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Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (', ga, Albainis Uladh),
also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect of
Scots spoken in parts 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 Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
[Gregg, R. J. (1972) "The Scotch-Irish Dialect Boundaries in Ulster" in Wakelin, M. F., ''Patterns in the Folk Speech of the British Isles'', London: Athlone Press][Macafee, C. (2001) "Lowland Sources of Ulster Scots" in J. M. Kirk & D. P. Ó Baoill, ''Languages Links: the Languages of Scotland and Ireland'', Belfast: Cló Ollscoil na Banríona, p. 121] It is generally considered a
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
or group of dialects of Scots, although groups such as the Ulster-Scots Language Society and Ulster-Scots Academy consider it a language in its own right, and the
Ulster-Scots Agency
The Ulster-Scots Agency (''Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch'') is a cross-border body for Ireland which seeks to "promote the study, conservation and development of Ulster-Scots as a living language, to encourage and develop the full range of its atten ...
and former
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), translated in Irish as and in Ulster-Scots as , was a devolved government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department was the Mi ...
have used the term Ulster-Scots language.
Some definitions of Ulster Scots may also include
Standard English
In an English-speaking country, Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone substantial regularisation and is associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and official print publications, such as public service a ...
spoken with an Ulster Scots accent.
[Harris, J. (1985) ''Phonological Variation and Change: Studies in Hiberno English'', Cambridge. p. 14] This is a situation like that of Lowland Scots and
Scottish Standard English
Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard ...
with words pronounced using the Ulster Scots
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
s closest to those of Standard English.
[Harris (1984) "English in the north of Ireland" in P. Trudgill, ''Language in the British Isles'', Cambridge; p. 119]
Ulster Scots has been influenced by
Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English (from Latin ''Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland a ...
, particularly
Ulster English
Ulster English ( sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr Inglish, ga, Béarla Ultach, also called Northern Hiberno-English or Northern Irish English) is the variety of English spoken in most of the Irish province of Ulster and throughout North ...
, and by
Ulster Irish
Ulster Irish ( ga, Gaeilig Uladh, IPA=, IPA ga=ˈɡeːlʲɪc ˌʊlˠuː) is the variety of Irish spoken in the province of Ulster. It "occupies a central position in the Gaelic world made up of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man". Ulster Iri ...
. As a result of the competing influences of English and Scots,
varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of Ulster Scots can be described as "more English" or "more Scots".
Names
While once referred to as ''Scotch-Irish'' by several researchers, that has now been superseded by the term ''Ulster Scots''. Speakers usually refer to their vernacular as 'Braid Scots',
[Traynor, Michael (1953) ''The English Dialect of Donegal''. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, p. 36] '
Scotch'
[Traynor (1953), p. 244] or 'the hamely tongue'. Since the 1980s ''Ullans'', a
neologism
A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
popularized by the physician, amateur historian and politician
Ian Adamson
Ian Adamson OBE (28 June 1944 – 9 January 2019) was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician and paediatrician, who was the Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1996 to 1997. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfas ...
, merging ''Ulster'' and ''
Lallans
Lallans (; a variant of the Modern Scots word ''lawlands'' meaning the lowlands of Scotland), is a term that was traditionally used to refer to the Scots language as a whole. However, more recent interpretations assume it refers to the dialects o ...
'', the Scots for ''Lowlands'', but also an acronym for “Ulster-Scots language in literature and native speech”
[Tymoczko, M. & Ireland, C. A. (2003) ''Language and Tradition in Ireland: Continuities and Displacements'', Univ of Massachusetts Press. p. 159] and ''Ulstèr-Scotch'',
the preferred revivalist parlance, have also been used. Occasionally, the term ''Hiberno-Scots'' is used, but it is usually used for
the ethnic group rather than the vernacular.
