| GLOBAL: Scots: The Mither Tongue by Billy Kay |
| Written by Billy Kay | ||||||
| Saturday, 24 November 2007 | ||||||
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"Scots:The Mither Tongue" is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture andessential reading for those who care about their country´s identity in the 21st century. It is a passionately written history of how the Scots come to speak the way they do, and it acted as a catalyst for radicalchanges in attitude toward the language. Since it was first publishedit has sold 20,000 copies – testimony to the power of its argument and the style, humour and smeddum of its writing.
Scots: The Mither Tongue by Billy Kay, Mainstream Publishing "Scots:The Mither Tongue" is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture and essential reading for those who care about their country´s identity in the 21st century. It is a passionately written history of how the Scotscome to speak the way they do, and it acted as a catalyst for radical changes in attitude toward the language. Since it was first published it has sold 20,000 copies – testimony to the power of its argument and the style, humour and smeddum of its writing. In this completelyrevised edition, Kay vigorously renews the social, cultural andpolitical debate on Scotland´s linguistic future, and argues convincingly for the necessity to retain and extend Scots if we are tohold on to the values which have made us what we are as a people. Asever, he places Scots in an international context, comparing andcontrasting it with other European lesser used languages, while at home questioning the Scottish Executive´s desire to pay anything more thanlips service to this crucial part of our national identity. Forlanguage is central to people´s existence and this vivid account celebrates the survival of Scots in its various dialects, its literature and song – a national treasure that thrives in many parts of the country and underpins the speech of everyone that calls themselvesa Scot. Reaction to SCOTS: THE MITHER TONGUE by Billy Kay In1999, "Scots: The Mither Tongue" was chosen by Alan Taylor of Scotland on Sunday, as one of "the best 100 Scottish books books ever written….If I had my way there would be copies of these books in every home inthe land." "Kay is the best writer on his own language I have read since Burchfield on English…..his book..is capably seditious." "Hehas shown that we can and do speak naturally and easily in a languageof grace, dignity and power. Much of his work has been moving,delightful, even inspiring." "Itis not the kind of dry academic tome so cherished by linguisticnitpickers, but a bright, radical examination of the language which isat the heart of our existence." "Kaywas the public face of Scots, and was roundly abused by some for pleading its cause. For others, his work transformed their thinking: never before had they been told, on the BBC no less, that what they spoke, far from being ´the language of the gutter´ or debased English,had an 800–year pedigree, two multi volume dictionaries describing it, a vast and glorious literature, and a whole set of dialects of its own. This was a life–affirming, emotionally and intellectually liberating message, and it took courage and conviction to be the messenger James Robertson. Scotland on Sunday March 2006." "Last, bit nae least, thanks tae Billy Kay for giein inspiration tae the haill Scots–language muivement." Hereare two extracts from the book – the introduction and the ending. Youcan listen to Billy reading the end of the final chapter by clicking here.
