Scots: The Mither Tongue

HONORARY PRESES O THE SCOTS LEID ASSOCIE

In September month 2010, it wes speirit o me gin I wad take ower the role o Honorary Preses o the Scots Leid Associe. It gied me muckle pleisure tae be askit, an I wes eident tae accep. At a time when the Scots leid, "the bonnie broukit bairn" o Scottish culture is at lang last been giein recognitioun an respeck amang poiteicians in the Scottish Government, I will dae ma utmaist tae haud forrit wi the cause o Scots, ma ain mither tongue an that o the feck o ma fellae Scots "fae Maidenkirk tae John o' Groats!

Honorary President of the Scots Language Society

In September 2010 I was asked by the Scots Language Society to take on the role as Honorary Preses, which I was delighted to accept. At a time when the "bonnie broukit bairn" - the beautiful neglected child of Scottish culture is finally gaining deserved recognition in Scottish political circles, I will do my best to further the cause of Scots, my mother tongue and that of at least 1.5 million Scots "fae Maidenkirk tae John o' Groats"

SCOTS MINISTERIAL WARKIN GROUP
The warkin group on the Scots Leid chavit hard for nearhaund eicht month, tae propone a nummer o weys tae forder the langage in different airts o Scottish life. Thaim that belangit the group cam tae ken the meanin o the auld Scots saw, "scartin an bitin is Scots fowks wooin" an it wes a sair darg whiles, but muckle thanks tae awbody that gied up their time for the cause. Ye can see the ootcome here:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/11/25121454/0

It was also an honour to be invited to join the Scottish Government's Scots Ministerial Working Group which published its detailed Report on St Andrew's Day 2010. The Report can be viewed by clicking the link above.

Tae gae thegither wi the publication o the Report I presentit a programme on the current state o the leid that haed the veices o a wheen o the makars that wrocht wi me on the Report. Tae here and extrack fae The Bonnie Broukit Bairn, cleik here.

Audio extract Bonnie Broukit Bairn
Here is the blog I wrote for the BBC website in advance of the broadcast:

The Bonnie Broukit Bairn spiers whit the future hauds for the mither tongue o ower a million an a hauf Scots fowk in the 21st centurie, fowk like you that micht speak the leid ilkae day, but hae nae kennin o ocht belangin the braw leiterature or gowden history o the langage. I wad be gleg tae haud forrit scrievin tae ye in Scots, but jalouse that maist o ye wad finnd it a sair chave tae follae whit I am threapin on aboot, as gey few Scots are leiterate in their ain leid ...sae like Chris Guthrie in Sunset Song I'll gae ower tae English..." you wanted the words they'd known and used, forgotten in the far-off youngness of their lives, Scots words to tell to your heart, how they wrung it and held it, the toil of their days and unendingly their fight. And the next minute that passed from you, you were English, back to the English words so sharp and clean and true - for a while, for a while, till they slid so smooth from your throat you knew they could never say anything that was worth the saying at all."

Personally, I am delighted that my second language is English - as a lingua franca in the world today, it is a perfect medium of communication. But, I know the power and pathos of Scots and I want future generations to be bi-lingual in Scots and English, or Gaelic and English in the Highlands, so that like me they find it easier to learn other languages and communicate confidently with the world. In the programme you will hear children from Nethermains Primary School in Denny where a bi-lingual Scots/English approach has been introduced, and the teachers have been delighted with the personal and linguistic confidence the bairns have gained as a result, confidence they have then extended to their use of the English language as well. As wee Cameron there asserts, ye cannae help bein stimulated when you realise that the Scots word for a turkey is the splendidly different bubblyjock!

Bubbly Jocks would be a perfectly apt description of the greetin faced folk proponents of Scots regularly confront. A member of the Parliament's Cross Party Group on Scots once asked a Scottish Executive Minister if he had received the bi-lingual invitation to come to a meeting of the Group and received the reply, "Oh, that thing, with the funny writing. Yes, I threw it in the bin"! When I hear stories like that and feel alienation from my fellow countrymen, I remember Hugh MacDiarmid's humorous response to the same conundrum...

"Mercy o' Gode, I canna thole wi sic an orra mob to roll"
"Wheesht! It's for the guid o your soul."
It micht be for the guid o my soul, I'm jist no shuir whit it's daein tae ma heid!

However, to paraphrase another wonderful poet who was also steeped in the great Scots ballad tradition...the times they are a changin!

