“When Jennie first meets the 𝑡𝑜𝑑-𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑙, she cries enquiringly 𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑖𝑐𝑘? This Scots equivalent of English 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑐𝑘 has been used to represent duck noises since the 17th century”
—Susan Rennie on translating Beatrix Potter’s 𝐽𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑚𝑎 𝑃𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒-𝐷𝑢𝑐𝑘 into Scots
https://scrennie.com/2026/05/16/tods-plaidies-and-fairy-thimmles/
#Scottish #literature #Scots #Scotslanguage #translation #BeatrixPotter #childrensliterature #kidlit
Cantie in seaside simmer on the dunes,
I fling awa my dowp of cigarette
whaur bairns hae biggit castles out of sand
and watch the reik rise frae the parapet…
—Robert Garioch Sutherland (1909–1987), “During a Music Festival”
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/from_the_line/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #warpoetry #WW2 #VEDay #Scots #Scotslanguage
They are lang deid, folk that I used to ken
their firm set lips aa mowdert and agley,
sherp-tempert een rusty amang the cley…
—“Elegy” by Robert Garioch (1909–1981) – born #OTD, 9 May
from The Golden Treasury of Scottish Verse, @canongatebooks 2021
1/4
https://canongate.co.uk/books/3267-the-golden-treasury-of-scottish-verse/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #20thcentury #Scots #Scotslanguage
Twa Cats anes on a Cheese did light,
To which baith had an equal Right,
But Disputes, sic as aft arise,
Fell out at sharing of the Prize…
—Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), “The twa Cats & the Cheese”
digitised by the National Library of Scotland
Today, 8 August, is International Cat Day
😾 😾 🧀 🐵
https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/105690319
#Scottish #literature #poem #Scots #Scotslanguage #poem #poetry #18thcentury #fable #humor #humour #cats #InternationalCatDay
the back-en turnt grey
the colourt wuids wis wae an wan
ye’d taen the auld auld road, man
an left the rosie leaf ahint…
—Brian Holton, “For Ma Faither”
1st Prize winner for Scots in the inaugural Tannahill Poetry Competition, 2017
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/for-ma-faither/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #fathers #FathersDay #Scots #Scotslanguage
Words of the Wild
Deadline 12 July 2026
The Scottish Wildlife Trust’s nature writing competition is back for a third year. The 2026 theme is “changing seasons”. Submissions can be in English, Gaelic, or Scots, up to 1,000 words long & written in any form.
@writerscommunity
https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/wordsofthewild/competition/
#Scottish #literature #naturewriting #writingcompetition #writerscommunity #iamwriting #gaidhlig #Gaelic #Scots #Scotslanguage
Schyr Hanry myssit the noble king…
Robert I, King of Scots, killed Sir Henry de Bohun in single combat on the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn #OTD, 23 June 1314. The epic vernacular #poem “The Brus” by John Barbour (c1320–95) describes the event
1/3
#Scottish #literature #poetry #medieval #14thcentury #history #MiddleAges #Bannockburn #epic #vernacular #poem #Scots #Scotslanguage
“The Scots language has many ways old and new to describe LGBT+ experience… queer Scots-speakers can play with the words they’re given to find a language for what was once unsayable”
UNCO: a queer Scots lexicon
by Harry Josephine Giles & Malin Lewis
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
https://harryjosephine.com/portfolio/unco/
#Scottish #literature #Scots #Scotslanguage #Pride #PrideMonth #Queer #language #LGBTQ
Apon the Midsummer evin, mirriest of nichtis,
I muvit furth allane, neir as midnicht wes past…
—in “The Tretis of the Tua Mariit Wemen & the Wedo”, William Dunbar (c1465–1530) eavesdrops on three ladies discussing marriage. What begins as candid moves rapidly to obscene…
1/3
#Scottish #literature #Scots #Scotslanguage #poem #poetry #satire #medieval #15thcentury #16thcentury #midsummer
