Susan Reynolds has put forward how, since the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, there have been attempts to obfuscate the ethnic plurality of Scottish people due to the political practicalities of
nation building
Nation-building is constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the State (polity), state. Nation-building aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long r ...
.
Academics have explored how 15th and 16th-century Scottish poets and orators, such as
Blind Harry
Blind Harry ( 1440 – 1492), also known as Harry, Hary or Henry the Minstrel, is renowned as the author of ''The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace'', more commonly known as '' The Wallace''. This wa ...
, constructed terms such as 'trew Scottis' in an effort to diminish differences between the ethnic groups living within Scotland in the popular consciousness.
A 1974 International Political Science Association report defined this ethnic plurality in Scotland as the following: "The basic ethnic and cultural division in the British
Isles has been that between the Anglo-Saxon peoples of England and the Scottish Lowlands and the Celtic peoples of Wales, Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.
In 2014, historian Steven L. Danver, who specialises in indigenous ethnic research, wrote regarding Lowlands Scots and Gaelic Scots' unique ancestries: "The people of Scotland are divided into two groups - Lowland Scots in the southern part of the country and Highland Scots in the north - that differ from one another ethnically, culturally, and linguistically ... Lowlanders differ from Highlanders in their ethnic origin. While Highland Scots are of Celtic (Gaelic) descent, Lowland Scots are descended from people of Germanic stock. During the seventh century C.E., settlers of Germanic tribes of Angles moved from Northumbria in present-day northern England and southeastern Scotland to the area around Edinburgh. Their descendants gradually occupied all of the Lowlands."
Knox College's Dr Stuart Macdonald, who specialises in early modern Scottish history, writes that during the 18th and 19th centuries, the people of Scotland remained grouped into multiple ethnicities:
To speak of Scots as a single ethnic group is also somewhat problematic. It would be more accurate in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to talk of two distinct Scottish ethnic communities divided by language and culture, and, at times, mutual antagonisms – Highlanders and Lowlanders.
With regard to the period spanning the 16th century to the 18th century, sociologist Ian Carter's research into marriage patterns found little intermarrying between the groups.
Scottish diaspora
Today, Scotland has a population of just over five million people, the majority of whom consider themselves Scottish. In addition, there are many more people with Scots ancestry living abroad than the total population of Scotland.
United States
In the 2013
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...
5,310,285 identified as Scottish and 2,976,878 as of Scots-Irish descent.
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
of Scottish descent outnumber the population of Scotland, where 4,459,071 or 88.09% of people identified as ethnic Scottish in the 2001 Census.
The number of Americans with a Scottish ancestor is estimated to be between 9 and 25 million
[James McCarthy and Euan Hague, 'Race, Nation, and Nature: The Cultural Politics of "Celtic" Identification in the American West', ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'', Volume 94 Issue 2 (5 Nov 2004), p. 392, citing J. Hewitson, ''Tam Blake and Co.: The Story of the Scots in America'' (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 1993).
][Tartan Day 2007](_blank)
, ''scotlandnow'', Issue 7 (March 2007). Retrieved 7 September 2008.
[
][
] (up to 8.3% of the total US population), and "Scotch-Irish", 27 to 30 million
[
] (up to 10% of the total US population), but these subgroups overlap and are often not distinguishable.
The majority of Scotch-Irish originally came from Lowland Scotland and Northern England before migrating to the province of
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
in Ireland (see ''
Plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...
'') and thence, beginning about five
generation
A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and gr ...
s later, to North America in large numbers during the 18th century.
Canada
![Bagpipes (7185891778)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Bagpipes_%287185891778%29.jpg)
As the third-largest
ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on
Canadian culture
The culture of Canada embodies the artistic, culinary, literary, humour, musical, political and social elements that are representative of Canadians. Throughout Canada's history, its culture has been influenced by European culture and traditi ...
since colonial times. According to the
2011 Census of Canada, the number of Canadians claiming full or partial Scottish descent is 4,714,970, or 15.10% of the nation's total population.
Many respondents may have misunderstood the question and the numerous responses for "Canadian" do not give an accurate figure for numerous groups, particularly those of British Isles origins. Scottish-Canadians are the 3rd biggest ethnic group in Canada. Scottish culture has particularly thrived in the Canadian province of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
(
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "New Scotland"). There, in
Cape Breton
Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The island accounts for 18. ...
, where both lowland and highland Scots settled in large numbers,
Canadian Gaelic
Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig Chanada, or ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada.
Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scot ...
is still spoken by a small number of residents. Cape Breton is the home of the
Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts
The Gaelic College ( gd, Colaisde na Gàidhlig), formally The Royal Cape Breton Gaelic College ( gd, Colaisde Rìoghail na Gàidhlig), is a non-profit educational institution located in the community of St. Ann's, on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton I ...
.
Glengarry County
Glengarry County, an area covering , is a former county in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is historically known for its settlement of Scottish Highlanders. Glengarry County now consists of the modern-day townships of North Glengarry and South ...
in present-day
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It sh ...
is a historic county that was set up as a settlement for
Highland Scots
The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...
, where many from the Highlands settled to preserve their culture as a result of the Highland Clearances. Gaelic was the native language of the community since its settlement in the 18th century although the number of speakers decreased as a result of English migration. As of the modern 21st century, there are still a few Gaelic speakers in the community.
John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through t ...
in his book ''The Scotch'' (Toronto: MacMillan, 1964) documents the descendants of 19th-century Scottish pioneers who settled in
Southwestern Ontario
Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. ...
and affectionately referred to themselves as 'Scotch'. He states the book was meant to give a true picture of life in the community in the early decades of the 20th century.
Australia
![Thomasbrisbane](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Thomasbrisbane.jpg)
By 1830, 15.11% of the colonies' total non-Aboriginal population were Scots, which increased by the middle of the century to 25,000, or 20–25% of the non-Aboriginal population. The
Australian Gold Rush of the 1850s provided a further impetus for Scottish migration: in the 1850s 90,000 Scots immigrated to Australia, far more than other British or Irish populations at the time.
[The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins. (2001) James Jupp p650 Cambridge University Press.] Literacy rates of the Scottish immigrants ran at 90–95%. By 1860, Scots made up 50% of the ethnic composition of
Western Victoria
Western Victoria is a wine grape growing zone in the southwestern part of the state of Victoria in Australia. It extends approximately from the South Australia border to Ballarat and from Horsham to the coast. It includes the defined wine regio ...
,
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
Penola and
Naracoorte. Other settlements in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
included
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, the
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...
and the
Illawarra
The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...
.
Much settlement followed the
Highland Potato Famine,
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase resulte ...
and the
Lowland Clearances
The Lowland Clearances were one of the results of the Scottish Agricultural Revolution, which changed the traditional system of agriculture which had existed in Lowland Scotland in the seventeenth century. Thousands of cottars and tenant farmers ...
of the mid-19th century.
In the 1840s, Scots-born immigrants constituted 12% of the non-Aboriginal population. Out of the 1.3 million migrants from Britain to Australia in the period from 1861 to 1914, 13.5% were Scots. Just 5.3% of the convicts transported to Eastern Australia between 1789 and 1852 were Scots.
A steady rate of Scottish immigration continued into the 20th century and substantial numbers of Scots continued to arrive after 1945.
[The Scots in Australia (2008) M. Prentis UNSW Press.] From 1900 until the 1950s, Scots favoured New South Wales, as well as Western Australia and Southern Australia. A strong cultural Scottish presence is evident in the
Highland Games, dance,
Tartan Day celebrations, clan and Gaelic-speaking societies found throughout modern Australia.
According to the 2011 Australian census, 130,204 Australian residents were born in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
while 1,792,600 claimed Scottish ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry.
This is the fourth most commonly nominated ancestry and represents over 8.9% of the total population of Australia.
New Zealand
![William Allsworth - The emigrants - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/William_Allsworth_-_The_emigrants_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Significant numbers of Scottish people also settled in New Zealand. Approximately 20 per cent of the original European settler population of New Zealand came from Scotland, and Scottish influence is still visible around the country. The
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
city of
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
, in particular, is known for its Scottish heritage and was named as a tribute to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
by the city's Scottish founders.
Scottish migration to New Zealand dates back to the earliest period of European colonisation, with a large proportion of
Pākehā
Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...
New Zealanders being of Scottish descent. However, identification as "British" or "European" New Zealanders can sometimes obscure their origin. Many Scottish New Zealanders also have
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
or other non-European ancestry.
The majority of Scottish immigrants settled on the South Island. All over New Zealand, the Scots developed different means to bridge the old homeland and the new. Many
Caledonia
Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...
n societies were formed, well over 100 by the early twentieth century, that helped maintain Scottish culture and traditions. From the 1860s, these societies organised annual Caledonian Games throughout New Zealand. The Games were sports meets that brought together Scottish settlers and the wider New Zealand public. In so doing, the Games gave Scots a path to cultural integration as Scottish New Zealanders. In the 1961
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
there were 47,078 people living in New Zealand who were born in Scotland; in the
2013 census there were 25,953 in this category.