Ibegin with the words of Hamish Henderson´s song ´The Freedom Come AllYe´, the great anthem of the movement to create a Scottish parliamentwhich finally achieved its aims on May 12, 1999, when Winnie Ewinguttered the historic words …"the Scottish parliament which adjourned on25 March 1707 is hereby reconvened." As a trustee of Common Cause, aspeaker at Scotland United rallies, and an activist in the Artists forIndependence movement I sang the song with smeddum and pride – withthousands at the great Edinburgh Democracy demonstation and with a fewfellow travellers outside Arbroath Abbey before setting off on The BusParty which tried to convince the public of the need to vote yes in theDevolution Referendum. The song became an anthem because it said somuch about the kind of Scotland we wanted – Scots in language,international in perspective, egalitatian in outlook, and inclusive ofall humanity. It is part of a wonderful tradition of songs in the Scotstongue, where words and music reach straight tae the hert an gar itlowp – even people who do not underdstand the language feel their powerto communicate something profound in the human condition. Burns´ ´AuldLang Syne´ and ´Is There for Honest Poverty´ are classic examples ofthe genre. So when the Scottish Parliament opened with SheenaWellington´s powerful rendition of ´A Man´s A Man,´ it was as if notonly the privileged few inside the parliament were singing along, itseemed to encompass the whole world, "for aw that an aw that it´s cominyet for aw that, that man tae man the world ower, shall brithers be foraw that" It was a moment of intense emotion for Scots at home andabroad, the kind of experience which make you believe for a while thefamous words of Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun… "I knew a very wise man[who believed that] if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, heneed not care who should make the laws of a nation." Seven years on, Iam sure that many members of the ruling Executive coalition would loveit if we were all content to sing the songs and leave them to the realpolitics of making laws. Unfortunately for them, those days are past.When we only had recourse to a United Kingdom parliament dominated bythe English majority, activists in Scotland accepted the difficulty offostering native Scottish culture in that context. With our ownparliament however, our politicians have no excuses, and we expect anddemand them to pass legislation which will nurture and promote everyaspect of our native culture, including our indigenous languages. Untilnow the response to their new responsibilities has been abysmal. It isvery much a continuation of the narrow, ultra–unionist focus of bothleft and right in the old district and city councils most were thirledto before making the step up to what they should regard as a NationalParliament. Elsewhere in this book, I compare the Scots situation withthat of Catalan, where the new democracy believed that it might takethree generations to remove the "slave mentality" – their equivalent ofthe Scottish Cringe – which had evolved over centuries as the nativeculture was suppressed by Castilian Spanish hegemony. Now, as a memberof the Cross Party Group [CPG] for Scots, having seen our politicansfrom a closer perspective, I feel that the hostility and ignorance ofethnic Scottish culture displayed by perhaps the majority in theparliament means that the struggle to give Scots any status whatsoeverwill be resisted vigorously. Indeed it may take an appeal to Europe tomake the Scottish executive fulfil its responsibility towards Scots.For while the "slave mentality" existed in Catalonia and certain elitesidentified with Spanish culture, most Calatalans still had a regard forCatalan culture. Many Scottish politicians however see Scottish cultureas something to be suppressed because it is a dangerous harbinger ofnationalist sentiment. Exaggeration? Here are two examples, quotationsby Labour ministers related to me from trustworthy sources. In thefirst an education minister is asked why more is not done to promoteScottish studies in the Schools´ curriculum. The reply; "I do not seemy role as educating a generation of young nationalists." In thesecond, a member of the CPG asks the culture minister whether he hasreceived an invitation in Scots to come to the next meeting of thegroup? The reply; "Oh, that thing, written in the funny writing – yes –I threw it in the bin." That is the level of cynicism existing withinthe government. On the Conservative side, the attitude to Scots islittle better. In February 2000, there took place a debate as towhether a question on Scots should be included in the 2001 Census. Hereare extracts from two of the Tory contributions. Jamie McGrigor Brian Monteith Onequoting from a comedian, the other being a comedian, hard tae say whitane