01At Scots Scuil, the first class is led by Matthew Foot and James Robertson
0:18:01 > 0:18:03who've both devoted the last 15 years
0:18:03 > 0:18:06to promoting the use of the Scots language.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10The best way to start Scots Scuil might be to find out
0:18:10 > 0:18:12a Scots word fae each of us.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17So I wonder who we'll start with? Sandie, tell us a Scots word.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20- Mockit.- Mockit, what a brilliant Scots word.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25- Why do you like that word, mockit?- Just, "you're mockit".
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Who's mockit? Me?
0:18:27 > 0:18:29- I dunno. I just like using the word...- Like the word mockit?
0:18:29 > 0:18:33I don't like going, "you're dirty". I like going, "you're mockit".
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Mockit's a great word. Tam, what about yourself?
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- Gadgie.- What's a gadgie?
0:18:39 > 0:18:41It's like a man, but a scruffy man.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- Does he always have to be scruffy? - I think so.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47- Cameron?- Fitba.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- Fitba?!- What do you kick the ball with?!
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Your fit.
0:18:52 > 0:18:53And, Nadia?
0:18:53 > 0:18:56- Cuddy.- Cuddy?
0:18:56 > 0:18:58- Who's been on a cuddy?- Me! - You've been on a cuddy?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01I think Millie's got... You've got a cuddy, haven't you?
0:19:01 > 0:19:02Do you have a cuddy?
0:19:02 > 0:19:06If you can think of any words at all that you think are Scots words,
0:19:06 > 0:19:07can you write them doon?
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Heid.
0:19:11 > 0:19:12Puddock.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Clypes.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17- Tumshie.- Glaikit.- Doon.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Bogle.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22The initial input for the early part of the day was to see
0:19:22 > 0:19:26if the children could tell us as many Scots words as they kent.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30I was amazed that Scottish children tell you screeds and screeds
0:19:30 > 0:19:32and screeds of Scots words.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35You've given us all these brilliant braw Scots words,
0:19:35 > 0:19:37written them down and spoken them out loud.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Where do you think they all come from?
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Scots wasn't always for Scotland. It came to Scotland from somewhere.
0:19:43 > 0:19:50A tribe of people called the Angles came from Denmark
0:19:50 > 0:19:53round about the 5th century and they were looking for new land.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56They thought, "Haud on here, that's looking quite nice.
0:19:56 > 0:19:57"We're going to move there."
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Their language is the origin of Scots.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Their language was the first German type language to come to this island.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09There's another tribe who we've not mentioned so far who came from Ireland
0:20:09 > 0:20:12around about the time that the Angles were coming over from Denmark.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15What's the name of the tribe that came over from Ireland?
0:20:15 > 0:20:16Scottish.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Yeah, the Scots had a different language.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22- It wasn't Scots.- Irish.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Brilliant. Irish. What language did Irish become?
0:20:25 > 0:20:27- Gaelic.- Gaelic, brilliant.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31For a long time, in Scotland, they were speaking Scots and some people were speaking Gaelic,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33and in England, they were speaking English.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36In Scotland, around about the time of Robert the Bruce
0:20:36 > 0:20:40and William Wallace, the kings and queens all spoke in Scots
0:20:40 > 0:20:42but something happened...
0:20:42 > 0:20:46round about 1600. Does anyone know what happened?
0:20:46 > 0:20:48What do you think?
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Did one of the kings go over to England
0:20:50 > 0:20:53and then he started speaking English?
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Does anyone ken what king?
0:20:55 > 0:20:59- James? - James. Absolutely brilliant.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04What would have happened when he went to England to become King of England?
0:21:04 > 0:21:06What would happen to his English skills?
0:21:06 > 0:21:08His skills would have improved
0:21:08 > 0:21:13and that meant the official language of Scotland
0:21:13 > 0:21:19slowly stopped being Scots and started being...
0:21:19 > 0:21:20- English.- English.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24The wee play that the pupils perform is called the Union of the Crowns
0:21:24 > 0:21:26and I wrote it.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30It was there as a structure for them to work on.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36I'm King Jamie. Een, twa, three, four, five, six.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Jamie the Saxt of Scotland.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42They've done very well with it. They've performed it beautifully.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45The idea is to give children a dramatic sense of Scotland's history.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50The news fae England, sir, is that Queen Elizabeth I isnae weel.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53But I heard it's worse than that.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Aye, she's affy no' weel.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59No, even mair worse than that.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Worse than affy no' weel?!
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Whit's worse than affy no' weel?
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Does that not mean she's...she's...
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Aye. Deid as a bubbly-jock on Christmas time.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Thomas is a very interesting young man.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18When he started to play King Jamie the Saxt, he was just going for it.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22You felt like if he had been a real king in the late middle ages,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25he might have been chopping people's heads off all over the place.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30He really grew into that part and he's grown into the whole idea of what Scots Scuil is about.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Wha's going to rule England now?
0:22:32 > 0:22:34Who will get to live in the braw-most palaces?
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Wha will get their hauns on aw that English gold?
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Me, that's who. See you efter.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45King, are you not going to bide here and rule baith kingdoms fae Edinburgh?
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Are you mad?!