United Kingdom
Many people of Scottish descent live in other parts of the United Kingdom. In
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
particularly the colonial policies of
James VI
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
, known as the
plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...
, resulted in a Presbyterian and Scottish society, which formed the
Ulster-Scots community. The
Protestant Ascendancy
The ''Protestant Ascendancy'', known simply as the ''Ascendancy'', was the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland between the 17th century and the early 20th century by a minority of landowners, Protestant clergy, and members of th ...
did not however benefit them much, as the ascendancy was predominantly Anglicanism, Anglican. The number of people of Scottish descent in England and Wales is difficult to quantify due to the many complex migrations on the island, and ancient migration patterns due to wars, famine and conquest. The 2011 Census recorded 708,872 people born in Scotland resident in England, 24,346 resident in Wales and 15,455 resident in Northern Ireland.
Northamptonshire town Corby became a centre for Scottish migration in the 1930s. In 1961 a third of residents were born in Scotland, and in 2011 the figure was 12.7%.
Rest of Europe
Other European countries have had their share of Scots immigrants. The Scots have emigrated to mainland Europe for centuries as merchants and soldiers. Many emigrated to France, Poland, Italian-Scots, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia,
and the Netherlands. Recently some scholars suggested that up to 250,000 Russian nationals may have Scottish ancestry.
Africa
![Guy Scott](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Guy_Scott.png)
A number of Scottish people settled in South Africa in the 1800s and were known for their road-building expertise, their farming experience, and architectural skills.
Latin America
The largest population of Scots in Latin America is found in Argentina, followed by Chile, Brazil and Mexico.
Scots in mainland Europe
Netherlands
It is said that the first people from the Low Countries to settle in Scotland came in the wake of Maud, Countess of Huntingdon, Maud's marriage to the Scottish king, David I of Scotland, David I, during the Scotland in the High Middle Ages, Middle Ages. Craftsmen and tradesmen followed courtiers and in later centuries a brisk trade grew up between the two nations: Scotland's primary goods (wool, hides, salmon and then coal) in exchange for the luxuries obtainable in the Netherlands, one of the major hubs of European trade.
By 1600, trading colonies had grown up on either side of the well-travelled shipping routes: the Dutch settled along the eastern seaboard of Scotland; the Scots congregating first in Campvere—where they were allowed to land their goods duty-free and run their own affairs—and then in Rotterdam, where Scottish and Dutch Calvinism coexisted comfortably. Besides the thousands (or, according to one estimate, over 1 million) of local descendants with Scots ancestry, both ports still show signs of these early alliances. Now a museum, 'The Scots House' in the town of Veere was the only place outwith Scotland where Scots Law was practised. In Rotterdam, meanwhile, the doors of the Scots International Church have remained open since 1643.
Russia
![FotoGordon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/FotoGordon.jpg)
The first Scots to be mentioned in Russia's history were the Scottish soldiers in Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovy referred to as early as the 14th century. Among the 'soldiers of fortune' was the ancestor of the famous Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov, called George Learmonth. A number of Scots gained wealth and fame in the times of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. These include Admiral Thomas Gordon (Royal Scots Navy officer), Thomas Gordon, Commander-in-Chief of Kronstadt, Patrick Gordon, Paul Menzies, Samuel Greig, Charles Baird (engineer), Charles Baird, Charles Cameron (architect), Charles Cameron, Adam Menelaws and William Heste, William Hastie. Several doctors to the Russian court were from Scotland, the best-known being Sir James Wylie, 1st Baronet, James Wylie.
The next wave of migration established commercial links with Russia.
The 19th century witnessed the immense literary cross-references between Scotland and Russia.
A Russian scholar, Maria Koroleva, distinguishes between 'the Russian Scots' (properly assimilated) and 'Scots in Russia', who remained thoroughly Scottish.
There are several societies in contemporary Russia to unite the Scots. The Russian census lists do not distinguish Scots from other British people, so it is hard to establish reliable figures for the number of Scots living and working in modern Russia.