wes the biggest scunner, but baith certainly gard me grue at thetime! Having spent years fighting for a Scottish parliament, it was asalutory experience to thole the fact that at the first opportunity todiscuss Scots, you have elected members and fellow Scots making a foolof the issue. On such occasions when I feel alienation from my fellowcountrymen, I hear Hugh McDiarmid´s humorous response to the sameconundrum… "Mercy o´ Gode, I canna thole It micht be for the guid o my soul, but I dinnae like whit it duis tae ma heid! The second extract is from the final chapter: The Future Oors? Ata conference for writers in lesser-used languages in Luxembourg, whichI attended, someone asked provocatively, "why do you choose to write inthese languages when you are all bilingual and could write in theprinciple languages of Europe". Pierre Jakez Hélias replied for us allwhen he said that it was not a matter of choice, he was enceinte,pregnant with Breton, and his creativity had to be given birth in thatlanguage. Many monoglots think you can simply translate one languageinto another and nothing is lost in translation. They do not realisethe nature of language, that each one is a different window to theworld. What is under threat is the treasure of a people´s experienceexpressed through their native tongue, their unique way of seeing theworld. A Welsh philosopher J.R. Jones eloquently expresses thepotential loss. It is said of one experience that it is one ofthe most agonising possible… that of leaving the soil of your nativecountry forever, of turning your back on your heritage, being torn awayby the roots from your familiar land. I have not suffered thatexperience. But I know of an experience equally agonising, and moreirreversible (for you could return to your home) and that is theexperience of knowing, not that you are leaving your country, but thatyour country is leaving you, is ceasing to exist under your very feet,being sucked away from you as it were by a consuming, swallowing wind,into the hands and the possession of another country and civilisation. Thereshould be no tension between English and Scots. They are branches ofthe same tree and with some effort and good will are mutuallyintelligible and complementary to one another. Yet they are keys toradically different world pictures. I am delighted that I am a nativespeaker of a national variety of English, the most powerful,prestigious and useful language in the world. But as English has becomethe world´s lingua franca, it has become rootless and impersonal. Forsome Scots, it has always been that. But its role as the medium ofinternational dialogue has made it more alien as it has been twisted toconceal, rather than tell the truth. For the Pentagon during theVietnam war, the term de escalation often meant bombing denselypopulated areas and napalming children. Nearer home, words such asrationalisation are used as a smokescreen behind which shareholders andpoliticians can hide as their victims are condemned to the misery oflong term unemployment. In contrast, the power of Scots is its lack ofduplicity, its vigorous directness, its ability to see through thefalse and the phony the language reflecting the perspective of the kindof people who have been using it for the past century. Also,because language itself helps form the thoughts we have about ourenvironment, Scots has a unique role as the tongue which is rooteddeeply in the physical landscape we inhabit and has expressed ourrelationship with it for many hundreds of years. In Haud Yer Tongue theschools series broadcast on Channel 4, foreign learners of Scots gaveme their favourite words. For an American, it was the ability of thelanguage to describe our weather which appealed. Her word was "feechie,which is even worse than dreich". The Swedish girl who followedelaborated: "Ma favourite word is loons….cos they keep me warm whanit´s feechie!" The students knew what everyone brought up in theScots–speaking tradition knows; that Scots is rooted in the landscape,people, culture and history of the country and preserves a unique wayof looking at the world. Along with words like gemütlichkeit in German,or saudade in Portuguese, words like scunner, shuilpit, sonsie andnyaff are impossible to translate accurately, and any attempt will bepeelie wallie compared to the original. So if Scots were to disappearwe would lose part of our sensitivity to the environment, because noother language can describe it with the same "feel"; a snell founeranwind that wad gar yer banes chitter, a dreich haar happin aa thingalang the coast, a douce simmer´s gloamimg that´s saft an bonnie, athrang city street wi fowk breengin aboot an joukin atween ane anither.It is also the language that describes perfectly the human types thatinhabit this landscape; a wice like bodie… a sleekit scunner… a braw,sonsie