LL-L "Resources" 2002.02.20 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 20.FEB.2002 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Resources

Dear Lowlanders,

I am sure quite a few of you will be interested to read an article "The Baird
Letters" about a collection of letters written in Scots around 1600, to which
Graeme Davis, the author (University of Northumbria, UK), kindly drew our
attention in our visitors book.  The article has appeared in the online
edition of _Journal of Language and Linguistics_, vol. 1, at
http://www.jllonline.net/.

Below the abstract:

<quote>
This edition of The Baird Letters presents an example of the Scots language in
its golden age. The Aberdonian authors utilise the Edinburgh written standard
of a language which at that time stood in all respects equal with English.
This rich medium is used in their letters over a period of twenty years to
tell a story full of illumination on the clan system before Culloden and the
religious strife of Scotland, and rich with the enduring human themes of
fraternal love and separation. These letters deserve to be read: by those who
appreciate their linguistic significance; by those who value the language and
culture of Scotland; and those willing to appreciate a series of letters as a
literary work.
</quote>

In the introductory section:

<quote>

The value of the letters today is threefold:

* They provide a linguistic example of the golden age of written Scots

* They are a living historic document set against a background of a
  robust clan system and the religious conflicts of Scotland, England,
  France and Flanders

* They are an emotive story of a correspondence maintained over twenty
years

</quote>

And for Andy, Colin, John Magnus, Sandy, and everyone else interested in Scots
literature, orthography and/or standardization this bit from the "Linguistic
Framework" section:

<quote>

The orthography of sixteenth century Scots is relatively homogeneous.
Edinburgh was the only place where Scots materials were printed, and this
resulted in the creation of a printed standard based upon the Midlothian
dialect of Edinburgh. Scots who read printed Scots modelled their own writing
upon it, so that while spoken Scots of the period was characterised by a
multiplicity of dialects, written Scots is the Scots of Midlothian, and may be
regarded as a Scottish national standard language.

The Scots language reached its zenith at the end of the sixteenth century. At
this date many written registers used Scots. Scots had a substantial
literature, which in the early years of the century may be considered to
surpass that of England in quality, and Scotland produced all its
administrative, legal and business documents in Scots. Only religious
documents in Scots are lacking - the adoption of the 1560 Geneva Bible in
Scotland established English, not Scots, as the written language of religion.

</quote>

This seems to be a very interesting and easily readable article also for those
of us who are less versed but interested in Scots matters.  It is also nice
that the article can be downloaded in MS Word format as well.

Enjoy!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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