A decade ago when there was a debate anent a Census question on Scots, the idea was treated with disdain and ridiculed by many in the main three unionist parties who voted against the idea en masse. In the 2011 Census however, there will be a question on Scots and the whole parliament responded positively to the proposal. In January next year the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum will open, the first national institution to approach and display both of the poet's languages with equal dignity. The present Scottish Government has commissioned an audit, has hosted a conference and has set up a distinguished Ministerial Working Group which is about to report and advise on practical ways to promote a language which is at the core of so many people's identity. Scots, the bonnie broukit bairn, the beautiful neglected child of Scottish culture, is on the way to being cherished at last.

The reaction to the programme and to the Report was a potent mixture of love and self loathing with the anti Scots lobby its usual shrill, hysterical self, at the incredibly low intellectual level of most of its outpourings. To them I suggest humbly that they educate themselves by reading a good book:

SCOTS: THE MITHER TONGUE by Billy Kay

"Scots: The Mither Tongue" is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture and essential reading for those who care about their country's identity in the 21st century. It is a passionately written history of how the Scots come to speak the way they do, and it acted as a catalyst for radical changes in attitude toward the language. Since it was first published it has sold 20,000 copies - testimony to the power of its argument and the style, humour and smeddum of its writing.

In this completely revised edition, Kay vigorously renews the social, cultural and political debate on Scotland's linguistic future, and argues convincingly for the necessity to retain and extend Scots if we are to hold on to the values which have made us what we are as a people. As ever, he places Scots in an international context, comparing and contrasting it with other European lesser used languages, while at home questioning the Scottish Executive's desire to pay anything more than lips service to this crucial part of our national identity.

For language is central to people's existence and this vivid account celebrates the survival of Scots in its various dialects, its literature and song - a national treasure that thrives in many parts of the country and underpins the speech of everyone that calls themselves a Scot.

Scots: The Mither Tongue by Billy Kay, Mainstream Publishing

"Scots: The Mither Tongue" is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture and essential reading for those who care about their country´s identity in the 21st century. It is a passionately written history of how the Scots come to speak the way they do, and it acted as a catalyst for radical changes in attitude toward the language. Since it was first published it has sold 20,000 copies – testimony to the power of its argument and the style, humour and smeddum of its writing.

In this completely revised edition, Kay vigorously renews the social, cultural and political debate on Scotland´s linguistic future, and argues convincingly for the necessity to retain and extend Scots if we are to hold on to the values which have made us what we are as a people. As ever, he places Scots in an international context, comparing and contrasting it with other European lesser used languages, while at home questioning the Scottish Executive´s desire to pay anything more than lips service to this crucial part of our national identity.

For language is central to people´s existence and this vivid account celebrates the survival of Scots in its various dialects, its literature and song – a national treasure that thrives in many parts of the country and underpins the speech of everyone that calls themselves a Scot.


(´Scots: The Mither Tongue´ by Billy Kay book cover)

Reaction to SCOTS: THE MITHER TONGUE by Billy Kay

In 1999, "Scots: The Mither Tongue" was chosen by Alan Taylor of Scotland on Sunday, as one of "the best 100 Scottish books books ever written…. If I had my way there would be copies of these books in every home in the land."

"Kay is the best writer on his own language I have read since Burchfield on English…..his book..is capably seditious."

The Herald

"He has shown that we can and do speak naturally and easily in a language of grace, dignity and power. Much of his work has been moving, delightful, even inspiring."

The Edinburgh Review

"It is not the kind of dry academic tome so cherished by linguistic nitpickers, but a bright, radical examination of the language which is at the heart of our existence."

Press & Journal

"Kay was the public face of Scots, and was roundly abused by some for pleading its cause. For others, his work transformed their thinking: never before had they been told, on the BBC no less, that what they spoke, far from being ´the language of the gutter´ or debased English, had an 800–year pedigree, two multi volume dictionaries describing it, a vast and glorious literature, and a whole set of dialects of its own. This was a life–affirming, emotionally and intellectually liberating message, and it took courage and conviction to be the messenger James Robertson. Scotland on Sunday March 2006."

James Robertson. Scotland on Sunday March 2006

"Last, bit nae least, thanks tae Billy Kay for giein inspiration tae the haill Scots–language muivement."

L. Colin Wilson, Luath Scots Language Learner

Here are two extracts from the book – the introduction and the ending. You can listen to Billy reading the end of the final chapter by clicking here.