0:22:46 > 0:22:49The castles here are Baltic. See, in the winter,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52the draft goes right up my nicky tams.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55I'm going to walk to England. Cheerio, Scotland.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58The fact that they've acted this out
0:22:58 > 0:23:01means they will always remember who James the 6th was and that he went
0:23:01 > 0:23:04to England and the impact that had on the Scots language.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Over a period of time,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10English replaces Scots as the official language of Scotland.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16And the Bible and Acts of Parliament and all those things start to be written in English
0:23:16 > 0:23:19and everybody has to learn how to read and write English.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24How do you think people in Scotland would feel when they saw
0:23:24 > 0:23:27the Scots language being replaced by the English language?
0:23:29 > 0:23:34- Upset.- They'd be upset about it. Uh-huh. Why would they be upset?
0:23:34 > 0:23:36They might feel, like,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40a bit not important to the world, not liked.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45Has anybody here ever been telt aff for speaking in Scots?
0:23:45 > 0:23:50Has anybody here ever been given a prize for speaking in Scots?
0:23:50 > 0:23:54- What did you get a prize for? - For singing Tam O'Shanter.
0:23:54 > 0:23:55Tam O'Shanter?
0:23:55 > 0:23:59It shouldn't just be at Burns that you're allowed to use Scots.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02I think you should be allowed to use it whenever you want.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05I wonder if we can make a drama out of the situation
0:24:05 > 0:24:07where you're praised for speaking Scots,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and around about the same time, telt aff for speaking it.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15Say like at Burns, if somebody reads a Burns' poem
0:24:15 > 0:24:18and then they say, "Go on, gie me my jaicket."
0:24:18 > 0:24:20- Something like that?- Aye.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Everyone is complimenting him when it comes to the last person,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27they could say, "This kid's a blether." And then storms out.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29So that person walks out?
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Someone that paid to get in could say,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36"I want my £5 back." Or, "My five poo-nds back."
0:24:36 > 0:24:37Your five poo-nds back?!
0:24:37 > 0:24:39LAUGHTER
0:24:39 > 0:24:42So there's somebody who doesnae like the performance
0:24:42 > 0:24:43and they want their money back?
0:24:43 > 0:24:45'The workshop was fabulous.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47'I enjoyed everything.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50'We had a brilliant time with Matthew and James.'
0:24:50 > 0:24:55I've learnt more how Scotland lost the language of Scots
0:24:55 > 0:24:59and then how it's come back in.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11'My name is Nadia and I'm 11 years old and I live in Glasgow.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20'At home, I speak English, a bit of Scots
0:25:20 > 0:25:22'and a tiny bit of Urdu,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26'but I enjoy mostly Scots and English.'
0:25:26 > 0:25:30The Scots language is fun...
0:25:31 > 0:25:36..and it's my own magic, secret language.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43Scots poetry is nice and magical to me
0:25:43 > 0:25:48but sometimes rough and a bit gentle sometimes,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50because it can get really loud,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54and at that point, it can be a bit angry sometimes.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58I'm Nadia's dad and I'm a writer. I've used a lot of Scots words
0:25:58 > 0:25:59in my short stories and novels, too,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02and words from Glasgow, in different ways.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Although a learner of Scots,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Nadia's interest in it has been fired up by her dad.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11You can write in really deep Scots
0:26:11 > 0:26:15using lots of almost forgotten words, semi-forgotten words.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Or you can just pepper English with well-known words
0:26:18 > 0:26:21like glaikit and dreich, that if you live in Scotland you will hear,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25but when you go out of Scotland, people don't know what they mean a lot of the time.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28So it's quite good to use those words
0:26:28 > 0:26:32and you give different readers different ways of entering the story
0:26:32 > 0:26:36and understanding it in different ways if you use these other words.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Living in the West End, which is quite cosmopolitan
0:26:39 > 0:26:43because of Glasgow University and a lot of student population,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47'you do get to hear different languages and that, of course,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50'includes Scots language as well.'
0:26:50 > 0:26:53We also have to think about what you want to pack
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and take when you go for your week at the Robert Burns...
0:26:57 > 0:27:01'For the children of the first and second generation immigrants,'
0:27:01 > 0:27:07it is important to know or become familiar with the Scots language
0:27:07 > 0:27:11because it is the historical language of Scotland
0:27:11 > 0:27:15'and as a lot of our languages are becoming extinct in a way
0:27:15 > 0:27:18'which are from smaller communities and minorities
0:27:18 > 0:27:22'and I think Scots language is in a similar situation.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25'In terms of the first and second generation immigrants,'
0:27:25 > 0:27:28I think it's a challenge not only for them but also
0:27:28 > 0:27:31for the mainstream Scottish population as well
0:27:31 > 0:27:34that their children learn or retain the Scots language
0:27:34 > 0:27:37which is part of their ancient identity.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42- Did we put any salt or pepper in last time?- Yeah. And butter.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45'I would like to go to Scot Scuil because...'
0:27:45 > 0:27:47it will be quite fun
0:27:47 > 0:27:52and I'd like to learn more Scots and improve my confidence
0:27:52 > 0:27:56'because everyone says that I'm a bit shy.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58'In the school reports, it's always,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00'"She needs to improve on her confidence."'
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Are you looking forward to next week? Hmmm?
