Hi Pete,

Gàidhlig (Gaelic) is the language of the Gaels of the Western Isles and Highlands. To a Gael, speaking Erse is speaking Irish.

I will try and clarify for you from where Lowland (Laland) Scots derives, as it is a common misconception that it is a corruption (dialect) of English. It is(or I should say WAS, as it has mostly died out) a seperate language.

Laland Scots was the name for the language of lowland Scotland. It is a Germanic language, closely related to English. It developed from the northern Old English (or Old Northumbrian) that was introduced into south-east Scotland (south of the Forth) from the 7th century AD onwards, as the kingdom of Northumbria expanded northwards. It was reinforced later by northern English that had been exposed to strong Norse influence after the Norse (Danes and Norwegians) occupied what is now Yorkshire and Cumbria. It started to be more widely spoken in eastern Scotland, north of the Forth, in the 12th century; by the early 15th century it was well established as the language of the Scottish court and parliament; and by the end of the middle ages (that is by about 1500) it had superseded Gaelic in almost all the southern and eastern lowlands. It was introduced into the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland) in the later middle ages, and by the 18th century it had superseded the local Norse language (Norn), which, however, has left its strong mark on the Scots spoken in those islands.

Claiming Scots is an Anglo-Norse dialect because of the use of Norse root words such as bairns, burns and byres would be akin to claiming that English is a dialect of French because of words such as pupil, chapel, bank or sombre.

Anyway, I would appreciate your source for claiming Scots to be an Anglo -Norse dialect -

You really should read the whole of the thread as there has been an awful lot of ground already covered.

>phew<

that was a big post for me, so I'm of to lie down in a darkened room and listen to The Pogues ;-)

FTC