Robert Tannahill (1774–1810), “the weaver poet”, was born #OTD, 3 June – “second only to Robert Burns as a poet writing chiefly in the language of the working class of Scotland”
1/5
#Scottish #literature #poetry #18thcentury #19thcentury #Scots #Scotslanguage #workingclass
Colin Bramwell’s FOWER PESSOAS has won the 2025 Duas Leabhair na Gàidhealtacht / Highland Book Prize
“FOWER PESSOAS is a bold reimagining of Fernando Pessoa’s poetry… Colin Bramwell puts all four of [Fernando] Pessoa’s heteronyms into a present-day Scots-language vernacular, & so creates a parochial Pessoa for our own times”
https://www.highlandbookprize.org.uk/winner/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #FernandoPessoa #Scots #Scotslanguage
“The Sodgers”, by Alexander Scott (1920–1989)
Alexander Scott landed in Normandy in 1944 with the Gordon Highlanders, & saw action in the Ardennes & crossing the Rhine. He later became Head of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, was president of ASL from 1976–79, & was a founding editor of our annual anthology NEW WRITING SCOTLAND
Today, 6 June, is the anniversary of D-Day
#Scottish #literature #DDay #poem #poetry #20thcentury #warpoem #warpoetry #WW2 #Scots #Scotslanguage
Ye think thon wes the end?
Yon meetin in the wuids
When Thracian Orpheus heard the drum, the cries,
The whud o the bacchantes’ thrangan feet…
—“Orpheus”, by Tom Scott (1918–1995): born #OTD, 6 June
Published in A KIST O SKINKLAN THINGS
1/3
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #20thcentury #Scots #Scotslanguage
I mind when I was a bairnie hou ma mither
brocht out ae day a kist o skinklan things,
ferlies I thocht them, ilk mair rare nor anither,
aa kind o gowdies, stanes and chains and rings…
—Douglas Young, “Thesaurus Paleo-Scoticus”
10 June is Gies a Scots Poem Day
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #GiesAScotsPoemDay
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) was born #OTD, 13 June. As a physicist, he ranks alongside Newton & Einstein (“He achieved greatness unequalled”—Max Planck)
He also wrote poetry: “Rigid Body Sings” is based on “Comin’ Through the Rye” by Robert Burns.
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #19thcentury #Victorian #Scots #Scotslanguage #physics #science #sciencepoetry
“Scots poets might have a few lessons to teach the French”
In “Towards a Post-Colonial Alliance?”, Paul Malgrati offers some perspectives on Franco-Scots poetry translation, exploring questions of voice, place, & power
🇫🇷🏴
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #language #translation #French #BastilleDay #quatorzejuillet
I can see da rüfs aa taekit, an da hens aroond da door;
Fok kerryin twartree paets hame, an rigs delled every voar.
Aa da lums ir reekin, an I hear da happy soonds
O peerie bairns skirlin, as dey play dem ower da toons…
—“Da Clearance”, by Rhoda Bulter (1929–94), born #OTD, 15 July
A 🎂🧵 – 1/3
Listen to Rhoda Bulter reading “Da Clearance” here:
https://www.shetlanddialect.org.uk/da-clearance
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Shetland #Shetlandic #Scots #Scotslanguage
NAMING THE SNAKES
New Writing Scotland 44
Ed. by Chris Powici, Allan Radcliffe & Anna C. Frater
The best new short fiction & poetry from forty-three writers who are Scottish by birth, residence, or inclination, writing in English, Gaelic, & Scots. Available for preorder now from all good bookshops! (And the evil one too.)
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/newwriting/nws44/
#Scottish #literature #NewWriting #shortstories #shortfiction #poetry #poems #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #Scots #Scotslanguage #writingcommunity
I thought this article might end up just being a somewhat tired regurgitation of the well known habit English speakers have of borrowing words from other languages (and enriching English). But it does bear reading - the delegitimisation of a language, Scots in this case.
I refer to my pup as a "cheeky wee bisom" meaning she's a cute cheeky wee thing.