0:28:05 > 0:28:08I think Nadia will get a lot out of the Scots Scuil.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11I think she'll get on with the other kids there and if they are all
0:28:11 > 0:28:18immersed in Scots in that context then I think she will respond.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21I think hearing it being spoken by people in that way,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25as a living tongue, not just on the page, is crucial.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Especially with a language like Scots.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31It's oral and I think she will respond to that.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38In Alloway, it's the day of the music workshop,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41but with show-time looming, the pressure is on.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45The girls have to put together a Scots song with folk musician
0:28:45 > 0:28:47Emily Smith.
0:28:47 > 0:28:52Hi, girls. My name is Emily, this is Jamie and we play folk music.
0:28:52 > 0:28:53I'm a folk singer.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56So, to get started, girls, we're going to sing you
0:28:56 > 0:28:58a little bit of a type of song I would normally sing,
0:28:58 > 0:29:02an old, old Scots song called The Beggar Man.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11# A beggar, a beggar
0:29:11 > 0:29:13# Came ower the lea
0:29:13 > 0:29:17# He was asking lodgings for charity
0:29:17 > 0:29:22# He was asking lodgings for charity
0:29:22 > 0:29:25# Saying, would ye loo a beggar man
0:29:25 > 0:29:28# Laddie wi' my tow row ray
0:29:28 > 0:29:30# A beggar, a beggar... #
0:29:30 > 0:29:33'To start off this morning, I sung them a little excerpt of a folk song.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36'The kind of song that I would usually sing.'
0:29:36 > 0:29:40# I had ae dochter and Jeanie was her name
0:29:40 > 0:29:44# She ran awa' wi' a beggar man
0:29:44 > 0:29:46# Laddie wi' my tow row ray
0:29:46 > 0:29:49# Laddie wi' my tow row ray. #
0:29:51 > 0:29:54- Thank you.- That was guid, you're an awfu guid singer.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58- Thank you very much. - You're an awfu guid guitar player.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01Singing in Scots is really important to me
0:30:01 > 0:30:04and I'm passionate about it because it's my culture. It's my heritage.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08Girls, we're going to try and write a song together today
0:30:08 > 0:30:12and what we're going to try and write it about is identity.
0:30:12 > 0:30:18So, we're going to think about what makes us who we are as individuals
0:30:18 > 0:30:21and, Nadia, if you could write down some of the ideas that we
0:30:21 > 0:30:24maybe are going to come up with.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26Just words, just random words
0:30:26 > 0:30:29and phrases that might pop into your heads.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33- What makes us different from anyone else?- The way you speak.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37The way you speak is a big one, especially this week.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40- What about where you live?- Oh, aye.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43We all live in Scotland but we all live in different parts.
0:30:43 > 0:30:44These are good.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47- Colour of your skin? - Colour of your skin.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51- What about the things that you like to do.- Sing?- Singing.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53I'll just write for Milly, singing.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00- For Sandie, it's everything. - Animals.- Animals.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04Really, the environment around you forms who you are, doesn't it?
0:31:04 > 0:31:09We've got a country girl, a village girl and a city girl.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11We did a bit of a brainstorming session
0:31:11 > 0:31:14just jotting down some ideas and then from there,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17we started to try and form a chorus to frame the song upon.
0:31:17 > 0:31:22What about, "This sang is made for me"?
0:31:22 > 0:31:26- Sitting beside the window? - Sing beside the window?
0:31:26 > 0:31:30- Sitting beside the window. - Sitting beside the window.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34- To sing beside the window? - To sing beside the window.
0:31:34 > 0:31:35Maybe about aw the folk ootside.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39This sang is made for me tae sing beside the window.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42Watching aw the folk that's ootside.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44Don't forget, we can change it if we want to.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47Watching aw the folk.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51This sang is made for me to sing beside the windae.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53- Would you say window or windae? - Windae.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Let's try and look at this last line here.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58This sang is made for me to sing beside the windae,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01watching aw the folk ootside.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05- When there's nothing else tae dae. - Needs more Scottish in it, like.
0:32:05 > 0:32:10- Nu'hin.- Nu'hin or naethin'? - Nu'hin.- Naethin'.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13I think it depends where you come from, doesn't it?
0:32:13 > 0:32:16I think now is the time we're going to ask Jamie to come in
0:32:16 > 0:32:18and help us write our melody.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25We've got our chorus words and we gave them happy sounds, sad sounds,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28fast, finger-picked, strumming.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33Does that sound happy? If it was sad it would sound more...
0:32:33 > 0:32:37Bonnie, it sounds bonnie, but in a bonnie, jumpy way,
0:32:37 > 0:32:39no' a bonnie, pretty way.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44It's kind of sad-sounding, isn't it?
0:32:44 > 0:32:47We're not going to go down that way. We're going to stick
0:32:47 > 0:32:50- with a happy... - Happy, happy.- Sandie says happy.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53- Jamie can play in different ways. - In the jungle.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57We just started talking the words of the chorus over
0:32:57 > 0:33:01with Jamie playing some chords and through that we found our melody.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06# This sang is made fir me tae sing beside the windae
0:33:06 > 0:33:11# Watchin aw the folk ootside when there's naethin else tae dae. #
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Did you hear he changed a little bit at the end? Did you like that?
0:33:14 > 0:33:17We've got to change the chord a wee bit in there.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19'Then we moved on to the verses.'