PROLOG

Sae come aa ye at hame wi freedom,
Never heed whit the hoodies croak for doom
In yer hoose aa the bairns o Adam
Will find breid, barley bree an painted room.

I begin with the words of Hamish Henderson´s song ´The Freedom Come All Ye´, the great anthem of the movement to create a Scottish parliament which finally achieved its aims on May 12, 1999, when Winnie Ewing uttered the historic words …"the Scottish parliament which adjourned on 25 March 1707 is hereby reconvened." As a trustee of Common Cause, a speaker at Scotland United rallies, and an activist in the Artists for Independence movement I sang the song with smeddum and pride – with thousands at the great Edinburgh Democracy demonstation and with a few fellow travellers outside Arbroath Abbey before setting off on The Bus Party which tried to convince the public of the need to vote yes in the Devolution Referendum. The song became an anthem because it said so much about the kind of Scotland we wanted – Scots in language, international in perspective, egalitatian in outlook, and inclusive of all humanity. It is part of a wonderful tradition of songs in the Scots tongue, where words and music reach straight tae the hert an gar it lowp – even people who do not underdstand the language feel their power to communicate something profound in the human condition. Burns´ ´Auld Lang Syne´ and ´Is There for Honest Poverty´ are classic examples of the genre. So when the Scottish Parliament opened with Sheena Wellington´s powerful rendition of ´A Man´s A Man,´ it was as if not only the privileged few inside the parliament were singing along, it seemed to encompass the whole world, "for aw that an aw that it´s comin yet for aw that, that man tae man the world ower, shall brithers be for aw that" It was a moment of intense emotion for Scots at home and abroad, the kind of experience which make you believe for a while the famous words of Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun… "I knew a very wise man [who believed that] if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation." Seven years on, I am sure that many members of the ruling Executive coalition would love it if we were all content to sing the songs and leave them to the real politics of making laws. Unfortunately for them, those days are past. When we only had recourse to a United Kingdom parliament dominated by the English majority, activists in Scotland accepted the difficulty of fostering native Scottish culture in that context. With our own parliament however, our politicians have no excuses, and we expect and demand them to pass legislation which will nurture and promote every aspect of our native culture, including our indigenous languages. Until now the response to their new responsibilities has been abysmal. It is very much a continuation of the narrow, ultra–unionist focus of both left and right in the old district and city councils most were thirled to before making the step up to what they should regard as a National Parliament. Elsewhere in this book, I compare the Scots situation with that of Catalan, where the new democracy believed that it might take three generations to remove the "slave mentality" – their equivalent of the Scottish Cringe – which had evolved over centuries as the native culture was suppressed by Castilian Spanish hegemony. Now, as a member of the Cross Party Group [CPG] for Scots, having seen our politicans from a closer perspective, I feel that the hostility and ignorance of ethnic Scottish culture displayed by perhaps the majority in the parliament means that the struggle to give Scots any status whatsoever will be resisted vigorously. Indeed it may take an appeal to Europe to make the Scottish executive fulfil its responsibility towards Scots. For while the "slave mentality" existed in Catalonia and certain elites identified with Spanish culture, most Calatalans still had a regard for Catalan culture. Many Scottish politicians however see Scottish culture as something to be suppressed because it is a dangerous harbinger of nationalist sentiment. Exaggeration? Here are two examples, quotations by Labour ministers related to me from trustworthy sources. In the first an education minister is asked why more is not done to promote Scottish studies in the Schools´ curriculum. The reply; "I do not see my role as educating a generation of young nationalists." In the second, a member of the CPG asks the culture minister whether he has received an invitation in Scots to come to the next meeting of the group? The reply; "Oh, that thing, written in the funny writing – yes – I threw it in the bin." That is the level of cynicism existing within the government. On the Conservative side, the attitude to Scots is little better. In February 2000, there took place a debate as to whether a question on Scots should be included in the 2001 Census. Here are extracts from two of the Tory contributions.

Jamie McGrigor
I am a firm advocate of the protection of the Scots language. Like Gaelic, its history is timeless and is surrounded by romance. I love the poetry of Burns and MacDiarmid and never go anywhere without my nickie–tams.

Brian Monteith
In concluding my speech in the debate on a census question on Scots language, I feel that it is only right that we say that we are gaunae no dae that.

