Billy Kay (born 1951) is a Scottish writer, broadcaster and language activist. He developed an early interest in language, studying English, French, German and Russian at

Kilmarnock Academy Kilmarnock Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Chille Mheàrnaig''), formerly Kilmarnock Burgh School, is a state-funded secondary school in Kilmarnock, Scotland, currently located on Sutherland Drive in the New Farm Loch area of the town. T ...

and English literature at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

.Smith, Graham R., "Billy Kay", in Parker, Geoff (ed.), ''Cencrastus'' No. 20, Spring 1985, pp. 2 - 7, His study of the history and status 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 commo ...

, ''Scots: The Mither Tongue'', his most notable work, was later adapted for a television series, and an audiobook, recorded after setting up a home studio during the

COVID-19 lockdown Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

. Kay thought that many people would not have heard 'how the language sounds' in major Scots literature such as Barbour's ''Brus,'' R.L. Stevenson's '' Thrawn Janet'', works by

MacDiarmid McDiarmid, also MacDiarmid, is an Irish surname originating from a high king of Ireland circa 657 AD, popular in Scotland. People Notable people with this surname include: McDiarmid * Archie McDiarmid (1881–1957), Scottish-born Canadian tra ...

and Burns or the

Border Ballads Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...

covered in his book: a sound version, he said, would 'fill a big gap' in people's 'knowledge and appreciation of a great tradition'.

''Odyssey''

Kay's popular radio series, ''Odyssey'', broadcast by

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

in 1979, was a ground-breaking work of oral history which captured the diverse experiences of men and women across Scotland, including migrants from Donegal,

Kintyre Kintyre ( gd, Cinn Tìre, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately nor ...

fishermen,

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Unite ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

jute workers,

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the n ...

whalers,

Tiree Tiree (; gd, Tiriodh, ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, ...

emigrants to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, and servicemen seeking to exercise their land rights on returning to

Knoydart Knoydart (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cnòideart'') is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, on the west coast of Scotland. Knoydart is sandwiched between Lochs Nevis and Hourn — often translated as "Loch Heaven" (from the Gaelic ''Loch Néimh'') an ...

after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The following year, ''Odyssey: Voices from Scotland’s Recent Past'', a collection of material drawn from the first series, was published by Polygon Books. Despite the success of the first ''Odyssey'' radio series, no money was forthcoming to make any further programmes.

Stewart Conn Stewart Conn (born 1936) is a Scottish poet and playwright, born in Hillhead Hillhead ( sco, Hullheid, gd, Ceann a' Chnuic) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is ...

, BBC Scotland's Head of Drama, stepped in, attaching Kay to the drama department to ensure that the project survived. Three radio series of ''Odyssey'' were broadcast and a series was commissioned for television. ''Odyssey: Voices from Scotland's Recent Past: The Second Collection'', based on material from the later series, was published by Polygon in 1982. Kay drew on material on Dundee's female jute workers collected for the ''Odyssey'' series in writing ''Jute!'', which was broadcast as a dramatised documentary directed by Marylin Ireland.

''Knee Deep in Claret''

''Knee Deep in

Claret Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...

: A Celebration of Wine and Scotland'', a collaboration with Cailean Maclean published by Mainstream in 1984, used the theme of Scotland's relationship with wine to explore aspects of Scottish culture from the 13th to the 20th centuries. A television programme based on the book was broadcast in the same year.

Bibliography

* ''Made in Scotland'' (contributor), Carcanet, 1974, * ''Odyssey: Voices from Scotland's Recent Past'' (editor), Polygon, 1980, * ''Odyssey: Voices from Scotland's Recent Past - the Second Collection'' (editor), Polygon, 1982, * ''Knee Deep in Claret: A Celebration of Wine and Scotland'' (with Cailean Maclean), Mainstream, 1983, * ''Scots: The Mither Tongue'', Mainstream, 1986, * ''The Dundee Book: An Anthology of Living in the City'' (editor), Mainstream, 1990 * ''The New Makars'' (contributor),

Mercat Press Mercat Press is an imprint of the Edinburgh, Scotland-based publishing company Birlinn Limited. It was established in 1970 as a subsidiary of the bookseller James Thin, and published facsimile editions of out-of-print Scottish works, such as t ...

, 1991 * ''The Scots Map and Guide'', MMA Maps, 1993 * ''A Tongue in Yer Heid'' (contributor),

B & W Publishing Black & White Publishing is an independent publishing house based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Since 1999, the company has produced a range of titles, with more than 350 in print, including over 50 in the award-winning ''Itchy Coo' ...

, 1994, * ''Scotland and Ulster'' (contributor), Mercat Press, 1994, * ''Mak it New'' (contributor), Mercat Press, 1995, * ''The Complete Odyssey: Voices from Scotland's Recent Past'' (editor), Polygon, 1996, * ''The Scottish World: A Journey into the Scottish Diaspora'', Mainstream, 2006 * ''Scotland and the Easter Rising: Fresh Perspectives on 1916'' (contributor), Luath Press, * audiobook: ''Scots: The Mither Tongue''

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or ru ...

2021

Prizes and awards

*1973 Grierson Verse Prize (University of Edinburgh) *1974/75 Slom Prize for writing in Scots *1989 New York Radio Festival Silver Medal (radio series) The Scots of Ulster *1992 New York Radio Festival Bronze Medal (radio series) The Road and the Miles *1994 Sloan Prize - University of St Andrews (radio play) Lucky's Strike *1994 Wine Guild Houghton Award (radio programme) Fresche Fragrant Clairettis *1995 Heritage Society Award *1996 Wines of France Award Knee Deep in Claret: A Celebration of Wine and Scotland *2019

Mark Twain Award The Mark Twain Readers Award, or simply Mark Twain Award, is a children's book award which annually recognizes one book selected by vote of Missouri schoolchildren from a list prepared by librarians and volunteer readers. It is now one of four M ...

*2019 Scots Media Person of the Year

References

External links

* (audiobook
Scots: The Mither Tongue