Poland
From as far back as the mid-16th century there were Scots trading and settling in Poland. A "Scotch Pedlar's Pack in Poland" became a proverbial expression. It usually consisted of cloths, woollen goods and linen kerchiefs (head coverings). Itinerants also sold tin utensils and ironware such as scissors and knives. Along with the protection offered by Stephen Báthory, King Stephen in the Royal Grant of 1576, a district in Kraków was assigned to Scottish immigrants.
Records from 1592 mention Scots settlers who were granted citizenship of Kraków give their employment as traders or merchants. Fees for citizenship ranged from 12 Polish florins to a musket and gunpowder, or an undertaking to marry within a year and a day of acquiring a holding.
By the 17th century, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Scots lived in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
[Eric Richards (2004). "]
Britannia's children: emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland
'". Continuum International Publishing Group. p.53. Many came from Dundee and Aberdeen. Scots could be found in Polish towns on the banks of the Vistula as far south as Kraków. Settlers from Aberdeenshire were mainly Episcopalians or Catholics, but there were also large numbers of Calvinists. As well as Scottish traders, there were also many Scottish soldiers in Poland. In 1656, a number of Scottish Highlands, Scottish highlanders seeking opportunities abroad, emigrated to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to enlist in the Swedish Army under Charles X Gustav of Sweden, Charles X Gustav in his Deluge (history)#Swedish invasion, war against it. James Murray (admiral), James Murray created the Polish navy and participated in the Battle of Oliwa. A series of four Polish novels include him as ''Captain Mora'' or ''Flying Scotsman''.
The writer was supported by navy historian Jerzy Pertek.
The Scots integrated well and many acquired great wealth. They contributed to many charitable institutions in the host country, but did not forget their homeland; for example, in 1701 when collections were made for the restoration fund of the Marischal College, Aberdeen, Scottish settlers in Poland gave generously.
Many royal grants and privileges were granted to Scottish merchants until the 18th century, at which time the settlers began to merge more and more into the native population. Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was half Polish, since he was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart, James Stuart, the "Old Pretender", and Maria Clementina Sobieska, Clementina Sobieska, granddaughter of John III Sobieski, Jan Sobieski, King of Poland. In 1691, the City of Warsaw elected the Scottish immigrant Aleksander Czamer (Alexander Chalmers) as its mayor.
Novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz created a fictional character, Hassling-Ketling of Elgin, played by Jan Nowicki in the film Colonel Wolodyjowski (film), Colonel Wolodyjowski.
Italy
By 1592, the Scottish community in Rome was big enough to merit the building of Sant'Andrea degli Scozzesi (St Andrew of the Scots). It was constructed for the Scottish expatriate community in Rome, especially for those intended for priesthood. The adjoining hospice was a shelter for Catholic Scots who fled their country because of religious persecution. In 1615, Pope Paul V gave the hospice and the nearby Scottish Seminar to the Jesuits. It was rebuilt in 1645. The church and facilities became more important when James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, set up residence in Rome in 1717, but were abandoned during the French occupation of Rome in the late 18th century. In 1820, although religious activity was resumed, it was no longer led by the Jesuits. Sant'Andrea degli Scozzesi was reconstructed in 1869 by Luigi Poletti (architect), Luigi Poletti. The church was deconsecrated in 1962 and incorporated into a bank (Cassa di Risparmio delle Province Lombarde). The Scottish Seminar also moved away. The St. Andrew's Day, Feast of St Andrew is still celebrated there on 30 November.
Gurro in Italy is said to be populated by the descendants of Scottish soldiers. According to local legend, Scottish soldiers fleeing the Battle of Pavia who arrived in the area were stopped by severe blizzards that forced many, if not all, to give up their travels and settle in the town. To this day, the town of Gurro is still proud of its Scottish links. Many of the residents claim that their surnames are Italian translations of Scottish surnames. The town also has a Scottish museum.
Culture
Language
Historically, Scottish people have spoken many different languages and dialects. The Pictish language, Norse, Norman-French and Brythonic languages have been spoken by forebears of Scottish people. However, none of these is in use today. The remaining three major languages of the Scottish people are English, Scots Language, Scots (various dialects) and Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic. Of these three, English is the most common form as a first language. There are some other minority languages of the Scottish people, such as Spanish, used by the population of Scots in Argentina.
The Norn language was spoken in the
Northern Isles
The Northern Isles ( sco, Northren Isles; gd, Na h-Eileanan a Tuath; non, Norðreyjar; nrn, Nordøjar) are a pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland. They are part of Scotland, as are th ...
into the early modern period – the current Shetland dialect, Shetland and Orcadian dialect, Orcadian dialects are heavily influenced by it to this day.