One quoting from a comedian, the other being a comedian, hard tae say whit ane wes the biggest scunner, but baith certainly gard me grue at the time! Having spent years fighting for a Scottish parliament, it was a salutory experience to thole the fact that at the first opportunity to discuss Scots, you have elected members and fellow Scots making a fool of the issue. On such occasions when I feel alienation from my fellow countrymen, I hear Hugh McDiarmid´s humorous response to the same conundrum…

"Mercy o´ Gode, I canna thole
wi sic an orra mob to roll"
"Wheesht! It´s for the guid o your soul."

It micht be for the guid o my soul, but I dinnae like whit it duis tae ma heid!

The second extract is from the final chapter: The Future Oors?

At a conference for writers in lesser-used languages in Luxembourg, which I attended, someone asked provocatively, "why do you choose to write in these languages when you are all bilingual and could write in the principle languages of Europe". Pierre Jakez Hélias replied for us all when he said that it was not a matter of choice, he was enceinte, pregnant with Breton, and his creativity had to be given birth in that language. Many monoglots think you can simply translate one language into another and nothing is lost in translation. They do not realise the nature of language, that each one is a different window to the world. What is under threat is the treasure of a people´s experience expressed through their native tongue, their unique way of seeing the world. A Welsh philosopher J.R. Jones eloquently expresses the potential loss.

It is said of one experience that it is one of the most agonising possible… that of leaving the soil of your native country forever, of turning your back on your heritage, being torn away by the roots from your familiar land. I have not suffered that experience. But I know of an experience equally agonising, and more irreversible (for you could return to your home) and that is the experience of knowing, not that you are leaving your country, but that your country is leaving you, is ceasing to exist under your very feet, being sucked away from you as it were by a consuming, swallowing wind, into the hands and the possession of another country and civilisation.

There should be no tension between English and Scots. They are branches of the same tree and with some effort and good will are mutually intelligible and complementary to one another. Yet they are keys to radically different world pictures. I am delighted that I am a native speaker of a national variety of English, the most powerful, prestigious and useful language in the world. But as English has become the world´s lingua franca, it has become rootless and impersonal. For some Scots, it has always been that. But its role as the medium of international dialogue has made it more alien as it has been twisted to conceal, rather than tell the truth. For the Pentagon during the Vietnam war, the term de escalation often meant bombing densely populated areas and napalming children. Nearer home, words such as rationalisation are used as a smokescreen behind which shareholders and politicians can hide as their victims are condemned to the misery of long term unemployment. In contrast, the power of Scots is its lack of duplicity, its vigorous directness, its ability to see through the false and the phony the language reflecting the perspective of the kind of people who have been using it for the past century.

Also, because language itself helps form the thoughts we have about our environment, Scots has a unique role as the tongue which is rooted deeply in the physical landscape we inhabit and has expressed our relationship with it for many hundreds of years. In Haud Yer Tongue the schools series broadcast on Channel 4, foreign learners of Scots gave me their favourite words. For an American, it was the ability of the language to describe our weather which appealed. Her word was "feechie, which is even worse than dreich". The Swedish girl who followed elaborated: "Ma favourite word is loons….cos they keep me warm whan it´s feechie!" The students knew what everyone brought up in the Scots–speaking tradition knows; that Scots is rooted in the landscape, people, culture and history of the country and preserves a unique way of looking at the world. Along with words like gemütlichkeit in German, or saudade in Portuguese, words like scunner, shuilpit, sonsie and nyaff are impossible to translate accurately, and any attempt will be peelie wallie compared to the original. So if Scots were to disappear we would lose part of our sensitivity to the environment, because no other language can describe it with the same "feel"; a snell founeran wind that wad gar yer banes chitter, a dreich haar happin aa thing alang the coast, a douce simmer´s gloamimg that´s saft an bonnie, a thrang city street wi fowk breengin aboot an joukin atween ane anither. It is also the language that describes perfectly the human types that inhabit this landscape; a wice like bodie… a sleekit scunner… a braw, sonsie lassie… a gleg wean… a sapsie muckle hertit sumph… a thrawn besom… a shuilpit wee nyaff… a bachle wi no eneuch sough tae sprachle oot a sheugh… a fushionless craitur… a kenspeckle chield… a gallous chancer… in fact, the haill jingbang o sister an "brither Scots frae Maidenkirk tae John O´ Groats."

What will happen to it in the 21st century? To begin with we shall see a continuation of the process of recent decades: rapid erosion in some airts, thrawn survival in other airts. In aw the airts, the structure of the dialects of Scots survives, and can thrive again if the political, cultural and financial will is there to "normalise" Scots. First though, we have to get rid of the Scottish cringe – for many Scots are the unwitting victims and agents of a process of cultural colonisation which has been endemic for centuries. Recently, a newspaper columnist criticised the leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond for his increasing "affectation" of using Scots expressions such as "I´m kennt the better" in public. Only in Scotland can it be an "affectation" for a Scot to use his native idiom – even if it is from a pedigree literary source! Burnsians among you will recognise the bard´s marvellous couplet referring to gossip mongers:

The mair they talk I´m kenn´d the better,
E´en let them clash!
An auld wife´s tongue´s a feckless matter
To gie ane fash

Such ignorance will surely disappear as Scotland becomes a normal country, where her culture is increasingly taught in her schools, and where her native tongues are increasingly used in prestigious public forums like the parliament. And I am convinced that Scots will be used increasingly in parliamentary debate itself as we throw off the linguistic shackless imposed by almost three centuries of adapting to English norms where statements like this from the classic sook Boswell, expressed a state of colonised mind-set shared by far too many – "I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it."

As Scot speaks unto Scot, the inverted commas will gradually come off the use of Scots words, and the language´s genius for both invective and affection will come into its own. The maisters of sound bite will realise that the bite will be deeper an hae mair grip gin it´s couched in direct Scots terms. As newspapers report the increasingly vigorous oral medium, Scots will appear in the headlines and they too will loosen up in their attitude to the written language. Scots will gradually be validated, and its use will increase and extend. The old shibboleths will brek doun, and within a generation or two of such normalisation, even the formal English spoken in Scotland will have a much higher Scots content. Seeing the language used with effect in public forums, Scots speakers will cease to regard its use as an underground activity practiced by consenting adults in the privacy o their ain hame, but rather as one to be savoured openly for the sheer expressive joy of it. By "coming out" linguistically, the native dialect speakers will in turn influence the rest to broaden their range and speech patterns. Eventually, we could even have a confident people at home with the way everyone speaks, and not just a select few.

Developments in education will also be crucial. For Scotland to move toward the ideal of the inclusive society it has traditionally prided itself on, it will be necessary for generations of ingrained prejudice to be overcome and a culture of tolerance to prevail. A friend doing teaching practice recently, decided to conduct the lessons in Scots. In one class he was told that he would get problems from a group of disruptive boys and a terrific response from a conscientious group of girls. In the beginning it was just so. Gradually however, as the language of the boys was validated for the first time, they began to produce the brilliant work. The girls meanwhile felt culturally excluded and their behaviour deteriorated accordingly. Imagine if all those in the past who were mocked for retaining the language at the core of their identity, had been similarly praised, validated and included. That is what our education system through our parliament should be working towards in the future.

[Click here to hear Billy read these final pagragraphs.]

Ultimately, it will also demand changes in you my brither an sister Scots! Oral retentiveness leads to strange and unhealthy complexes and fixations. Go on, break every grammatical rule in your mental straight-jacket and sing out "A´m urnae like that – for gin I´m no pairt o the solution, I´m pairt o the problem". Liberating, is"nt it? All you middle aged and now middle class folk who once were patted on the heid by teachers and mammies as you divested yourself of your local dialect in order to get on in life, and now find it difficult and artificial to go back – regress now! regain your lost heritage! – knit thy divided self back thegither again. Efter a while, ye´ll no notice the jeyn. Mammies that checked their weans wi thon war cry in appalling English "Talk proper!" Stop it. As far as the bairns gettin on is concerned, the future is Scottish. Speakers of Received Pronunciation – dinnae be feart, there will aye be a wee totie establishment for ye ti belang tae gin ye finnd it necessair. But fredome is a nobill thing, cut your crystall vowels first with safe words like kenspeckle and clanjamfry before walking on the wild side with swally, chib, gadgie and likesae!

This inclusiveness will also need to extend to the highly effective Gaelic lobby. Aince upon a time, we were aw suppressed minorities thegither and supported ane anither, but since you climbed a bittie higher, I fear yer leaders hae kicked the ladder awa. When they speak of Scotland as a bi–lingual country, they mean Gaelic and English an deil tak the hindmaist – Scots bein by far the hindmaist in the linguistic pecking order. Jeyn the process of liberation, o Gaels! All the estimated 1.5 million Scots speakers seek is parity with you 60,000 Gaelic speakers. Jeyn us, all you have to lose is your monopoly of ethnic Scottishness in our media, and a few suits!

And to you, the vast majority of Scots who still have a Scots tongue in their heid, thank you for keeping the faith and retaining the tongue as a cherished living entity for future generations. Keep it, extend it and teach it to those linguistic less fortunates. Aye mind, though – tak tent or it´s tint. Over two centuries ago, Burns was advised not to write in Scots, as it was a dying tongue which no one would understand within a generation or two. Yet here we are, still speaking, writing, singing and celebrating in this our ain raucle mither tongue. Gin we´re ocht ava as a fowk, we´ll still be daein the same come the twenty saicond century! For Scots is a mirror of Scotland´s soul. That is why it, and the values it expresses, will endure for aye… an it is comin yet for a that…

For we hae faith in Scotland´s hidden poo´ers
The present´s theirs, but a´ the past and future´s oors.

An original illustration by the artist Jenny Soep of an evening at the Central Library in Edinburgh in 2010 based on Fergusson's Auld Reikie and The Scottish World. It shows Billy Kay, Norman Chalmers, Derek Hoy and Rod Paterson.

For more information on jenny's work. Visit: www.jennysoep.blogspot.com

The living heritage of Scots – below are some of my favourite quotations:

Sayings:

Ye cannae dae ocht gin ye´ve nocht tae dae ocht wi.

Thaim wi a guid Scots tongue in their heid are fit tae gang ower the warld!

A passage from Lewis Grassic Gibbon´s Sunset Song

…you wanted the words they´d known and used, forgotten in the far–off youngness of their lives, Scots words to tell to your heart how they wrung it and held it, the toil of their days and unendingly their fight. And the next minute that passed from you, you were English, back to the English words so sharp and clean and true – for a while, for a while, till they slid so smooth from your throat you knew they could never say anything that was worth the saying at all.

Hugh McDiarmid´s expression of alienation from his countymen.

"Mercy o´ Gode, I canna thole
wi sic an orra mob to roll"
"Wheesht! It´s for the guid o your soul."

From John Barbour´s The Brus - on the main reason why the Scots should prevail at Bannockburn

The first is, that we haif the richt
And for the richt ilk man suld ficht

From The Complaynt of Scotland

The dou croutit hyr sad sang that soundit lyk sorrow

Hamish Henderson´s sang The Freedom Come All Ye

O come all ye at hame wi freedom,
Never heed whit the hoodies croak for doom
In your hoose a´ the bairns o Adam
Can find breid, barley bree an painted room.
When Maclean meets wi´s friens in Springburn,
a´ the roses an geans will turn tae bloom
And a black boy frae yont Nyanga
Dings the fell gallows o the burghers doon

Billy Kay recalls a very Scottish experience

"I mind several year syne daein an interview wi an auld Spanish gentleman that steyed in Logan in Ayrshire – ane o the last o the first generation that had come ower tae wark in the iron works at Lugar, syne the pits o sooth Ayrshire. He an I naturally spoke Ayrshire Scots wi ane anither, but when the tape recorder wes switched on he did that very Scottish thing o tryin tae speak in standard English, literally translatin and transformin himsel for the new situation. The skeelie fluency o his Scots wes replaced by stilted, hesitant English. I wes aboot tae stop the tape tae see if I could get him back tae his ain wey o speakin, when his wife who wes also born in Andalucia but brocht up in Ayrshire, interrupted him an said "Hey you, stop pittin it on… talk Scots like the rest o us!"

Scots: The Mither Tongue by Billy Kay, Mainstream Publishing

1. It is essential reading for a new generation of Scots and Ulster Scots concerned with their identity.

2. The book celebrates the Scots contribution to world literature through figures like Burns and RL Stevenson.

3. It places Scots in the context of contemporary Europe, comparing Scots and English with e.g. Catalan and Spanish.

4. Over 20,000 people have read and been changed by the book Scots: The Mither Tongue.

5. A leading Scottish newspaper placed it in a list of the hundred most important Scottish books ever written.

6. It is taught in the universities, yet is vividly accessible to the general reader.

7. It is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture.

Scots: The Mither Tongue is available from all good bookshops in Scotland and from Amazon.

For a signed/dedicated copy of any of Billy´s books contact him at billykay@sol.co.uk