Scots fowk

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The Scots fowk (Scots Gaelic: Albannaich), or Scots, is a naition an ethnic group native til Scotland. Historically thay came frae a mellin o the Pechts an Gaels, incorporatin neebourin Brítons tae the sooth as weel as invadin Germanic fowks siclike the Anglo-Saxons an the Norse.

In modren uiss, "Scots fowk" or "Scots" is uised fir tae refer tae onybody that's origins is frae within Scotland. The Laitin wird Scotti[1] oreeginally applee'd tae a parteecular, 5t century, Gaelic tribe that inhabitit Ireland.[2]

Tho fir ordinar considert airchaic or pejorative whan applied tae fowk,[3][4] the term Scotch haes been uised fir the Scots fowk an aw, but this uise is nou, tae the maist pairt, bi fowk ootwi Scotland.[5][6] The Oxford Dictionar describes Scotch as an auld-farrant term fur "Scottish".[7]

Ethnic groups o Scotland[eedit | eedit soorce]

In the earlie Middle Ages, the Kinrick o Scotland saw loads o ethnic or cultural groups, includin the Pechts, the Gaels, the Brítons, an the Angles, wi the latter settlin in the sootheast o the kintra. Cultural-like, thae fowk ur groupit bi leid. Maist o Scotland till the 13t-centurie spak Celtic leids an thae included, at least tae stairt wi, the Britons, as weel as the Gaels an the Pechts.[8] Germanic fowk included the Angles o Northumbrie, that bided in sooth-east Scotland in the airt atween the Firth o Forth tae the north an the Watter o Tweid tae the sooth. Thay occupied the sooth-wast o Scotland an aw, up tae an the plain o Kyle an thair leid, Auld Inglis, wis the earliest form o the leid that eventual-like became kent as Scots.

Uiss o the Gaelic leid spreid oothrou near the hail o Scotland bi the 9th-centurie,[9] raxin a peak in the 11t tae 13t centuries, but wis niver the leid o the sooth-east o the kintra.[9] King Edgar divided the Kinrick o Northumbrie atween Scotland an Ingland; at least, maist medieval historians nou accept the 'gift' bi Edgar, in ony case, efter the Battle o Carham the Scots kinrick encompassed many Inglis fowk, wi even mair mibbie arrivin efter the Norman invasion o Ingland in 1066. Sooth-east o the Firth o Forth, then in Lowden an the borders (oe: loðene), a northren variety o Auld Inglis, kent as earlie Scots, wis spak.

As a result o this, the King o Scots returned fae exile in Ingland in 1113, tae assume the throne in 1124 at the hinder end, wi the help o the Norman military force, King David invitit Norman faimilies fae Fraunce an Ingland tae settle in lands he grantit thaim tae spread a rulin class lyal tae hissel. This Davidian Revolution, as loads o historians caw it, brocht a European pure class o feudalism til Scotland alang wi an influx o fowk o Norman descent – bi invítation, no like Ingland whaur it wis bi conquest. Tae this day, loads o the common fowk names o Scotland can trace ancestry tae Normans fae this period, sic as the Stewarts, the Bruces, the Hamiltons, the Wallaces, the Melvilles, some Browns an loads o ithers.

The Northren Isles an some bits o Caithness wis Norn-speakin (the wast o Caithness wis Gaelic-speakin till the 20t-centurie, as war some wee communities in bits o the mids Hielands). Fae 1200 tae 1500 the earlie Scots leid spreid aw ower the Lawland airts o Scotland atween Galloway an the Hieland line, bein used bi Barbour in his historical epic the Brus in the late 14t-centurie in Aiberdeen.

Fae 1500 onward, Scotland wis commonly divided bi leid intae twa groups o fowk, Gaelic-speakin "Hielanders" (the leid formerly cried Scottis bi Inglis speakers an kent bi mony Lawlanders in the 18t-century as Erse) an the Inglis-speakin "Lowlanders" (a leid efter tae be cried Scots). The day, immigrants hae broucht ower ither leids, but awmaist ilka adult oothrou Scotland is fluent in the Inglis leid.

