The Scottish Heritage, Culture and Language.

The Scottish culture has evolved over many hundreds of years of being a separate country with its own Scottish language. In reality there is at least two Scottish languages each having its own tradition and coming from its own heritage.

Although Gaelic is the natural traditional language of Scotland it is not that widely spoken (not even the Scottish Parliament supports the language). Nowadays almost everyone in Scotland speaks English in one way or another but even so many strangers to the country would have trouble following it when spoken at its normal speed.

Take for example the following Prayer:

Oor Faither wha bides in heiven,
Hallowt be thy name;
Thy Kinrick come;
Thy will be dune
In the yird, as in the lan o’ the leal.
Gie us wir breid ilk day;
An forgie us wir ill-daein,
As oo forgie the yins wha wrang us;
An sey-us-na sairlie,
But saul us frae provokshin
For aye, thine’s the Kinrick, the pooer, the glore
Amen

Most people would be able to translate it into their own language because it is so well known. However many people might disagree with some of the spelling in this verse. This Scottish language — with all its regional dialects — is one of the beauties of the Scottish heritage and its unique culture. Its Scottish heritage has led to the Scottish language (although based upon English) becoming a culture of its own with so many variations and dialects growing up with many different spellings of the same word. Indeed I was born and grew up in the Scottish borders area — very close to the home of Robert “Rabbie” Burns — and I sometimes have trouble understanding those from Glasgow and some of the people from the very north of Scotland.

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Scotland’s own national poet Robert Burns wrote in a Scottish language that many of his own countrymen for the highlands would not fully understand as their culture had grown from a different base. Burns was from the south of Scotland a completely different heritage from those of the Scottish Highlanders. This can perhaps be illustrated by The Act of Parliament (comprising of mainly English people) that in 1747 banned the wearing of tartan by all men and boys. Exceptions were made of women, sons of gentry and those serving as soldiers in the Highland Regiments as well as all those people living south of a line drawn from Dumbarton in the west to Perth in the east. It is only because of the exceptions allowed for the wearing of tartan that this important Scottish culture and its unique heritage did not die out entirely.

Could we now imagine a Scottish culture without the famous kilt?

It nearly happened! By the time the law was repealed in 1782 many of the original tartan designs were lost and the Highlanders were out of the habit of wearing the tartan kilt and other items of clothing now so commonly identified as being part of the Scottish culture and our heritage.

We tell in our “Laird of Jura Handbook” of how King George IV the first royal monarch to visit Scotland for 151 years was largely responsible for the design and naming of many of the now traditional tartans worn by many of the clans. We also reveal how it was an Englishman who designed the modern kilt that became the most unique part of the Scottish culture. Imagine the best-known Scottish heritage being first worn by an English man! I found it hard to believe when I did the research but found it fitted all the facts.

In this short article we have looked at how when even the tartan kilt was under threat the Scottish Language has played its part in preserving the unique Scottish culture and heritage that we all love.  We are developing a number of articles for this site that will look at other aspects of the Scottish culture and our heritage.

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Scottish Heritage, Culture and Language Facts

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