Speaker population and spread
During the middle of the 20th century, the linguist
Robert John Gregg Robert John Gregg (July 2, 1912, Larne, County Antrim, Ireland – November 15, 1998, Vancouver, BC, Canada), known as Bob Gregg or R. J. Gregg, was a linguist, a pioneer of the academic study of Ulster-Scots as well as a linguistic authority on Can ...
established the geographical boundaries of Ulster's Scots-speaking areas based on information gathered from native speakers. By his definition, Ulster Scots is spoken in mid and east
Antrim, north
Down, north-east
County Londonderry
County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...
, and in the fishing villages of the Mourne coast. It is also spoken in the Laggan district and parts of the
Finn Valley in east
Donegal Donegal may refer to:
County Donegal, Ireland
* County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster
* Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland
* Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
and in the south of
Inishowen
Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland.
The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfort ...
in north
Donegal Donegal may refer to:
County Donegal, Ireland
* County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster
* Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland
* Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
. Writing in 2020, the
Fintona
Fintona (; ), is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Its population at the 2011 Census was 1,164.
Name and etymology
Fintona is derived phonetically from the Irish name of the area, ''Fionntamhnach''; this is often trans ...
-born linguist Warren Maguire argued that some of the criteria that Gregg used as distinctive of Ulster Scots are common in south-west Tyrone and were found in other sites across Northern Ireland investigated by the
Linguistic Survey of Scotland The Linguistic Survey of Scotland was a long-term project at the University of Edinburgh to cover the use of language in Scotland, including Scottish English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic.
The Survey began at a time when the modern subject of linguis ...
.
![Ulster-Scots speakers in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Ulster-Scots_speakers_in_the_2011_census_in_Northern_Ireland.png)
The 1999 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey found that 2% of
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
residents claimed to speak Ulster Scots, which would mean a total speech community of approximately 30,000 in the territory. Other estimates range from 35,000 in Northern Ireland,
to an "optimistic" total of 100,000 including the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
(mainly the east of
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
).
Speaking at a seminar on 9 September 2004, Ian Sloan of the Northern Ireland
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), translated in Irish as and in Ulster-Scots as , was a devolved government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department was the Mi ...
(DCAL) accepted that the 1999 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey "did not significantly indicate that unionists or nationalists were relatively any more or less likely to speak Ulster Scots, although in absolute terms there were more unionists who spoke Ulster Scots than nationalists".
In the
2021 census of Northern Ireland, 115,088 people (6.27% of the population) stated that they can speak, read, write and understand Ulster Scots and 190,613 people (10.38% of the population) reported having some ability in Ulster Scots.
Status
Linguistic status
![MoatRoadBallyhalbert](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/MoatRoadBallyhalbert.jpg)
The majority of linguists treat Ulster Scots as a
variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of the
Scots language
Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...
; Caroline Macafee, for example, writes that "Ulster Scots is
..clearly a dialect of Central Scots."
The
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), translated in Irish as and in Ulster-Scots as , was a devolved government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department was the Mi ...
considers Ulster Scots to be "the local variety of the Scots language."
Some
linguists
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, such as Raymond Hickey, treat Ulster Scots (and other forms of Scots) as a
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. It has been said that its "status varies between dialect and language".
Enthusiasts such as Philip Robinson (author of ''Ulster-Scots: a Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language''), the Ulster-Scots Language Society and supporters of an Ulster-Scots Academy
are of the opinion that Ulster Scots is a language in its own right. That position has been criticised by the
Ulster-Scots Agency
The Ulster-Scots Agency (''Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch'') is a cross-border body for Ireland which seeks to "promote the study, conservation and development of Ulster-Scots as a living language, to encourage and develop the full range of its atten ...
, a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
report stating: "
he Agencyaccused the academy of wrongly promoting Ulster-Scots as a language distinct from Scots." This position is reflected in many of the Academic responses to the "Public Consultation on Proposals for an Ulster-Scots Academy"
Legal status
Ulster Scots is defined in an ''Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland establishing implementation bodies done at Dublin on the 8th day of March 1999'' in the following terms:
The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order 1999, which gave effect to the implementation bodies incorporated the text of the agreement in its Schedule 1.