0:33:19 > 0:33:20We focused in on where
0:33:20 > 0:33:24each of my three girls in the workshop came from.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Milly is from a country background, grew up on a farm.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29From ma house, you've got a window where the kitchen is
0:33:29 > 0:33:33and you can see outside the grass, the horses and then
0:33:33 > 0:33:37if you look down a bit further, you can see the pony.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42I watch ma ponies fae ma windae.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46- There's another word that could rhyme with it - straw?- Straw.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50- Watch ma ponies fae the windae munchin on their straw?- Aye.
0:33:50 > 0:33:56- You know what, Milly, to make this even more Scots.- I was thinking...
0:33:56 > 0:34:03- were you going to say champin there? - I was.- So was I!- That's amazing.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07Sandie, she's from Muirkirk, so it's a wee toon.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09We talked about, even though she lives in the toon,
0:34:09 > 0:34:11she likes to gaze up at the sky.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15- I like tae watch the stars. - Do you like to watch the stars?
0:34:15 > 0:34:20- That's quite nice.- Through ma windae I like to watch the stars.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22- You've got your windae as well?- Aye.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24That's what you're going to need to rhyme with.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27I know what I'm going to dae.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31Ma dad helps me look at Mars cos he does. Wi his big telescope.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35Then moved on to the city for Nadia's verse and just about
0:34:35 > 0:34:38the people she knows, the people she sees coming and going
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and saying hello to them.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44# I bide in a city, the West End is ma hame
0:34:44 > 0:34:49# I've neighbours up and doon the stairs and I ken aw their names... #
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Nadia's neighbours.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56I guess, just to tie the end of that verse together
0:34:56 > 0:34:58was about all of us, basically.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02Not just the three or four of us but everybody and about bringing it back
0:35:02 > 0:35:07to the language, I suppose, which is what today is about - the Scots.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11# Some o us were born here, some cam fae far awa
0:35:11 > 0:35:16# But we fin oot the way we speak unites us yin and aw... #
0:35:18 > 0:35:20The singing she wrote was amazing, I loved it.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22It was one of ma favourite things.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Just the way that we put aw the work into daeing it
0:35:26 > 0:35:29and you didnae get bored ae it.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31I didnae get bored of anything else that much
0:35:31 > 0:35:36but I liked the singing thing, the way that we got a singer in
0:35:36 > 0:35:38and she actually helped us write our ain song.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58My name is Milly, I am 10 years old.
0:35:58 > 0:36:05I live in Selkirk and my hobbies are horse riding, singing and art.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11We've always noticed that Milly does speak slightly different
0:36:11 > 0:36:16from us, which some of us make a joke out of it and that, because I'm
0:36:16 > 0:36:21that broad and Milly just seems to be posh, we call her the posh kid.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26If I say a word, if I say, "aye" and "hoose,"
0:36:26 > 0:36:28she'd say, "yes" and "house".
0:36:28 > 0:36:31We just seem to have that border tongue
0:36:31 > 0:36:33and Milly's got this different accent.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37Where it comes fae, I've no idea. I'm as broad as you'll probably get
0:36:37 > 0:36:41and Milly just seems to be the totally other end of the scale.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46I think it's from singing because my singing teacher...
0:36:46 > 0:36:51I have to pronounce my words properly because
0:36:51 > 0:36:54If I don't, when you're singing, they're not going to hear you.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58I think that's why I'm a bit clear
0:36:58 > 0:37:03and different language from my family a bit more.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06When Dad's at the side gaun on aboot the ladders
0:37:06 > 0:37:08but they were gaun tae go on doon tae the hoose.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11They were just missing the top of the house.
0:37:11 > 0:37:17THEY SPEAK BROAD SCOTS
0:37:22 > 0:37:27'When I'm with my family, when my gran and grandpa and all that come,
0:37:27 > 0:37:32'and my auntie and everybody comes in the house, I speak more broader'
0:37:32 > 0:37:37and when I go with my friends, I speak a bit more posher.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41Two, three, up! That's it.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44Sometimes I do speak Scottish words
0:37:44 > 0:37:50and I think I'm speaking English but I'm actually speaking Scots.
0:37:50 > 0:37:51It suits the countryside.
0:37:51 > 0:37:56It would be a shame if it all just disappeared and English took over
0:37:56 > 0:37:58and the English language took over,
0:37:58 > 0:38:02because it's been the history for a long time.