There is still debate whether Scots is a dialect or a language in its own right, as there is no clear line to define the two. Scots is usually regarded as a midway between the two, as it is highly mutually intelligible with English, particularly the dialects spoken in the North of England as well as those spoken in Scotland, but is treated as a language in some laws.
Scottish English
After the Union of Crowns in 1603, the Scottish Court moved with James I of England, James VI & I to London and English vocabulary began to be used by the Scottish upper classes.
With the introduction of the printing press, spellings became standardised. Scottish English, a Scottish variation of southern English English, began to replace the Scots language. Scottish English soon became the dominant language. By the end of the 17th century, Scots had practically ceased to exist, at least in literary form. While Scots remained a commonly spoken language, the southern Scottish English dialect was the preferred language for publications from the 18th century to the present day. Today most Scottish people speak Scottish English, which has some distinctive vocabulary and may be influenced to varying degrees by Scots.
Scots
Lowland Scots, also known as Lallans or
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
, is a language of Germanic peoples, Germanic origin. It has its roots in Northern Middle English. After the Wars of Scottish Independence, wars of independence, the English used by Lowland Scots speakers evolved in a different direction from that of Modern English language in England, English. Since 1424, this language, known to its speakers as ''Inglis'', was used by the Scottish Parliament in its statutes.
By the middle of the 15th century, the language's name had changed from ''Inglis'' to ''Scottis''. The Scottish reformation, reformation, from 1560 onwards, saw the beginning of a decline in the use of Scots forms. With the establishment of the Protestant Presbyterian religion, and lacking a Scots translation of the Bible, they used the Geneva Edition. From that point on, God spoke English, not Scots. Scots continued to be used in official legal and court documents throughout the 18th century. However, due to the adoption of the southern standard by officialdom and the Education system the use of written Scots declined. Lowland Scots is still a popular spoken language with over 1.5 million Scots speakers in Scotland. Scots is used by about 30,000 Ulster Scots people, Ulster Scots and is known in official circles as Ulster Scots language, Ullans. In 1993, Ulster Scots was recognised, along with Scots, as a variety of the Scots language by the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages.
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic languages, Celtic language with similarities to Irish. Scottish Gaelic comes from Old Irish. It was originally spoken by the
Gaels
The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langu ...
of Dál Riata and the Rhinns of Galloway, later being adopted by the
Pictish
Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...
people of central and eastern Scotland. Gaelic (''lingua Scottica'', ''Scottis'') became the ''de facto'' language of the whole Kingdom of Alba. Meanwhile, Gaelic independently spread from
Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or i ...
into Dumfriesshire. It is unclear if the Gaelic of 12th-century Clydesdale (district), Clydesdale and Selkirkshire came from Galloway or other parts of Scotland. The predominance of Gaelic began to decline in the 13th century, and by the end of the Middle Ages, Scotland was divided into two linguistic zones, the English/Scots-speaking Lowlands and the Gaelic-speaking Highlands and Galloway. Gaelic continued to be spoken widely throughout the Highlands until the 19th century. The Highland clearances actively discouraged the use of Gaelic, and caused the number of Gaelic speakers to fall. Many Gaelic speakers emigrated to countries such as Canada or moved to the industrial cities of lowland Scotland. Communities, where the language is still spoken natively, are restricted to the west coast of Scotland; especially the Hebrides. However, some Gaelic speakers also live in the cities of Glasgow and
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. A report in 2005 by the Registrar General for Scotland based on the 2001 UK Census showed about 92,400 people or 1.9% of the population can speak Gaelic, while the number of people able to read and write it rose by 7.5% and 10% respectively. Outwith Scotland, there are communities of Scottish Gaelic speakers such as the
Canadian Gaelic
Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig Chanada, or ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada.
Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scot ...
community; though their numbers have also been declining rapidly. The Gaelic language is recognised as a minority language by the European Union. The Scottish Parliament is also seeking to increase the use of Gaelic in Scotland through the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005. Gaelic is now used as a first language in some schools and is prominently seen in use on Gaelic road signs in Scotland, dual language road signs throughout the Gaelic-speaking parts of Scotland.
Religion
The modern people of Scotland remain a mix of different religions and no religion. Christianity is the largest faith in Scotland. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, 53.8% of the Scottish population identified as Christians, Christian.