Then I googled the word. In Ulster Scots it means a bad tempered woman, and the Dictionary of Scots Language at Glasgow Uni define it as a broom.
Have I misremembered my childhood? Does any one else use bisom in the sense of a rascal?
She’s goat her legs oot –
her foldin plastic chair
oan the gress at Glesga Green –
an her airms an enough
creamy dimpled bosom
tae please Renoir…
—Sheila Templeton, “Glesga Fair”
published in Songs of Other Places: New Writing Scotland 32 (ASL, 2014)
The Glasgow Fair is a holiday dating back to the 12th century CE. Happy Fair Weekend to all the Glasgow Fairies!
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #Glasgow #GlasgowFair
“…on one occasion the Highland Queen was berthed by the master and a boy, the rest of the crew being quite incapable…”
In this blog post, Donald Meek explores the origins of the terms, common to Scots & Gaelic: “steaming drunk” & “smùid”
https://meekwrite.blogspot.com/2013/04/maritime-and-linguistic-studies.html
#Scottish #literature #Glasgow #GlasgowFair #DoontheWatter #Scots #Scotslanguage #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #boozecruise
jack an jill
went up thi hull
“tay huv a wee refreshmint”
guess whut
—published in Tom Leonard’s INTIMATE VOICES 1965–1983 (Galloping Dog Press, 1984)
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #Glasgow #GlasgowFair #KeepTheHeid
Scots Language & Identity
24 July, Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Tickets £12
Prof Jennifer Smith takes attendees through the past, present & future of Scots. Where did it come from? How was it used in the past? How is it being spoken today, & by who? Hear how this living, evolving language is being used in everyday speech, in the creative industries, in writing, & what it might look like in the future.
https://www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/whats-on/scots-language-and-identity/
Is there a whim-inspired fool,
Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule,
Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool,
Let him draw near…
Robert Burns (1759–96) died #OTD, 21 July, aged 37. “A Bard’s Epitaph” is the final poem in the 1786 Kilmarnock Edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
1/4
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #RobertBurns #18thcentury #romanticism
![Part of William Dunbar’s “The Tretis Of The Twa Mariit Wemen and the Wedo” from the Chepman and Myllar Prints in the National Library of Scotland, displaying lines 419–53:
Bot courtly and ryght curyus my corse is ther undir:
I drup with a ded luke in my dule habit,
As with manis daill I had done for dayis of my lif.
Quhen that I go to the kirk, cled in cair weid,
As foxe in a lambis fleise fenye I my cheir;
Than lay I furght my bright buke one breid one my kne,
With mony lusty letter ellummynit with gold;
And drawis my clok forthwart our my face quhit,
That I may spy, unaspyit, a space me beside:
Full oft I blenk by my buke, and blynis of devotioun,
To se quhat berne is best brand or bredest in schulderis,
Or forgeit is maist forcely to furnyse a bancat
In Venus chalmer, valyeandly, withoutin vane ruse:
And, as the new mone all pale, oppressit with change,
Kythis quhilis her cleir face through cluddis of sable.
So keik I through my clokis, and castis kynd lukis
To knychtis, and to cleirkis, and cortly personis.
Quhen frendis of my husbandis behaldis me one fer,
I haif a watter spunge for wa, within my wyde clokis,
Than wring I it full wylely and wetis my chekis,
With that watteris myn ene and welteris doune teris.
Than say thai all, that sittis about, "Se ye nought, allace!
Yone lustlese led so lelely scho luffit hir husband:
Yone is a pete to enprent in a princis hert,
That sic a perle of pleasance suld yone pane dre!"
I sane me as I war ane sanct, and semys ane angell;
At langage of lichory I leit as I war crabit:
I sich, without sair hert or seiknes in body;
According to my sable weid I mon haif sad maneris,
Or thai will se all the suth; for certis, we wemen
We set us all fra the syght to syle men of treuth:
We dule for na evill deid, sa it be derne haldin.
