Scots (ethnic group)

The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ''Alba'') in the 9th century. In the following two centuries, the Celtic-speaking Cumbrians of Strathclyde and the Germanic-speaking Angles of north Northumbria became part of Scotland. In the High Middle Ages, during the 12th-century Davidian Revolution, small numbers of Norman nobles migrated to the Lowlands. In the 13th century, the Norse-Gaels of the Western Isles became part of Scotland, followed by the Norse of the Northern Isles in the 15th century.

In modern usage, "Scottish people" or "Scots" refers to anyone whose linguistic, cultural, family ancestral or genetic origins are from Scotland. The Latin word ''Scoti'' originally referred to the Gaels, but came to describe all inhabitants of Scotland. Considered pejorative by some, the term Scotch has also been used for Scottish people, primarily outwith Scotland.

People of Scottish descent live in many countries. Emigration, influenced by factors such as the Highland and Lowland Clearances, Scottish emigration to various locales throughout the British Empire, and latterly industrial decline and unemployment, have resulted in the spread of Scottish languages and culture. Large populations of Scottish people settled the 'New World' lands of North and South America, Australia and New Zealand. The highest concentrations of people of Scottish descent in the world outside of Scotland are in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in Canada, Otago and Murihiku/Southland in New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. Canada has the highest level of Scottish descendants per capita in the world and the second-largest population of Scottish descendants, after the United States.

Etymology

Originally the Romans used Scotia to refer to Ireland.

The Venerable Bede (c. 672 or 673 – 27 May, 735) uses the word ''Scottorum'' for the nation from Ireland who settled part of the Pictish lands: "''Scottorum nationem in Pictorum parte recipit''." This can be inferred to mean the arrival of the people, also known as the Gaels, in the Kingdom of Dál Riata, in the western edge of Scotland. It is of note that Bede used the word ''natio'' (nation) for the Scots, where he often refers to other peoples, such as the Picts, with the word ''gens'' (race). In the 10th-century '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', the word ''Scot'' is mentioned as a reference to the "Land of the Gaels". The word ''Scottorum'' was again used by an Irish king in 1005: ''Imperator Scottorum'' was the title given to Brian Bóruma by his notary, Mael Suthain, in the Book of Armagh. This style was subsequently copied by the Scottish kings. '' Basileus Scottorum'' appears on the great seal of King Edgar (1074–1107). Alexander I (c. 1078–1124) used the words '' Rex Scottorum'' on his great seal, as did many of his successors up to and including James VI.

In modern times the words ''Scot'' and ''Scottish'' are applied mainly to inhabitants of Scotland. The possible ancient Irish connotations are largely forgotten. The language known as '' Ulster Scots'', spoken in parts of northeastern Ireland, is the result of 17th- and 18th-century immigration to Ireland from Scotland.

In the English language, the word '' Scotch'' is a term to describe a thing from Scotland, such as ''Scotch whisky''. However, when referring to people, the preferred term is ''Scots''. Many Scottish people find the term ''Scotch'' to be offensive when applied to people.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Scotch usage note

usage note. The Oxford Dictionary describes ''Scotch'' as an old-fashioned term for "Scottish".

Scottish ethnic and cultural groups

History of ethnogeneses

In the Early Middle Ages, Scotland saw several ethnic or cultural groups mentioned in contemporary sources, namely the Picts, the Gaels, the Britons, and the Angles, with the last of these settling in the southeast of the country. Culturally, these peoples are grouped according to language. Most of Scotland until the 13th century spoke Celtic languages, and these included, at least initially, the Britons, as well as the Gaels and the Picts. Germanic peoples included the Angles of Northumbria, who settled in south-eastern Scotland in the region between the Firth of Forth to the north and the River Tweed to the south. They also occupied the southwest of Scotland up to and including the Plain of Kyle. Their language, Old English, was the earliest form of the language which eventually became known as Scots.

Use of the Gaelic language spread throughout nearly the whole of Scotland by the 9th century, reaching a peak in the 11th to 13th centuries, but was never the language of the south-east of the country. King Edgar divided the Kingdom of Northumbria between Scotland and England; at least, most medieval historians now accept the 'gift' by Edgar. In any case, after the later Battle of Carham the Scottish kingdom encompassed many English people, with even more quite possibly arriving after the Norman invasion of England in 1066. South-east of the Firth of Forth, then in Lothian and the Borders ( OE: ''Loðene''), a northern variety of Old English, also known as Early Scots, was spoken.

As a result of David I, King of Scots' return from exile in England in 1113, ultimately to assume the throne in 1124 with the help of Anglo-Norman military force, David invited Anglo-Norman families from France and England to settle in lands he granted them to spread a ruling class loyal to him. This Davidian Revolution, as many historians call it, brought a European style of feudalism to Scotland along with an influx of people of French descent – by invitation, unlike England where it was by conquest. To this day, many of the common family names of Scotland can trace ancestry to Normans from this period, such as the Stewarts, the Bruces, the Hamiltons, the Wallaces and the Melvilles.

The Northern Isles and some parts of Caithness were Norn-speaking (the west of Caithness was Gaelic-speaking into the 20th century, as were some small communities in parts of the Central Highlands). From 1200 to 1500, the Early Scots language spread across the lowland parts of Scotland between Galloway and the Highland line, being used by Barbour in his historical epic ''The Brus'' in the late 14th century in Aberdeen.

From 1500 on, Scotland was commonly divided by language into two groups of people, Gaelic-speaking " Highlanders" (the language formerly called Scottis by English speakers and known by many Lowlanders in the 18th century as " Erse") and the Inglis-speaking " Lowlanders" (a language later to be called Scots). However, movement between the two regions increased over the last few centuries. Highlanders moved to major cities (e.g. Glasgow and Edinburgh) and regions bordering the southern Highlands (e.g. Lowland Stirlingshire and Perthshire). This is evidenced by people with traditional Gaelic surnames (including anglicised varieties) currently living in these areas. Lowlanders also settled in Highland regions such as Moray, which was traditionally Gaelic-speaking but replaced with Doric in the 19th century.Withers, C. ''Gaelic in Scotland 1698-1981'' (1984) John Donald Publishers Today, immigrants have brought other languages, such as Polish, Punjabi and Urdu