0:38:02 > 0:38:07Robert Burns used them and he's quite famous.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11It's like, all the famous people are just going to get washed away
0:38:11 > 0:38:15by the English language and I don't really want that.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19Every little border town has got their own accent
0:38:19 > 0:38:22and little special words they use,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26so you know where you come from because of the words that you use
0:38:26 > 0:38:29and the accent, the different tones in the voice.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35I hope I learn a lot from the Scots Scuil
0:38:35 > 0:38:39and I've a feeling I am going to learn a lot because I feel
0:38:39 > 0:38:42there's going to be a lot of Scottish people there and I hope
0:38:42 > 0:38:45that will improve my language, a bit more Scots
0:38:45 > 0:38:49other than speaking English. All the rest of my family speaks Scottish
0:38:49 > 0:38:51and I am like the odd one out here.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53I really like the Scots language.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56- I hope I'll start speaking that language a bit more.- Good.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58Make a wish, but dinnae tell us.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07It's the morning of the poetry workshop at Scots Scuil.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Today's class is perfect for a potential poet like Nadia
0:39:10 > 0:39:12who's looking for a language to write in.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14The teacher is poet Liz Niven,
0:39:14 > 0:39:18who's been teaching Scots poetry for over 20 years.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21It's cried, Let's Hear Whit The Dragon's Got To Say.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Listen, it's no gonnie be easie this.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26If ye think it's a skoosh case ye're wrang.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30A've been ettlin tae mak masel heard fir yonks
0:39:30 > 0:39:33An naebodie a mean naebodie listens.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35A've goat ma shades, ma iPod, ma Nokia
0:39:35 > 0:39:39An a've stoapt spittin fire.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41That's a good line, that.
0:39:41 > 0:39:47It's good how she was taking it from a kid's point of view
0:39:47 > 0:39:49with the dragon and the Nokia,
0:39:49 > 0:39:56the iPod and the realistic features into the imaginative features.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58It was good how she done that.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01We concentrated on two different forms of writing.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06One of them was looking at each kid's individual toon,
0:40:06 > 0:40:10where they came fae, because it's something that each child knows
0:40:10 > 0:40:13about, a lot about their own place so the comfort of actually
0:40:13 > 0:40:18writing about material they know well was a way in to get them writing.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20Although most of them are really good speakers of Scots,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23they find it difficult to write in it cos it's no what they're used tae.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28How do you spell "farm" in Scots again?
0:40:28 > 0:40:32- F-E-R-M.- Thanks.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36OK, folks, that's fantastic, you can stop all your busy screeving
0:40:36 > 0:40:40and writing the noo. Ye've got two choices, twa choices.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44You can write in English and in Scots, baith thegither in the same poem.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49If you're wanting to rhyme, "fitba" and "ma" works, "football" and "mum" disnae.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52So it's brilliant, Scots opens up the choices of
0:40:52 > 0:40:54a whole lot of different words and rhymes.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57Ask yourself if you've got any changes of vocabulary.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00If you've said the sky, do you want to say the lift?
0:41:00 > 0:41:05If you've said a wee bit of a fuss, do you want to have a stooshie?
0:41:05 > 0:41:08A boorach? Right, Sandie, let's hear your poem.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10Tabby's Brig.
0:41:10 > 0:41:16In winter, icy water, freezin caul, I cracked the ice wi ma mates
0:41:16 > 0:41:19and ma faither chuckin aw the stanes into the water.
0:41:19 > 0:41:20That was great, Sandie.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24A lovely atmospheric poem connected with the seasons
0:41:24 > 0:41:25and the time of year. Thank you.
0:41:25 > 0:41:31- Thomas, could you read your poem now? - The pitch And Me.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34A 75 metre-long rectangle, concrete-flaired
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Fitba pitch wi the ba pounding off the wa
0:41:37 > 0:41:39Wi the birds humming to the beat
0:41:39 > 0:41:42That sunny lift that nothing could beat.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44That's lovely. I love that.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48'The second exercise that we worked on today was we wrote riddle poems.'
0:41:48 > 0:41:52We had a discussion about what is a riddle
0:41:52 > 0:41:55and what is the point of a riddle and they knew exactly what that was,
0:41:55 > 0:41:58that it's a kind of trick poem.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01We then asked the children to write their ain poems,
0:42:01 > 0:42:04they could maybe choose an animal or a beast
0:42:04 > 0:42:08or a bird or a person or something and then think through
0:42:08 > 0:42:13different aspects or properties of that person or animal.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19What its size was, what its colour was and then it's a "Whit am I" poem,
0:42:19 > 0:42:21so at the end of it all,
0:42:21 > 0:42:25the listener has tae work out what's being described.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29I'm as wee as a moose and as muckle as a tiger,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33I'm as saft as a baby's skin and as strong as a boxer,
0:42:33 > 0:42:35I'm furry and four leggit
0:42:35 > 0:42:39and my name starts wi the fourth letter of the alphabet.
0:42:39 > 0:42:40Whit am I?
0:42:41 > 0:42:44- Dog?- Aye.- That was easy.
0:42:44 > 0:42:51I can be as tall as a door and as small as the length o' your arm
0:42:51 > 0:42:56when I come into the world, I can live in something tall
0:42:56 > 0:42:58and big that's warm,
0:42:58 > 0:43:02my skin colour can be pinky-white to black,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05I have to go to bed at night,
0:43:05 > 0:43:10I can only live for at least 100 years or 99 years.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12What am I?
0:43:12 > 0:43:14It's a human!
0:43:16 > 0:43:20OK, let's have a wee chat, folks, a wee blether about which poem
0:43:20 > 0:43:23you would like to read in your performance.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Ye've got a riddle poem and ye've got a poem about your toon.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29- Thomas, what do you think? - I think a riddle.
0:43:29 > 0:43:34I think a toon because I think we get mair Scots language in it.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Right. That's what this is about, isn't it?
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Trying to get using our Scots a wee bit mair.
0:43:40 > 0:43:45- OK, what do you think, Cameron? - I think the riddle.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Can you explain why you prefer the riddle to the toon?