lassie… a gleg wean… a sapsie muckle hertit sumph… a thrawnbesom… a shuilpit wee nyaff… a bachle wi no eneuch sough tae sprachleoot a sheugh… a fushionless craitur… a kenspeckle chield… a gallouschancer… in fact, the haill jingbang o sister an "brither Scots fraeMaidenkirk tae John O´ Groats." What will happen to it in the21st century? To begin with we shall see a continuation of the processof recent decades: rapid erosion in some airts, thrawn survival inother airts. In aw the airts, the structure of the dialects of Scotssurvives, and can thrive again if the political, cultural and financialwill is there to "normalise" Scots. First though, we have to get rid ofthe Scottish cringe – for many Scots are the unwitting victims andagents of a process of cultural colonisation which has been endemic forcenturies. Recently, a newspaper columnist criticised the leader of theScottish National Party, Alex Salmond for his increasing "affectation"of using Scots expressions such as "I´m kennt the better" in public.Only in Scotland can it be an "affectation" for a Scot to use hisnative idiom – even if it is from a pedigree literary source! Burnsiansamong you will recognise the bard´s marvellous couplet referring togossip mongers: The mair they talk I´m kenn´d the better, Suchignorance will surely disappear as Scotland becomes a normal country,where her culture is increasingly taught in her schools, and where hernative tongues are increasingly used in prestigious public forums likethe parliament. And I am convinced that Scots will be used increasinglyin parliamentary debate itself as we throw off the linguistic shacklessimposed by almost three centuries of adapting to English norms wherestatements like this from the classic sook Boswell, expressed a stateof colonised mind-set shared by far too many – "I do indeed come fromScotland, but I cannot help it." As Scot speaks unto Scot, theinverted commas will gradually come off the use of Scots words, and thelanguage´s genius for both invective and affection will come into itsown. The maisters of sound bite will realise that the bite will bedeeper an hae mair grip gin it´s couched in direct Scots terms. Asnewspapers report the increasingly vigorous oral medium, Scots willappear in the headlines and they too will loosen up in their attitudeto the written language. Scots will gradually be validated, and its usewill increase and extend. The old shibboleths will brek doun, andwithin a generation or two of such normalisation, even the formalEnglish spoken in Scotland will have a much higher Scots content.Seeing the language used with effect in public forums, Scots speakerswill cease to regard its use as an underground activity practiced byconsenting adults in the privacy o their ain hame, but rather as one tobe savoured openly for the sheer expressive joy of it. By "coming out"linguistically, the native dialect speakers will in turn influence therest to broaden their range and speech patterns. Eventually, we couldeven have a confident people at home with the way everyone speaks, andnot just a select few. Developments in education will also becrucial. For Scotland to move toward the ideal of the inclusive societyit has traditionally prided itself on, it will be necessary forgenerations of ingrained prejudice to be overcome and a culture oftolerance to prevail. A friend doing teaching practice recently,decided to conduct the lessons in Scots. In one class he was told thathe would get problems from a group of disruptive boys and a terrificresponse from a conscientious group of girls. In the beginning it wasjust so. Gradually however, as the language of the boys was validatedfor the first time, they began to produce the brilliant work. The girlsmeanwhile felt culturally excluded and their behaviour deterioratedaccordingly. Imagine if all those in the past who were mocked forretaining the language at the core of their identity, had beensimilarly praised, validated and included. That is what our educationsystem through our parliament should be working towards in the future. [Click here to hear Billy read these final pagragraphs.] Ultimately,it will also demand changes in you my brither an sister Scots! Oralretentiveness leads to strange and unhealthy complexes and fixations.Go on, break every grammatical rule in your mental straight-jacket andsing out "A´m urnae like that – for gin I´m no pairt o the solution,I´m pairt o the problem". Liberating, is"nt it? All you middle aged andnow middle class folk who once were patted on the heid by teachers andmammies as you divested yourself of your local dialect in order to geton in life, and now find it difficult and artificial to go back –regress now! regain your lost heritage! – knit thy divided self backthegither again. Efter a while, ye´ll no notice the jeyn. Mammies thatchecked their weans wi thon