The declaration made by the British Government regarding the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, the ...
reads as follows:
This recognition differed significantly from the commitments entered into under the Charter in relation to Irish, for which specific provisions under Part III were invoked for the protection and promotion of that language. The definition of Ullans from the North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order 1999 above was used on 1 July 2005 Second Periodical Report by the United Kingdom to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe outlining how the UK met its obligations under the Charter.
The
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
(which does not refer to Ulster Scots as a "language") recognises Ulster Scots as ''"part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland"'', and the Implementation Agreement established the cross-border
Ulster-Scots Agency
The Ulster-Scots Agency (''Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch'') is a cross-border body for Ireland which seeks to "promote the study, conservation and development of Ulster-Scots as a living language, to encourage and develop the full range of its atten ...
(''Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch'').
The legislative remit laid down for the agency by the North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order 1999 is: "the promotion of greater awareness and the use of Ullans and of Ulster-Scots cultural issues, both within Northern Ireland and throughout the island".
The agency has adopted a mission statement: ''to promote the study, conservation, development and use of Ulster Scots as a living language; to encourage and develop the full range of its attendant culture; and to promote an understanding of the history of the Ulster-Scots people.''
Despite the Agency's reference to Ulster Scots as "a language", this eliding of the distinction between Ulster Scots as a linguistic form, and "Ulster Scots culture" broadly referring to cultural forms associated with the Scottish-descended population, continued thereafter.
The
Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006
The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 (c 53) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It implemented the St Andrews Agreement. It is modified by section 1 of the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) ...
amended the
Northern Ireland Act 1998
__NOTOC__
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed Westminster to devolve power to Northern Ireland, after decades of direct rule.
It renamed the New Northern Ireland Assembly, established by ...
to insert a section (28D) entitled ''Strategies relating to Irish language and Ulster Scots language etc.'' which
inter alia laid on the Executive Committee a duty to "adopt a strategy setting out how it proposes to enhance and develop the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture." This reflects the wording used in the
St Andrews Agreement
The St Andrews Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Chill Rímhinn; Ulster Scots: ''St Andra's 'Greement'', ''St Andrew's Greeance'' or ''St Andrae's Greeance'') is an agreement between the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland's politica ...
to refer to the enhancement and development of "the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture". There is still controversy on the status of Ulster Scots.
History and literature
Scots, mainly
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
-speaking, had been settling 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 ...
since the 15th century, but large numbers of
Scots-speaking
Lowlanders, some 200,000, arrived during the 17th century following the 1610
Plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
, with the peak reached during the 1690s.
[Montgomery & Gregg 1997: 572] In the core areas of Scots settlement, Scots outnumbered English settlers by five or six to one.
Literature from shortly before the end of the unselfconscious tradition at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is almost identical with contemporary writing from Scotland.
[Montgomery & Gregg 1997: 585] W. G. Lyttle, writing in ''Paddy McQuillan's Trip Tae Glesco'', uses the typically Scots forms ''kent'' and ''begood'', now replaced in Ulster by the more mainstream
Anglic forms ''knew'', ''knowed'' or ''knawed'' and ''begun''. Many of the modest contemporary differences between Scots as spoken in Scotland and Ulster may be due to dialect levelling and influence from Mid Ulster English brought about through relatively recent demographic change rather than direct
contact
Contact may refer to:
Interaction Physical interaction
* Contact (geology), a common geological feature
* Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye
* Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects
* ...
with Irish, retention of older features or separate development.
The earliest identified writing in Scots in Ulster dates from 1571: a letter from Agnes Campbell of County Tyrone to
Queen Elizabeth on behalf of Turlough O'Neil, her husband. Although documents dating from the Plantation period show conservative Scots features, English forms started to predominate from the 1620s as Scots declined as a written medium.