0:43:49 > 0:43:54I think the riddle's kinda... Even though I like doing the toon one,
0:43:54 > 0:43:57I think the riddle's kinda mair fun cos...
0:43:57 > 0:44:00'I'm hoping that they learn from the workshops today'
0:44:00 > 0:44:04that they havenae to feel, when they're writing in Scots,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07that every word has to be different fae English.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10I'm hoping they take away fae it a mair relaxed feeling
0:44:10 > 0:44:14about their writing in Scots and also maybe listen to their own voices
0:44:14 > 0:44:19'and think, "I can speak Scots, therefore I can try and write it."'
0:44:19 > 0:44:23Sometimes, I can sometimes live for 100 year. Would that work?
0:44:23 > 0:44:27- I can sometimes live for 100 year, or even mair.- Or even mair.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29That would work fine, wouldn't it?
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Is there a kind of feeling, then, that you quite like Nadia's?
0:44:32 > 0:44:34Aye, I like Nadia's.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38OK, I think we're going to go with Nadia's.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44My name is Eunice, aka Sweets from NorthernXposure.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48And I've been rapping since about the age of 13.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53OK, so, today we're going to be doing some Scots Scuil action
0:44:53 > 0:44:54and we are going to be talking
0:44:54 > 0:44:57and, hopefully, writing a wee rap in Scots.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01'The first thing I did is I performed one of the tracks off my new album.'
0:45:01 > 0:45:06I did that kind of just to make them feel a bit more comfortable.
0:45:06 > 0:45:07Cue the music.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11# You can take the game oot the block
0:45:11 > 0:45:14# But you just cannae stop them people wanna flock
0:45:14 > 0:45:15# Street like vox shop
0:45:15 > 0:45:18# Rough like dry rot weak as hip hop
0:45:20 > 0:45:23# And we havenae got a lot but we still use too hot
0:45:23 > 0:45:26# We getting tipped up we getting tipped up
0:45:26 > 0:45:30# Life is a wan stop shop or should I say wan short stop?
0:45:30 > 0:45:31# Wan short stage
0:45:31 > 0:45:35# Revelations bout to blow you away and reap what you want to see
0:45:35 > 0:45:38# Play how you want to play be what you want to be
0:45:38 > 0:45:41# See what you want to see say what you want to say... #
0:45:41 > 0:45:44'I think it is very helpful for them
0:45:44 > 0:45:49'to hear somebody rapping with a Scots accent.'
0:45:49 > 0:45:51So, that's it.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57Thank you very much. That's wicked, give me five.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03- It's a sweet tune. - Do you like that tune?
0:46:03 > 0:46:07Do you get it? Sweet, Sweets!
0:46:07 > 0:46:12So, I'm thinking we should do something to do with, like, identity.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Like ourselves.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17- Aye, ourselves. - Well, Scotland.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22'When it came to creating the actual rap itself,
0:46:22 > 0:46:25'we were just brainstorming, asking the kids,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27'OK, what Scots words do you know?'
0:46:27 > 0:46:29- Hame.- Hame. Perfect.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34'And then we were just making a list of the different words that we knew.'
0:46:34 > 0:46:37- Masel. - Masel, we'll write that doon.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40'The words that we thought were really important to be in the rap.'
0:46:40 > 0:46:41Faimily.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Faimily.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Could be something like, "It's oor hame."
0:46:46 > 0:46:48It's oor hame. Let's write that sentence down.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Then we've used "oor" as well.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53So, we've got Scotland is oor hame.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57Sometimes it's freezin' in the rain.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00- So that uses your word. - So, will we write our next bit?
0:47:00 > 0:47:01'The kids were fantastic.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05'They really understood the concept of what we were trying to do.'
0:47:05 > 0:47:10You could have Scotland is oor hame. Sometimes it's freezin' in the rain.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14But other times... the weather is our gain.
0:47:14 > 0:47:15We could write that down.
0:47:15 > 0:47:20But sometimes the weather is our gain, you says, aye.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22- Aye.- Is our gain.
0:47:22 > 0:47:27That's good, I like that cos that makes it quite positive.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30'They understood about adding in the Scots.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33'They actually had a wide vocabulary of Scots, but they might not
0:47:33 > 0:47:37'have been necessarily aware that that is actually defined as Scots.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40'It's something we use on a day-to-day basis.'
0:47:40 > 0:47:43We decided the best thing to do was to look at
0:47:43 > 0:47:46how we were actually going to deliver the rap.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51So, we got together with the drummer
0:47:51 > 0:47:55and it enabled us to add a little bit of movement to the actual rap
0:47:55 > 0:47:59and then go on to add a little bit of character and a little bit of fun.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01# Scotland is oor hame.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04# Sometimes it's freezing in the rain
0:48:04 > 0:48:07# But while the weather is our gain... #
0:48:07 > 0:48:11For this crew, the rap, whatever the language,
0:48:11 > 0:48:13is a bit of a guddle for now.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18That was an epic fail!
0:48:18 > 0:48:21I found it easier to do it like fast then slow.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24I know, that's why you need to practise it slow.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26Well, let's do it again from the top, right?
0:48:26 > 0:48:29I'll tell yous what it is, right?