The Protestant and Catholic divisions still remain in the society. About 14.4 per cent of the population identifies as Catholic, according to the Scottish Household Survey for 2014. In Scotland the main Protestant body is the Church of Scotland which is Presbyterian. The high kirk for Presbyterians is St Giles' Cathedral. In the United States, people of Scottish and Scots-Irish descent are chiefly Protestant, especially in the US South, with many belonging to the Baptist or Methodist churches or various Presbyterian denominations.
According to the Social Scottish Attitudes research, 52% of Scottish people identified as having no religion in 2016. As a result, Scotland has thus become a secular and majority non-religious country, unique to the other UK countries.
Literature
Folklore
Science and engineering
Music
Sport
The modern games of curling and golf originated in Scotland. Both sports are governed by bodies headquartered in Scotland, the World Curling Federation and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews respectively. Scots helped to popularise and spread the sport of association football; the first official international match was played in Glasgow between Scotland national football team, Scotland and England national football team, England in England v Scotland (1872), 1872.
Cuisine
Clans
Anglicisation
Many Scottish surnames have become anglicised over the centuries. This reflected the gradual spread of English, initially in the form of
Early Scots
Early Scots was the emerging literary language of the Northern Middle English speaking parts of Scotland in the period before 1450. The northern forms of Middle English descended from Northumbrian Old English. During this period, speakers refe ...
, from around the 13th century onwards, through Scotland beyond its traditional area in the Lothians. It also reflected some deliberate political attempts to promote the English language in the outlying regions of Scotland, including following the Union of the Crowns under King James VI and I, James VI of Scotland and I of England in 1603, and then the Acts of Union of 1707 and the subsequent defeat of rebellions.
However, many Scottish surnames have remained predominantly Scottish Gaelic language, Gaelic albeit written according to English orthography, orthographic practice (as with Irish surnames). Thus ''MacAoidh'' in Gaelic is ''Mackay'' in English, and ''MacGill-Eain'' in Gaelic is ''MacLean'' and so on. ''Mac'' (sometimes ''Mc'') is common as, effectively, it means "son of". ''MacDonald'', ''MacDougal'', ''MacAulay'', ''Gilmore'', ''Gilmour'', ''MacKinley'', ''Macintosh'', ''MacKenzie'', ''MacNeill'', ''MacPherson'', ''MacLear'', ''MacAra'', ''Bruce'', ''Campbell'', ''Fraser'', ''Oliver'', ''Craig'', ''Lauder'', ''Menzies'', ''Stewart'', ''Galloway'' and ''Duncan'' are just a few of many examples of traditional Scottish surnames. There are, of course, also the many surnames, like ''Wallace'' and ''Morton'', stemming from parts of Scotland which were settled by peoples other than the Scoti, (Gaelic) Scots. The most common surnames in Scotland are ''Smith'' and ''Brown'',
which each come from more than one origin: e.g. Smith might be a translation of Mac a' Ghobhainn (thence also e.g. MacGowan), and Brown can refer to the colour, or be akin to MacBrayne.
Anglicisation is not restricted to language. In his ''Socialism: critical and constructive'', published in 1921, future British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald wrote: "The Anglification of Scotland has been proceeding apace to the damage of its education, its music, its literature, its genius, and the generation that is growing up under this influence is uprooted from its past, and, being
deprived of the inspiration of its nationality, is also deprived of its communal sense."
See also
*Thomas Napier Thomson#The biographies and their sources in Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen (2nd edition) from Volume 9, Eminent 19th century Scotsmen
*List of Scots
*Scottish Gaelic personal naming system, Scottish names
*Scottish national identity
*:Scottish people by ethnic or national origin
Notes
References
Sources
*Ritchie, A. & Breeze, D.J. ''Invaders of Scotland'' HMSO. (?1991)
*David Armitage, "The Scottish Diaspora" in Jenny Wormald (ed.), ''Scotland: A History.'' Oxford UP, Oxford, 2005.
Further reading
* Spence, Rhoda, ed. ''The Scottish Companion: a Bedside Book of Delights''. Edinburgh: R. Paterson, 1955. vi, 138 p. ''N.B''.: Primarily concerns Scottish customs, character, and folkways.
External links
Biographies of Famous Scotsat Scottish-people.info, part of th
Gazetteer for Scotlandproject
Discover your Scottish family historyat the official government resource for Scottish Genealogy
Scottish Emigration Databaseof the University of Aberdeen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish people
Scottish people,
Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom
Ethnic groups in Scotland
Scottish society