Etymology  [eedit | eedit soorce]

Oríginally, the Romans uised Scotia tae refer tae the Gaels bidin in Ireland. The Venerable Bede (c. 672 or 673 – 27 Mey, 735) uises the wird Scottorum fur the nation fae Ireland that settlt pairt o the Pictish lands: "Scottorum nationem in pictorum parte recipit." We can infer this tae mean the arrival o the fowk, kent forby as the Gaels, in the kinrick o Dál Riata, in the wastren lip o Scotland. It's tae note that Bede uised the wird natio (nation) fur tae refer tae the Scots, whaur he aften refers tae ither fowk, sic as the Picts, wi the wird gens (race).[10] In the 10t-centurie Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the wird Scot is mentioned as a reference tae the "land o the Gaels". The wird 'Scottorum' wis uised again bi an Erse king in 1005: Imperator scottorum wis the title gien tae Brian Bóruma bi his notary, Mael Suthain, in the Book o Armagh.[11] This style wis subsequently copied bi the Scots kings. Basileus scottorum appears on the Great Seal o King Edgar (1074–1107).[12] Alexander (c. 1078–1124) uised the wurds rex scottorum on his Great Seal, as did mony o his successors up tae Jamie the Saxt.[13]

In modren times, the wurds Scot an Scots ur applied mainly tae inhabitants o Scotland. The maybee aye ancient Irish connotations ur maistly forgat. The leid kent as Ulster Scots, spak in bits o North-east Ireland, is the result o 17t an 18t-centurie immigration tae Ireland fae Scotland.

Fitmerks[eedit | eedit soorce]

  1. Bede uised a Laitin form o the wird Scots as the name o the Gaels o Dál Riata. Roger Collins, Judith McClure; Beda el Venerable, Bede (1999). The Ecclesiastical History of the English People: The Greater Chronicle ; Bede's Letter to Egbert. Oxford University Press. pp. 386.
  2. Anthony Richard (TRN) Birley, Cornelius Tacitus; Cayo Cornelio Tácito (1999). Agricola and Germany. Oxford University Press.
  3. Scotch | Define Scotch at Dictionary.com
  4. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Scotch usage note, Encarta Dictionary Archived 20 Apryle 2006 at the Wayback Machine usage note.
  5. "Scotch is still in occasional contemporary use outwith Scotland"
  6. John Kenneth Galbraith in his book The Scotch (Toronto: MacMillan, 1964) documents how the descendants of 19th century pioneers from Scotland who settled in Southwestern Ontario affectionately referred to themselves as Scotch. He states the book was meant to give a true picture of life in the Scotch-Canadian community in the early decades of the 20th century.
  7. "Definition of scotch". Askoxford.com. 27 September 2012. Archived frae the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  8. Jackson, "The Language of the Picts", discussed by Forsyth, Language in Pictland.
  9. a b Clancy, Thomas Owen (13 Julie 2006). "Gaelic Scotland: a brief history". bord-na-gaidhlig.org.uk. Archived frae the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2007. "Archived copy". Archived frae the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  10. Harris, Stephen J. (1 October 2003). Race and Ethnicity in Anglo-Saxon Literature. Routledge (UK). p. 72. ISBN.
  11. Moody, Theodore William; Martin, Francis X.; Byrne, F. J. (2005). "XXV Ireland and her neighbours, c.1014-c.1072". In Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí (ed.). A New History of Ireland. Oxford University Press. p. 862. ISBN 978-0-19-821737-4. Retrieved 12 Julie 2016.
  12. Freer, Allan (1871). The North British Review. Edmonston & Douglas. p. 119. and Robertson, Eben William (1862). Scotland Under Her Early Kings: a history of the kingdom to the close of the thirteenth century. Edmonston and Douglas. p. 286.
  13. Pryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E., eds. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-521-56350-5. Retrieved 12 Julie 2016.