war cry in appalling English "Talk proper!"Stop it. As far as the bairns gettin on is concerned, the future isScottish. Speakers of Received Pronunciation – dinnae be feart, therewill aye be a wee totie establishment for ye ti belang tae gin ye finndit necessair. But fredome is a nobill thing, cut your crystall vowelsfirst with safe words like kenspeckle and clanjamfry before walking onthe wild side with swally, chib, gadgie and likesae! Thisinclusiveness will also need to extend to the highly effective Gaeliclobby. Aince upon a time, we were aw suppressed minorities thegitherand supported ane anither, but since you climbed a bittie higher, Ifear yer leaders hae kicked the ladder awa. When they speak of Scotlandas a bi–lingual country, they mean Gaelic and English an deil tak thehindmaist – Scots bein by far the hindmaist in the linguistic peckingorder. Jeyn the process of liberation, o Gaels! All the estimated 1.5million Scots speakers seek is parity with you 60,000 Gaelic speakers.Jeyn us, all you have to lose is your monopoly of ethnic Scottishnessin our media, and a few suits! And to you, the vast majority ofScots who still have a Scots tongue in their heid, thank you forkeeping the faith and retaining the tongue as a cherished living entityfor future generations. Keep it, extend it and teach it to thoselinguistic less fortunates. Aye mind, though – tak tent or it´s tint.Over two centuries ago, Burns was advised not to write in Scots, as itwas a dying tongue which no one would understand within a generation ortwo. Yet here we are, still speaking, writing, singing and celebratingin this our ain raucle mither tongue. Gin we´re ocht ava as a fowk,we´ll still be daein the same come the twenty saicond century! ForScots is a mirror of Scotland´s soul. That is why it, and the values itexpresses, will endure for aye… an it is comin yet for a that… For we hae faith in Scotland´s hidden poo´ers The living heritage of Scots – below are some of my favourite quotations: Sayings: Ye cannae dae ocht gin ye´ve nocht tae dae ocht wi. Thaim wi a guid Scots tongue in their heid are fit tae gang ower the warld! A passage from Lewis Grassic Gibbon´s Sunset Song …youwanted the words they´d known and used, forgotten in the far–offyoungness of their lives, Scots words to tell to your heart how theywrung it and held it, the toil of their days and unendingly theirfight. And the next minute that passed from you, you were English, backto the English words so sharp and clean and true – for a while, for awhile, till they slid so smooth from your throat you knew they couldnever say anything that was worth the saying at all. Hugh McDiarmid´s expression of alienation from his countymen. "Mercy o´ Gode, I canna thole From John Barbour´s The Brus - on the main reason why the Scots should prevail at Bannockburn The first is, that we haif the richt From The Complaynt of Scotland The dou croutit hyr sad sang that soundit lyk sorrow Hamish Henderson´s sang The Freedom Come All Ye O come all ye at hame wi freedom, Billy Kay recalls a very Scottish experience "Imind several year syne daein an interview wi an auld Spanish gentlemanthat steyed in Logan in Ayrshire – ane o the last o the firstgeneration that had come ower tae wark in the iron works at Lugar, synethe pits o sooth Ayrshire. He an I naturally spoke Ayrshire Scots wiane anither, but when the tape recorder wes switched on he did thatvery Scottish thing o tryin tae speak in standard English, literallytranslatin and transformin himsel for the new situation. The skeeliefluency o his Scots wes replaced by stilted, hesitant English. I wesaboot tae stop the tape tae see if I could get him back tae his ain weyo speakin, when his wife who wes also born in Andalucia but brocht upin Ayrshire, interrupted him an said "Hey you, stop pittin it on… talkScots like the rest o us!" Scots: The Mither Tongue by Billy Ka, Mainstream Publishing
WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: 1. It is essential reading for a new generation of Scots and Ulster Scots concerned with their identity. 2. The book celebrates the Scots contribution to world literature through figures like Burns and RL Stevenson. 3. It places Scots in the context of contemporary Europe, comparing Scots and English with e.g. Catalan and Spanish. 4. Over 20,000 people have read and been changed by the book Scots: The Mither Tongue. 5. A leading Scottish newspaper placed it in a list of the hundred most important Scottish books ever written. 6. It is taught in the universities, yet is vividly accessible to the general reader. 7. It is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture. Scots: The Mither Tongue is available from all good bookshops in Scotland and from Amazon:
Further information: Images courtesy of Billy Kay.
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