0:48:29 > 0:48:34So, Scotland is oor hame, sometimes it's freezing in the rain
0:48:34 > 0:48:39but while the weather is our gain the main thing is we are all the same.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43We are nae daen it for the fame, masel and ma faimly play the game,
0:48:43 > 0:48:47we're wan of Scotland's biggest names, if you're no listning...
0:48:47 > 0:48:48..What ye daen?
0:48:48 > 0:48:51That's it, let's try it again from the top, right?
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Mr Drummer.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55DRUMMING
0:48:57 > 0:48:59OK, guys.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01One, two,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04one, two, three, four.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06# Scotland is oor hame
0:49:06 > 0:49:09# Sometimes it's freezing in the rain...#
0:49:09 > 0:49:14The words in the rap are sort of, like, special,
0:49:14 > 0:49:18cos they do tell the truth about Scotland, the cauld,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21freezing weather and we're all from Scotland.
0:49:21 > 0:49:26And it does, like, speak to me and Cammy
0:49:26 > 0:49:29cos it includes some of the features we like
0:49:29 > 0:49:32and some Iona likes and some Eunice likes.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36# If you're no listening what you daein? #
0:49:36 > 0:49:38- Yeah, that was good. - We need it better.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41- Let's do it again.- Gie it laldie!
0:49:43 > 0:49:45It's performance day at Scots Scuil
0:49:45 > 0:49:48and the children hope to put nerves to one side
0:49:48 > 0:49:51and show off all they've learned and practised during the week.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54APPLAUSE
0:49:56 > 0:50:00Still thou art blest, compared wi' me!
0:50:00 > 0:50:02The present only toucheth thee.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04But, oh! I backward cast my e'e,
0:50:04 > 0:50:07On prospects drear!
0:50:07 > 0:50:08An' forward, tho' I canna see,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10I guess an' fear.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18- Och! He was gad.- He was great!
0:50:18 > 0:50:21- Certainly gied it laldie but he's an awfu blether, that boy!- Ach!
0:50:21 > 0:50:25He just blethered on and on. I want my five pound back.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28- Wheesht!- I've the receipt here in ma pootch somewhere.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30Shut yer mooth, pal!
0:50:30 > 0:50:33- Jolly good show!- Bravo!
0:50:33 > 0:50:37'The drama performance today was absolutely amazing.'
0:50:37 > 0:50:41Those kids had not done much drama until, I think, I met them.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44And they have suddenly become actors.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46I think there were actors inside them anyway
0:50:46 > 0:50:50and the fact that they were doing it in this language, this strange,
0:50:50 > 0:50:53weird language, Scots language, is something amazing.
0:50:53 > 0:50:54So I'm really pleased with them.
0:50:54 > 0:51:00Well, Alan, you said your poem so beautifully, you are the winner!
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Here's your book token.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07What are you going to buy with it, Alan?
0:51:07 > 0:51:11Thanks, Miss, I'm going to buy hunners of books wi' it.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14Hunners? The proper word is hundreds, isn't it, Alan?
0:51:14 > 0:51:16(No.) Aye, I suppose so!
0:51:16 > 0:51:18Gauin gie us ma jaiket, ower?
0:51:18 > 0:51:21Oh, Alan, it's your jacket, not your jaiket.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24But it's pouring doun wi' rain oot there, I'm goin' tae git droukit.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27Oot! He doesnae act like this at hame.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29I just dinna ken where he gets it fae!
0:51:30 > 0:51:34I'M YOUR HEADMISTRESS!
0:51:35 > 0:51:37TALK PROPERLY, BOY!
0:51:37 > 0:51:40I'm your faither, talk properly, son.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44And dinna ye speak slang, no in front o' yer old granny.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49# Dinna talk Scots, boy Dinna speak slang
0:51:49 > 0:51:52# Dinna speak Scots, boy ye ken it's aw wrang
0:51:52 > 0:51:55# Dinna speak Scots, boy help ma Boab
0:51:55 > 0:51:59# Dinna speak Scots boy you'll never get a job. #
0:51:59 > 0:52:02NO! IT'S NO FAIR!
0:52:02 > 0:52:05You gave me a prize for speaking Scots,
0:52:05 > 0:52:07then you gie me into trouble for speaking it.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09Scots was good enough for Robert Burns,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11how's it not good enough for me?
0:52:20 > 0:52:23We will now perform a poem written by Nadia.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26Helped along with the rest of us called, "Whit Am I?"
0:52:26 > 0:52:29You can try and guess what it is at the end.
0:52:29 > 0:52:30Whit am I?
0:52:30 > 0:52:35I can be as tall as a door or as smaw as yer airm.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37I started off as a wean when I came into the world.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39I can be black, broun, yellow or white
0:52:39 > 0:52:42and when I got a beamer I gaun reid.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46I can live for a hundred year and I'm no close to extinction.
0:52:46 > 0:52:51I have a bahookie, hurdies, twa lugs and I live in a faimily.
0:52:53 > 0:52:58Sometimes I'm bonnie but sometimes ma fizzog is pure minging.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01- ALL:.- Whit am I?
0:53:01 > 0:53:02Human?
0:53:02 > 0:53:04Aye!
0:53:06 > 0:53:11It was happy, it was sad because it was the last day and it was...
0:53:14 > 0:53:16It was just everything.
