Crackers, Cohees and Burns

Backcountry Notes ^ | March 30, 2010 | Jay Henderson

[jay1949]

Prof. (Emeritus) Michael Montgomery has done a fine job of showing that Scottish English, imported primarily by the Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots or Scots-Irish, if you prefer), had a greater impact on the Appalachian English dialect than did the tongues of Southern England, which predominated in the coastal colonial settlements. In his essay "How Scotch-Irish Is Your English? -- The Ulster Heritage of East Tennessee Speech" Montgomery discusses the rise and fall of two such words, "cracker" and "cohee" . . .

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[Born Conservative]

bfl

[Hawthorn]

Nothing is more likely to rile up a lowland Scot than to tell him that he speaks a "dialect of English."

No, he'll tell you, he doesn't. Lowland Scots is a separate language!

(It's sometimes referred to as "Lollans," whereas the slightly different version spoken in northern Ireland is called "Ullans.")

[DManA]

Seems like there's a real brew-ha-ha brewing over this question.

showing that Scottish English, imported primarily by the Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots or Scots-Irish, if you prefer), had a greater impact on the Appalachian English dialect than did the tongues of Southern England,

[the long march]

Scotch is a drink not a people. Makes me not want to read any further since the writer is not smart enough to know that

[jay1949]

As it happens, ‘tis yourself who needs educating.

Start here: http://www.ulsterscotslanguage.com/en/texts/scotch-irish/scotch-irish-or-scots-irish/

[the long march]

Nah. For those of us who are Scottish it is only the outlanders, the low landers, and the English who call us that. It is a and always has been a term of derision. If you have a drop of celtic blood in you you wouldknow that

[jay1949]

There are primarily three languages spoken in Scotland today: Scottish English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic

http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/ScotLit/ASLS/SWE/ScotUnivLinks.html

See also: http://thecapitalscot.com/pastfeatures/scots-language.html

Scots language

The form of the English language as traditionally spoken and written in Scotland, regarded by some scholars as a distinct language. Scots derives from the Northumbrian dialect of Anglo-Saxon or Old English, and has been a literary language since the 14th century.

It is also known as Inglis (now archaic, and a variant of ‘English’), Lallans (‘Lowlands’), Lowland Scots (in contrast with the Gaelic of the Highlands and Islands), and ‘the Doric’ (as a rustic language in contrast with the ‘Attic’ or ‘Athenian’ language of Edinburgh's literati, especially in the 18th century). It is also often referred to as Broad Scots in contrast to the anglicized language of the middle classes.

Scots has been spoken in southeast Scotland since the 7th century. During the Middle Ages it spread to the far north, blending with the Norn dialects of Orkney and Shetland (once distinct varieties of Norse). Scots has a wide range of poetry, ballads, and prose records, including two national epic poems: John Barbour's Brus and Blind Harry's Wallace. With the transfer of the court to England upon the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the dissemination of the King James Bible, Scots ceased to be a national and court language, but has retained its vitality among the general population and in various literary and linguistic revivals.

Words originating in Scots that are now widely used in English include bonnie (= good-looking), glamour, raid, and wee (= small). In Scotland a wide range of traditional Scots usage intermixes with standard English.

http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Scots+language

[jay1949]

Sorry to be disagreeable, but I have plenty of Scottish blood from both sides of the family, and what I do know is that you are mistaken.

[Hawthorn]

Here’s a little sample of the Scots language, taken from the Bible, Book of Solomon, Chapter I, verses 10-19:

Mv laddie, gin sinners wad weise ye awa,
Hae nocht to dae wi’ ane o’ them.
Gin they micht be sayin t’ye,—
“Hey, my lad! Yoke wi’ oorsels;
Lat us be snowkin thegither for blude;
Lat us slink aboot, in hiddlins, eftir the hairmless;
Lat us swallow them ootricht,
As the very grave itsel wad dae’t;
Ay! clean oot o’ sicht,
As tho’ they had a’ ploppit ower
Intil some gaipin black moss-hag:
“Eh! but we’ll mak a gausie scran o’t;
We’ll pang oor hooses fu’ o’ the gettins:
Tak pot-luck wi’ us, my lad,
Gang share-an’-share alike,
Jist ae muckle wallet ‘mang us a’.”
My laddie, for ony sake, I’m sayin,
Cleek nane wi’ the sornin loons;
Haud aff their gate;
They’re ettlin on naething but wrang,
An’ maybe—-wha kens-—the skailin o’ blude
Afore a’s dune.
It’s a gey gawkie bird, is yon same ane,
That haps straucht alang to be trappit
In some kenspeckle girn,
Loopit up an’ laid oot,
In the sicht o’ its goupin een.
An’ sic-like as I’m tellin ye o’, enoo,
Are fanklin an’ girnin themsels:
They’re no thinkin this o’t, I wat,
Still-an’-on it’s the truth:
It’s themsels an’ their weal,
Wi’ their snowkin an’ slinkin aboot,
That, belyve, they’ll be whummlin ower.
That’s the fac’: that’s the ootcome to a’
Wha troke wi’ the glaumin o’ greed;
An’ ye’se see’t for yersel: their ain lives it’ll be,
That they’ll taiver an’ smoor in the lang-run.

Nuw don ye go atellin me hit’s a “dialect of English.”

Nope, it’s altogether a different language!

[jay1949]

It seems you need to break the news to the Scots, who believe that there is such a thing as Scottish English.

“There are primarily three languages spoken in Scotland today: Scottish English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic”

http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/ScotLit/ASLS/SWE/ScotUnivLinks.html

See also: http://thecapitalscot.com/pastfeatures/scots-language.html

[Hawthorn]

>> It seems you need to break the news to the Scots, who believe that there is such a thing as Scottish English <<

Well, of course there’s such a thing. But the ardent Scottish nationalist doesn’t want to speak it. He wants to speak Scots!

[cva66snipe]

Thanks.