[Corbett, John; McClure, J. Derrick & Stuart-Smith, Jane (eds.) (2003) ''The Edinburgh Companion to Scots'', Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press ]
In Ulster Scots-speaking areas there was traditionally a considerable demand for the work of Scottish poets, often in locally printed editions. These include
Alexander Montgomerie
Alexander Montgomerie (Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair Mac Gumaraid) (c. 1550?–1598) was a Scottish Jacobean courtier and poet, or makar, born in Ayrshire. He was a Scottish Gaelic speaker and a Scots speaker from Ayrshire, an area which wa ...
's ''The Cherrie and the Slae'' in 1700; shortly over a decade later an edition of poems by
Sir David Lindsay; nine printings of
Allan Ramsay's ''The Gentle shepherd'' between 1743 and 1793; and an edition of
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
' poetry in 1787, the same year as the Edinburgh edition, followed by reprints in 1789, 1793 and 1800. Among other Scottish poets published in Ulster were
James Hogg
James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...
and
Robert Tannahill
Robert Tannahill (3 June 1774 – 17 May 1810) was a Scottish poet of labouring class origin. Known as the 'Weaver Poet', he wrote poetry in English and lyrics in Scots in the wake of Robert Burns.
Life
Robert Tannahill was born in Castle St ...
.
That was complemented by a poetry revival and nascent prose genre in Ulster, which started around 1720.
[Robinson (2003) ''The historical presence of Ulster-Scots in Ireland'', in ''The Languages of Ireland'', ed. Cronin, Michael & Ó Cuilleanáin, Cormac; Dublin: Four Courts Press ] The most prominent of these was the ''
rhyming weaver'' poetry, of which, some 60 to 70 volumes were published between 1750 and 1850, the peak being in the decades 1810 to 1840, although the first printed poetry (in the
Habbie stanza The Burns stanza is a verse form named after the Scottish poet Robert Burns, who used it in some fifty poems. It was not, however, invented by Burns, and prior to his use of it was known as the standard Habbie, after the piper Habbie Simpson (1550 ...
form) by an Ulster Scots writer was published in a
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
in Strabane in 1735. These weaver poets looked to Scotland for their cultural and literary models and were not simple imitators but clearly inheritors of the same literary tradition following the same poetic and orthographic practices; it is not always immediately possible to distinguish traditional Scots writing from Scotland and Ulster. Among the ''rhyming weavers'' were
James Campbell James Campbell may refer to:
Academics
* James Archibald Campbell (1862–1934), founder of Campbell University in North Carolina
* James Marshall Campbell (1895–1977), dean of the college of arts and sciences at the Catholic University of Americ ...
(1758–1818),
James Orr (1770–1816),
Thomas Beggs (1749–1847),
David Herbison
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(1800–1880),
Hugh Porter
Hugh William Porter MBE (born Wolverhampton, England, 27 January 1940) is one of Britain's greatest former professional cyclists, winning four world titles in the individual pursuit - more than any other rider - as well as a Commonwealth Games ...
(1780–1839) and
Andrew McKenzie (1780–1839).
Scots was also used in the narrative by Ulster novelists such as
W. G. Lyttle W. may refer to:
* SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel
* W. (film), ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush
* "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 199 ...
(1844–1896) and
Archibald McIlroy
Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold".
Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon .
Erkanbald, bishop o ...
(1860–1915). By the middle of the 19th century the ''
Kailyard school
The Kailyard school (1880–1914) is a proposed literary movement of Scottish fiction dating from the last decades of the 19th century.
Origin and etymology
It was first given the name in an article published April 1895 in the ''New Review'' by ...
'' of prose had become the dominant literary genre, overtaking poetry. This was a tradition shared with Scotland which continued into the early 20th century.
Scots also frequently appeared in Ulster newspaper columns, especially in Antrim and Down, in the form of pseudonymous social commentary employing a folksy first-person style.