0:53:20 > 0:53:26# This sang is made for me Tae sing aside the windae
0:53:26 > 0:53:31# Watching all the folk ootside when there's naething else tae dae
0:53:31 > 0:53:36# This sang is made for me Tae sing aside the windae
0:53:36 > 0:53:40# Watching all the folk ootside when there's naething else tae dae
0:53:45 > 0:53:49# I live on a ferm where the air smells fresh and braw
0:53:49 > 0:53:55# I watch ma ponies fae the windae champing on the straw
0:53:55 > 0:53:59# I live in a toon where I like to watch the stars
0:53:59 > 0:54:04# Through ma windae tae the sky I hae a keek at Mars
0:54:04 > 0:54:09# This sang is made for me Tae sing aside the windae
0:54:09 > 0:54:14# Watching all the folk ootside when there's naething else tae dae
0:54:14 > 0:54:19# This sang is made for me Tae sing aside the windae
0:54:19 > 0:54:24# Watching all the folk ootside when there's naething else tae dae
0:54:28 > 0:54:33# I bide in a city the West End is ma hame
0:54:33 > 0:54:35# I've neighbours up and doon the stairs
0:54:35 > 0:54:37# And I ken aw their names... #
0:54:37 > 0:54:41I liked the bit where we had just finished off the chorus
0:54:41 > 0:54:45and Nadia's bit of the song and then the rapping comes straight in.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56# But while the weather is our gain
0:54:56 > 0:54:58# The main thing is we're aw the same
0:54:58 > 0:55:00# Me and ma faimily play the game
0:55:00 > 0:55:03# We're wan of Scotland's biggest name
0:55:03 > 0:55:04# If you're no listnin'
0:55:04 > 0:55:06# Whit ye daen? #
0:55:06 > 0:55:10# This song is made for me Tae sing aside the windae
0:55:10 > 0:55:14# Watching aw the folk ootside... #
0:55:14 > 0:55:17'Well I think today's performance went fantastically well,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19'the kids really all worked together
0:55:19 > 0:55:22'and they really came through or gave it laldie!'
0:55:22 > 0:55:26'I think they did it fantastic, yeah,
0:55:26 > 0:55:29'they were oozing with confidence and they remembered their lines
0:55:29 > 0:55:32'and they did me proud.'
0:55:32 > 0:55:35#..Made for me. #
0:55:35 > 0:55:39APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:55:47 > 0:55:51I love hearing them speaking out their Scots really confidently
0:55:51 > 0:55:56and loudly and there was a mixture of the moral of speaking it in January
0:55:56 > 0:55:58and no' speaking it later and then there was fun elements
0:55:58 > 0:56:02and rhythmic elements. So, I think it was a really excellent mixture
0:56:02 > 0:56:04of different things going on.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07Absolutely brilliant.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10Didn't know Scotland had as many talented children
0:56:10 > 0:56:14in the one small place. It was phenomenal.
0:56:14 > 0:56:19What an experience for them to get, you know? Song, poetry writing.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23It was great to see what they'd been getting up to all week
0:56:23 > 0:56:26and seeing the finale of what they'd been learning.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30And it's definitely made me as a parent look at the Scots language differently
0:56:30 > 0:56:35and encourage both my children to use it more.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38Coming to Scots Scuil, I think it's built up my confidence
0:56:38 > 0:56:40but don't remind me I have to leave.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43Cos I don't want to leave.
0:56:43 > 0:56:48Going to Scots Scuil has helped a lot with my confidence.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52She is familiar with Scots but to know it at such a deep level,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54I think it's been great for her.
0:56:54 > 0:56:59It just made me feel mair positive and everything in myself
0:56:59 > 0:57:02and it's made me realise that I don't need to be shy
0:57:02 > 0:57:04about everything I dae.
0:57:04 > 0:57:12I do think that I'll talk more Scots now than I used to
0:57:12 > 0:57:19and I do think I'm sounding much more Scots than I used to.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24So I hope I'm more like the family now instead of the odd one out.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28While I was watching the play, I could see in myself
0:57:28 > 0:57:32the way the head teacher was correcting
0:57:32 > 0:57:36when they were using the Scots language after performing the poem.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39That was kind of like myself and Cameron was using words
0:57:39 > 0:57:41and I was correcting him.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44And it kind of made me think, well, you shouldn't correct them,
0:57:44 > 0:57:48you should allow them to use the language, it is the Scots language.
0:57:48 > 0:57:54So, I think from that, it's made me not be so quick in correcting him
0:57:54 > 0:57:56and just let him go with it.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59What I'm really interested in is what happens next
0:57:59 > 0:58:01to those wee performers.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05Like, is there a legacy for that now in their lives
0:58:05 > 0:58:07and when they go back into school?
0:58:07 > 0:58:10And when they talk about their language issues
0:58:10 > 0:58:13with their parents and with their faimilies and with their friends,
0:58:13 > 0:58:15I think it'll be interesting to see
0:58:15 > 0:58:19is there increased confidence about their use of Scots?
0:58:19 > 0:58:21You can speak it, you can sing it, you can write it,
0:58:21 > 0:58:25so I'm hoping that it's raised their feeling
0:58:25 > 0:58:27about the status of the language.
0:58:49 > 0:58:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:51 > 0:58:53E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk