LL-L: "Language politics" LOWLANDS-L, 19.JAN.2000 (01) [E]

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From: Robin Huggett [Rhuggett at datasource.net]
Subject: LL-L: "Language politics" LOWLANDS-L, 18.JAN.2000 (01) [E]

Dear Lowlands-L List,
I do not post here much as I feel I don't have much to contribute in the way
of knowledge of the Scots Language. I belong to a Scottish Living History
Group (Clann Tartan www.clanntartan.org ) Re-enacting Highland Life of
Scotland of the early 1600's. In this group I am a novice as well having only
been active for two years. However, after learning that I signed up for this
list and listening to all the information that I have been relating to our
group, I have been asked by the editor of our newsletter to write an article
on the Scots Language. I am very excited at this prospect. I would be very
grateful that upon completion of my first draft if any of you would be willing
to critique and correct any errors to the article. Like I said I am new to
this list as well and so I am sure I will be making errors and missing
information profusely!

I would also like to comment on Andy's comment:
<<It's a myth that each clan had its own tartan etc. etc.
Its only since WWII and later that it's become fashionable in the lowlands
to get married in Kilts.>>
I had to smile at this because Clann Tartan has been working hard to banish
the myth about certain tartan patterns being assigned to families, etc. at so
early a time period. Hollywood's Braveheart did not due justice to accurate
history with its insuation of family tartans as far back as Wallace. Even in
the early 1600's tartans usually were more identified with the local weaver
than with a particular family. It was whatever colors and dyes he liked or was
even able to get his hands on at the time. Bravo Andy!
Thanks again for everyones input into this discussion of the Scot Language; I
have been learning so much and hope to share that with our members of Clann
Tartan.
Sincerely,
Robin Glabe

Robin K. Huggett
Administrative Assistant
DataSource Hagen
(612) 836-2028
Rhuggett at Datasource.net
www.Datasource.net

----------

From: Florian Lohbrunner [Lobbe.MacTanner at t-online.de]
Subject:  LL-L: "Language politics" LOWLANDS-L, 18.JAN.2000 (01) [E]

This is what I found on the web page (http://www.siol-nan-gaidheal.com) of
"sìol
nan Gaidheal" ("Race" of the Gaels), a nationalist pressure group

>The Gaelic Language
>
>Had there never been the Gaelic language, there would never have been a
country
>called Scotland or a people calling themselves Scots. This basic premise
cannot
>be overlooked by all those who wish to see the restoration of independent
>national sovereignty for Scotland. A clear recognition of our indigenous
>cultural identity and a thorough understanding of the historical processes
>behind its alienation must surely form, as it does in other countries, the
>bedrock of any viable nationalist ideology. Scots shall reaffirm their
political
>independence not only because their country is a deserving economic cause,
but
>also through the reawakening of its cultural identity—of which Gaelic is,
>undoubtedly the keystone. Understanding our cultural and linguistic history
is
>the first step in understanding our political history and it is therefore
>essential that nationalists view the ethnicity of the Scottish nation not as
>some controversial liability but on the contrary as a natural asset to the
cause
>of freedom. What, fundamentally, makes us Scots—is it economic and fiscal
>victimisation or a national identity based on a thousand and more years of
>Gaelic/Celtic language and culture?
>
>There is little doubt that Scotland’s culture has changed over the centuries
and
>that, as in other countries, cultural influences from neighbouring lands have

>played their part in shaping our historical national identity. It is
significant
>however that the most salient and distinctive feature of our nationality—the
>Gaelic language—has been progressively marginalised over the centuries.
>
>>From its pre-eminent position as the national language of Alba as a whole in
the
>11th century (witness the Gaelic place-names throughout lowland Scotland from

>the North East to Galloway) to its present situation as the mother tongue of
>some 80,000 people living in the Western Isles and in exiled pockets in the
>cities, Gaelic has undergone a decline which, though not terminal, has been
>nevertheless tragic in terms of its loss of revelance to modern-day cultural
>aspirations.
>
>The establishment of English (whether of the standard or dialect variety;
>"Scots/Lallans") as the everyday language of Scotland has been a long
historical
>process and in many ways reflects the gradual subordination to outside (ie -
>English) interests of our nation’s cultural and political life. Dynastic
>marriages, English courtiers, the establishment of Royal Burghs along the
East
>coast and Lowland areas in the early Middle Ages gave the English language
its
>first foothold in Celtic, Gaelic-speaking Scotland and provided bridgeheads
from
>which it would strengthen its takeover from Gaelic as the tongue of royalty
and
>commerce.
>
>Political imperatives during the following centuries forced the prime-movers
and
>rulers of feudal Scotland to change the name of their recently acquired
language
>from "Inglis" (the language of the enemy over the border) to "Scottis", a
wholly
>more patriotic term. Thus Gaelic, the Scottish language, was displaced
>politically as the language of those"wild and barbaric people" who had clung
on
>tenaciously to their non-metropolitan ways—their tongue was now termed
>disparagingly "Erse" or "Irish".
>
>It would be over-simplifying however to postulate that this linguistic
division
>reflected deeper and more wide-ranging conflicts of interest between Highland

>and Lowland Scotland. In reality pre-Union Scotland displayed a remarkable
>consistency throughout the country in terms of societal, economic and
cultural
>values. Those values that most differed—religion and language—did not
undermine
>the common cement of Scottish nationhood which all Albannaich shared, and in
an
>age where imperialist English armies threatened Scotland on an almost
constant
>basis, the unitary nature of the state was a priority to all.
>
>The 18th century and the upheaval of the Union changed Scotland’s political
>landscape as no other period had done before and the culture of the country
was
>radically altered. Internecine and feudal conflicts, the Reformation and
>dynastic intrigue through the centuries were as nothing compared to the Union

>and its institutionalised destruction of the Scottish national identity. An
>almost totally anglified ruling caste proceeded in implementing a policy of
>systematic anglicisation, strengthening a shift in values that had already
been
>initiated with previous Scottish monarchs. Gaelic suffered as it had never
>suffered before. Divide-and-conquer politics enabled the English government
to
>secure the support of key Lowland interests in their campaign to root out
>dissent in those areas of Scotland, especially the Highlands, still
culturally
>and therefore politically antagonistic to pan-English rule. "Improving",
>"enlightened" and in the end, traitorous Scottish aristocrats saw to the
>implementation of such policies notably after the last Jacobite Rising of
>1745-1746.
>
>Culloden marked the end of traditional Gaelic society in Scotland and what
>genocide could not complete, ethnocide and the "Clearances", encouraged by
SSPCK
>and other religious interests, finished off. As Scotland grew more
>industrialised, rural migration to the cities became a way of life. Landlords
in
>the Highlands saw to it that sheep and sporting estates replaced the
livelihoods
>of tens of thousands of people. Displaced, cleared and emigrant Scots now
viewed
>their Gaelic language as an impediment to their "improvement". A demoralised
>people, more often than not, turn against their own culture and this most
>definitely occurred with Highlanders in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
>"You’ll not get anywhere with that Gaelic tongue in your head" became an
>educational stick-literally-with which to beat any lingering cultural dissent

>out of Highland Scottish minds.
>
>Gaelic suffered immeasurably at the hands of Scoto-British education, and
this
>destructive process, though relenting, has by no means disappeared. The
>establishment of a compulsory, national education system, determined
ultimately
>by British imperatives at Westminster, introduced in effect an anti-Scottish
>institution in the heart of Scottish life. In schools throughout Scotland,
>emphasis was and still is on Anglo-British culture, English history, English
>literature and the English imperial world-view.
>
>Gaelic in this context, along with Scottish literature and history, has been
at
>best ignored and at worse repressed. Inferiorisation of all aspects of
>Scotland’s Celtic identity has been ruthlessly pursued by anglicised
>educationalists loyal to Britain and its vested cultural interests.
>
>Scotland, in this respect, has been no different to other colonised
societies.
>As Scots, we have had to endure British/English propaganda in education and
the
>media distorting our history and culture, dismissing its most salient and
>distinctive features and promoting, on the other hand, colourful kitsch and
>couthiness, making Scots the world over a cultural laughing stock.
>
>We have in Gaelic a true expression of Scottishness, one that is
communicative
>and outward looking, based on the unique experience and environment of this
>country and its people.
>
>Language is of course not only a means of communication, it is also the
>expression of a nation’s consciousness. The colonising of Scottish thought by

>English values, linguistic and social, has meant that many Scots regard
Gaelic
>as foreign to their identity. Our Nation’s consciousness and sense of itself
is
>tragically divorced from what makes us so different from, say, our closest
>English neighbours in Northumbria. Yet our place names and family names, even
in
>Lowland Scotland it must be stressed, bear testimony to an indigenous
language
>and culture which we must now recognise as central to our aspirations.
>
>Many Scots are only three or four generations removed from Gaelic-speaking
>ancestors, and many others are related to those Scots still fortunate enough
to
>speak our ancient language, in the Highlands and Islands. In an independent
>Scotland, these Scots must be given opportunity to explore their heritage
>through an education system that relates their identity to language—not only
>English but also Gaelic.
>
>A bilingual future for our children is no more a pipe dream than independence

>itself—both are possible given the political will. A bilingual population,
>versed in a unique culture and with the linguistic skills to apprehend the
>languages and cultures of our European neighbours could only be an asset to
an
>independent Scotland. As a menaced language with very few truly native
speakers
>left, Gaelic must be valued at an official level. It must be given official
>status alongside English and must be promoted in a co-ordinated fashion.
Bodies
>such as An Comunn Gaidhealach, CNAG, CLI, the Gaelic Books Council, Comhairle

>nan Sgoiltean Araich etc. are doing laudable work at present in favour of the

>language, but they remain pressure groups with little or no political
back-up.
>An independent Scottish government with a commitment to Scottish culture in
>general and our indigenous language in particular would need to create a
>national committee structure with the remit of spreading the use and
encouraging
>the teaching of Gaelic in every sphere of Scottish life. A ministry devoted
to
>Gaelic working in concert with other government agencies would provide the
>infrastructure for regenerating the language.
>
>Promotion of the language in education must be implemented in a constructive,

>positive manner—avoiding the counter-productive example of compulsory Gaelic
in
>the Republic of Ireland’s schools. The Welsh experience, especially in the
field
>of broadcasting, provides a useful example of how a language with official
>status, encouraged and promoted in imaginative ways, can prove an attractive
>proposition to people with no prior knowledge of it.
>
>Pride in one’s history and culture, in that which is unique is not a thing to
be
>ashamed of, Scotland and its people have an abundance of each. The great pity

>therefore is that the vast majority of our young people know almost nothing
>about the culture which defined our past. The world press reported recently
that
>after a showing of the film "Braveheart" people in cinemas across Scotland
went
>wild, screaming the name of the hero William Wallace, and "Freedom for
>Scotland". It was apparent that the vast majority of Scots who watched this
film
>had in fact little prior knowledge of who "Wallace" was or what role he had
>played in Scotland's history. This is a prime example of the English/British
>suppression of all things Scottish. It has to be wondered in this instance
just
>how many who watched this film, understood the few Gaelic phrases used in
it...
>a language the quasi-totality of the Scottish army of the time would have
spoken
>on a daily basis.
>
>Gaelic is part of our make-up, without it we cease to be Scots in the truest
>possible sense. We must all strive to restore it to the centre of our
>aspirations. Bilingualism is a forward-looking, humanist philosophy which
>challenges the bland Anglo-American culture that we, as Scots, are force-fed
>daily. The Gaelic cause is the cause of Scotland. The struggle for a healthy
>Gaelic language has been and is a difficult one, fought in the face of
>overwhelming imperialist odds, but it will undoubtedly help to create a New
>Scotland, becoming a living symbol of a people at last confident and proud of

>their unique indentity.

Some personal comments on this virtual "pamphlet":
a) I'm neither a member of this group nor the author of this text. I just
found
it interesting to see the other point of view - quasi anti-Scots view.
b) The author obviously dreams of a kind of medieval Scotland and he doesn't
recognize widely know  historical and linguistic facts (Scots is NOT the same
as
"English" but a language on its own etc.)

Regards,

Florian L.

----------

From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Language politics

Thanks for that piece (above), Florian.  It "nicely" illustrates the point I
was trying to make, namely that, in reaction to English (= "Saxon" =
"Germanic") domination, there have been attempts by some to portrait Scotland
as an essentially non-Germanic yet forcibly Germanicized nation even within a
modern context.  Of course, Germanization also happened to originally
Celtic-speaking England, but I guess that can be conveniently ignored.
Unfortunately, this highly simplistic picture is freely adopted by the
international media, and most people I know think of Gaelic as the true,
original language of Scotland.

I wonder if these people are proposing that Scotland was without language or
perhaps even unpopulated before the arrival of Gaelic speakers in Argyle from
Northern Ireland around 500 CE.  Theoretically speaking, they ought really be
doing their best to unearth and revive Pictish, the earliest language (also
Celtic) known to be spoken in Scotland, and they ought to be promoting Welsh
in Strathclyde.  Are the Celtic-rooted placenames in the Lowlands really all
of Gaelic origin, or could they be Pictish in origin?

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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