The pseudonymous Bab M'Keen (probably successive members of the Weir family: John Weir, William Weir, and Jack Weir) provided comic commentaries in the ''Ballymena Observer and County Antrim Advertiser'' for over a hundred years from the 1880s.
A somewhat diminished tradition of vernacular poetry survived into the 20th century in the work of poets such as Adam Lynn, author of the 1911 collection ''Random Rhymes frae Cullybackey'', John Stevenson (died 1932), writing as "Pat M'Carty", and John Clifford (1900–1983) from East Antrim. In the late 20th century the poetic tradition was revived, albeit often replacing the traditional
Modern Scots
Modern Scots comprises the varieties of Scots traditionally spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster, from 1700.
Throughout its history, Modern Scots has been undergoing a process of language attrition, whereby successive generations ...
orthographic practice with a series of contradictory
idiolect
Idiolect is an individual's unique use of language, including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. This differs from a dialect, a common set of linguistic characteristics shared among a group of people.
Th ...
s.
Among the significant writers is
James Fenton
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 ...
, mostly using a blank verse form, but also occasionally the Habbie stanza.
He employs an orthography that presents the reader with the difficult combination of
eye dialect, dense Scots, and a greater variety of verse forms than employed hitherto.
The poet
Michael Longley
Michael Longley, (born 27 July 1939, Belfast, Northern Ireland), is an Anglo-Irish poet.
Life and career
One of twin boys, Michael Longley was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to English parents, Longley was educated at the Royal Belfast A ...
(born 1939) has experimented with Ulster Scots for the translation of Classical verse, as in his 1995 collection ''The Ghost Orchid''.
The writing of Philip Robinson (born 1946) has been described as verging on "
post-modern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
kailyard".
[Ferguson, Frank, ed. (2008) ''Ulster-Scots Writing''. Dublin: Four Courts Press ] He has produced a trilogy of novels ''Wake the Tribe o Dan'' (1998), ''The Back Streets o the Claw'' (2000) and ''The Man frae the Ministry'' (2005), as well as story books for children ''Esther, Quaen o tha Ulidian Pechts'' and ''Fergus an tha Stane o Destinie'', and two volumes of poetry ''Alang the Shore'' (2005) and ''Oul Licht, New Licht'' (2009).
A team in Belfast has begun translating portions of the Bible into Ulster Scots. The Gospel of Luke was published in 2009 by the Ullans Press. It is available in the YouVersion Bible Project.
Since the 1990s
In 1992 the Ulster-Scots Language Society was formed for the protection and promotion of Ulster Scots, which some of its members viewed as a language in its own right, encouraging use in speech, writing and in all areas of life.
Within the terms of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the British Government is obliged, among other things, to:
*Facilitate and/or encourage of the use of Scots in speech and writing, in public and private life.
*Provide appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of the language at all appropriate stages.
*Provide facilities enabling non-speakers living where the language is spoken to learn it if they so desire.
*Promote study and research of the language at universities of equivalent institutions.
The
Ulster-Scots Agency
The Ulster-Scots Agency (''Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch'') is a cross-border body for Ireland which seeks to "promote the study, conservation and development of Ulster-Scots as a living language, to encourage and develop the full range of its atten ...
, funded by DCAL in conjunction with the
Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media ( ga, An Roinn Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán) is a department of the Government of Ireland. The mission of the department is to promote a ...
, is responsible for promotion of greater awareness and use of Ullans and of Ulster-Scots cultural issues, both within Northern Ireland and throughout the island. The agency was established as a result of the
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
of 1998. Its headquarters are on
Great Victoria Street in central
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, while the agency has a major office in
Raphoe
Raphoe ( ; ) is a historical village in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the main town in the fertile district of East Donegal known as the Laggan, as well as giving its name to the Barony of Raphoe, which was later divided into the baronies of R ...
,
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
.
In 2001 the Institute of Ulster Scots Studies was established at the
University of Ulster
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
, image = Ulster University coat of arms.png
, caption =
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng =
, latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae
, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
.
An Ulster Scots Academy has been planned with the aim of conserving, developing, and teaching the language of Ulster-Scots in association with native speakers to the highest academic standards.
The 2010 documentary ''The Hamely Tongue'' by filmmaker Deaglán O Mocháin traces back the origins of this culture and language, and relates its manifestations in today's Ireland.
New orthographies
![Looking for the](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Looking_for_the_%22Cludgies%22%5E_-_geograph.org.uk_-_637820.jpg)
By the early 20th century the literary tradition was almost extinct, though some 'dialect' poetry continued to be written. Much
revivalist Ulster Scots has appeared, for example as "official translations", since the 1990s. However, it has little in common with traditional Scots
orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
as described in Grant and Dixon's ''Manual of Modern Scots'' (1921).
Aodán Mac Póilin
Aodán Mac Póilin (1948 – 29 December 2016) was an Irish language activist in Northern Ireland.
Background
Aodán Mac Póilin was born in Belfast and grew up in Norfolk Road in the Andersonstown area. His father worked as a civil servant a ...
, an
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
activist, has described these revivalist orthographies as an attempt to make Ulster Scots an independent written language and to achieve official status. They seek "to be as different to English (and occasionally Scots) as possible".
He described it as a hotchpotch of obsolete words,
neologism
A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
s (example: ''stour-sucker'' for ''
vacuum cleaner
A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven.
The dirt is collected by either a ...
''), redundant spellings (example: ''qoho'' for ''who'') and "erratic spelling".
This spelling "sometimes reflects everyday Ulster Scots speech rather than the conventions of either modern or historic Scots, and sometimes does not".
The result, Mac Póilin writes, is "often incomprehensible to the native speaker".
In 2000, John Kirk described the "net effect" of that "amalgam of traditional, surviving, revived, changed, and invented features" as an "artificial dialect". He added,
It is certainly not a written version of the vestigial spoken dialect of rural County Antrim, as its activists frequently urge, perpetrating the fallacy that it’s ''wor ain leid''. (Besides, the dialect revivalists claim not to be native speakers of the dialect themselves!). The colloquialness of this new dialect is deceptive, for it is neither spoken nor innate. Traditional dialect speakers find it counter-intuitive and false...[Kirk, John M. (2000) "The New Written Scots Dialect in Present–day Northern Ireland" in Magnus Ljung (ed.) ''Language Structure and Variation''; Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell; pp. 121–138.]
In 2005, Gavin Falconer questioned officialdom's complicity, writing: "The readiness of Northern Ireland officialdom to consign taxpayers’ money to a black hole of translations incomprehensible to ordinary users is worrying". Recently produced teaching materials, have, on the other hand, been evaluated more positively.
Sample texts
The three text excerpts below illustrate how the traditional written form of Ulster Scots from the 18th to early 20th century was virtually indistinguishable from contemporary written Scots from Scotland.
[Falconer, G. ''The Scots Tradition in Ulster'', Scottish Studies Review, Vol. 7/2, 2006. p.94]
''The Muse Dismissed'' (
Hugh Porter
Hugh William Porter MBE (born Wolverhampton, England, 27 January 1940) is one of Britain's greatest former professional cyclists, winning four world titles in the individual pursuit - more than any other rider - as well as a Commonwealth Games ...
1780–1839)
:Be hush'd my Muse, ye ken the morn
:Begins the shearing o' the corn,
:Whar knuckles monie a risk maun run,
:An' monie a trophy's lost an' won,
:Whar sturdy boys wi' might and main
:Shall camp, till wrists an' thumbs they strain,
:While pithless, pantin' wi' the heat,
:They bathe their weazen'd pelts in sweat
:To gain a sprig o' fading fame,
:Before they taste the dear-bought cream—
:But bide ye there, my pens an' papers,
:For I maun up, an' to my scrapers—
:Yet, min', my lass— ye maun return
:This very night we cut the churn.
''To M.H.'' (Barney Maglone 1820?–1875)
:This wee thing's o' little value,
::But for a' that it may be
:Guid eneuch to gar you, lassie,
::When you read it, think o' me.
:Think o' whan we met and parted,
::And o' a' we felt atween—
:Whiles sae gleesome, whiles doon-hearted—
::In yon cosy neuk at e'en.
:Think o' when we dander't
::Doon by Bangor and the sea;
:How yon simmer day, we wander't
::'Mang the fields o' Isle Magee.
:Think o' yon day's gleefu' daffin'
::(Weel I wot ye mind it still)
:Whan we had sic slips and lauchin',
::Spielin' daftly up Cave Hill.
:Dinna let your e'en be greetin'
::Lassie, whan ye think o' me,
:Think upo' anither meetin',
::Aiblins by a lanward sea.
From ''The Lammas Fair'' (Robert Huddleston 1814–1889)
:Tae sing the day, tae sing the fair,
::That birkies ca' the lammas;
:In aul' Belfast, that toun sae rare,
::Fu' fain wad try't a gomas.
:Tae think tae please a', it were vain,
::And for a country plain boy;
:Therefore, tae please mysel' alane,
::Thus I began my ain way,
:::::Tae sing that day.
:Ae Monday morn on Autumn's verge
::To view a scene so gay,
:I took my seat beside a hedge,
::To loiter by the way.
:Lost Phoebus frae the clouds o' night,
::Ance mair did show his face—
:Ance mair the Emerald Isle got light,
::Wi' beauty, joy, an' grace;
::::Fu' nice that day.
The examples below illustrate how 21st century Ulster Scots texts seldom adhere to the previous literary tradition, ''Yer guide tae the cheenge-ower'', perhaps being a rare exception. Instead there has been an increase in the use of somewhat creative phonetic spellings based on the perceived sound-to-letter correspondences of
Standard English
In an English-speaking country, Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone substantial regularisation and is associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and official print publications, such as public service a ...
, i.e. dialect writing, as exemplified in ''Alice's Carrànts in Wunnerlan'' or the adoption of a more esoteric "amalgam of traditional, surviving, revived, changed, and invented features"
[ as exemplified in ''Hannlin Rede''.
From ''Yer guide tae the cheenge-ower'' (digitaluk 2012)
:Dae A need a new aerial?
:Gin ye hae guid analogue reception the nou, ye'r like no tae need tae replace yer ruiftap or set-tap aerial for the cheenge-ower – thare nae sic thing as a 'deegital aerial'. But gin ye hae ill analogue reception the nou, ye’ll mebbe need tae replace it.
:Find oot by gaun til the aerial-pruifer on Teletext page 284. Anither wey is tae wait until efter the cheenge-ower for tae see if yer pictur's affect.
From '' Alice's Carrànts in Wunnerlan'' (Anne Morrison-Smyth, 2013)
:The Caterpillar an Alice lukt at ither fur a quare while wi’oot taakin: finally the Caterpillar tuk the hookah oot o its mooth, an spoke tae hir in a languid, dozy voice.
:“Wha ir yae?” said the Caterpillar.
:This wusnae a pooerfu guid openin fur a yarn. Alice answert brev an baakwardly, “A—A harly know, Sir, jest at this minute—at least A know wha A wus this moarnin, but heth, A hae bin changed a wheen o times since thin.”
:“What dae yae mean bae that?” said the Caterpillar sternly. “Explain yersel!”
:“A cannae explain maesel, A’m feart, Sir,” said Alice, “baecaas A’m naw maesel, yae see.”
:“A dinnae see,” said the Caterpillar.
:“A cannae mak it onie mair clear,” Alice answer, while polite, “fur A cannae unnerstan it maesel tae stairt wi; an baein sae monie different sizes in yin dae haes turnt mae heid.”
From ''Hannlin Rede'' nnual report''2012–2013'' ( ''Männystèr o Fairms an Kintra Fordèrin'', 2012)]
:We hae cum guid speed wi fettlin tae brucellosis, an A'm mintin at bein haleheidit tae wun tae tha stannin o bein redd o brucellosis aathegither. Forbye, A'm leukkin tae see an ettlin in core at fettlin tae tha TB o Kye, takkin in complutherin anent a screengin ontak, tha wye we'll can pit owre an inlaik in ootlay sillert wi resydentèrs. Mair betoken, but, we'll be leukkin forbye tae uphaud an ingang airtit wi tha hannlins furtae redd ootcum disayses. An we'r fur stairtin in tae leukk bodes agane fur oor baste kenmairk gate, 'at owre tha nixt wheen o yeirs wull be tha ootcum o sillerin tae aboot £60m frae resydentèrs furtae uphaud tha hale hannlin adae wi beef an tha mïlk-hoose.
See also
*Scots language
Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...
*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 ...
*Ulster Scots people
The Ulster Scots ( Ulster-Scots: ''Ulstèr-Scotch''; ga, Albanaigh Ultach), also called Ulster Scots people (''Ulstèr-Scotch fowk'') or (in North America) Scotch-Irish (''Scotch-Airisch''), are an ethnic group in Ireland, who speak an Ulst ...
*Unionism in Ireland
Unionism is a political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the United Kingdom, British Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Crown and Constitution of the United Kingdom, cons ...
—5:4 Defence of British-Unionist culture, 5.5 Ulster Scots and New Decade, New Approach
*Ulster Irish
Ulster Irish ( ga, Gaeilig Uladh, IPA=, IPA ga=ˈɡeːlʲɪc ˌʊlˠuː) is the variety of Irish spoken in the province of Ulster. It "occupies a central position in the Gaelic world made up of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man". Ulster Iri ...
*Dictionary of the Scots Language
The ''Dictionary of the Scots Language'' (DSL) ( sco, Dictionar o the Scots Leid, gd, Faclair de Chànan na Albais) is an online Scots-English dictionary, now run by Dictionaries of the Scots Language, formerly known as Scottish Language Dicti ...
*History of the Scots language
The history of the Scots language refers to how Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland developed into modern Scots.
Origins
Speakers of Northumbrian Old English settled in south eastern Scotland in the 7th century, at which time ...
*Languages of Ireland
There are a number of languages used in Ireland. Since the late eighteenth century, English has been the predominant first language, displacing Irish. A large minority claims some ability to use Irish, and it is the first language for a small ...
*Languages in the United Kingdom
English, in various dialects, is the most widely spoken language of the United Kingdom, but a number of regional languages are also spoken. These are Scots and Ulster Scots and the Celtic languages, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and, as a revi ...
*Literature in the other languages of Britain
In addition to English, literature has been written in a wide variety of other languages in Britain, that is the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey are not part of ...
* W.F. Marshall
*Mid-Ulster English
Ulster English ( sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr Inglish, ga, Béarla Ultach, also called Northern Hiberno-English or Northern Irish English) is the variety of English spoken in most of the Irish province of Ulster and throughout North ...
References
External links
BBC Ulster-Scots
BBC A Kist o Wurds
BBC Robin's Readings
The Ulster-Scots Language Society.
Ulster-Scots Academy.
Aw Ae Oo (Scots in Scotland and Ulster)
an
Aw Ae Wey (Written Scots in Scotland and Ulster)
Listen to an Ulster Scots accent.
and compare with other accents from the UK and around the World.
Language, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland.
Public policy and Scots in Northern Ireland.
Ulster Scots voices (BBC site)
Ulster-Scots Online.
Website promoting Ullans to the Gaelic community of Ireland.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulster Scots Dialects
Languages of Ireland
Languages of Northern Ireland
Scots dialects
+Dialects