Wise wemen has wayis and wonderfull gydingis
With gret engyne to bejaip ther jolyus husbandis;
And quyetly, with sic craft, convoyis our materis […]](/proxy/post_attachment/1103166/55642a1978.webp "Part of William Dunbar’s “The Tretis Of The Twa Mariit Wemen and the Wedo” from the Chepman and Myllar Prints in the National Library of Scotland, displaying lines 419–53:
Bot courtly and ryght curyus my corse is ther undir:
I drup with a ded luke in my dule habit,
As with manis daill I had done for dayis of my lif.
Quhen that I go to the kirk, cled in cair weid,
As foxe in a lambis fleise fenye I my cheir;
Than lay I furght my bright buke one breid one my kne,
With mony lusty letter ellummynit with gold;
And drawis my clok forthwart our my face quhit,
That I may spy, unaspyit, a space me beside:
Full oft I blenk by my buke, and blynis of devotioun,
To se quhat berne is best brand or bredest in schulderis,
Or forgeit is maist forcely to furnyse a bancat
In Venus chalmer, valyeandly, withoutin vane ruse:
And, as the new mone all pale, oppressit with change,
Kythis quhilis her cleir face through cluddis of sable.
So keik I through my clokis, and castis kynd lukis
To knychtis, and to cleirkis, and cortly personis.
Quhen frendis of my husbandis behaldis me one fer,
I haif a watter spunge for wa, within my wyde clokis,
Than wring I it full wylely and wetis my chekis,
With that watteris myn ene and welteris doune teris.
Than say thai all, that sittis about, \"Se ye nought, allace!
Yone lustlese led so lelely scho luffit hir husband:
Yone is a pete to enprent in a princis hert,
That sic a perle of pleasance suld yone pane dre!\"
I sane me as I war ane sanct, and semys ane angell;
At langage of lichory I leit as I war crabit:
I sich, without sair hert or seiknes in body;
According to my sable weid I mon haif sad maneris,
Or thai will se all the suth; for certis, we wemen
We set us all fra the syght to syle men of treuth:
We dule for na evill deid, sa it be derne haldin.
Wise wemen has wayis and wonderfull gydingis
With gret engyne to bejaip ther jolyus husbandis;
And quyetly, with sic craft, convoyis our materis […]")
![From the linked article. A man reads part of the Oxford Dictionary of English with the text
How the English dictionary took Scots words and branded them 'slang
THE Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has delegitimised the Scots language by adding several new “Scottish” words.
While English and Scots are sister languages characterised by mutual intelligibility, they are still very much separate languages with their own grammar, syntax and words. But decades of cultural oppression persist and Scots remains reduced to either slang, or, in this case, an offshoot of English.
One of the recently added Scots words is “scaffie”, meaning “raggedy”. But writing as a Scots language author who spent nine years living in England, I never once heard an English-only speaker say scaffie (also spelled as scaffy). The other recent additions to the English dictionary – including “loup” and “gowp” – are even worse.
READ MORE: Bòrd na Gàidhlig invites Reform for talks after attack on Gaelic language
Fiona McPherson, the Scottish executive editor at the OED, said: “It’s always special when I get to work on Scottish words, and those included in this update of the OED are evocative and familiar.
“While new to the OED, [others] have long established histories. Loup and gowp are found as early as the 16th and 18th centuries respectively, meaning ‘of the heart, blood: to beat or pulse rapidly or strongly’. The later sense of ‘to throb or ache with a pulsating pain’ has also been included.”
There are many things wrong with this statement. The most glaring being that the dictionary’s Scottish executive editor chose to describe these words as Scottish and not examples of the Scots language – a year on from Scots receiving legal recognition and protection for the first time in history with the Scottish Languages Act.
This emphasises how far we still have to go when it comes to having Scots recognised as a leid. Especially as it has legal recognition by Unesco since 2009 and the European Charter for Minority Languages since 2001.
According to the OED, for a word to be included, its development needs to be researched using sources including “newspaper archives, online forums, academic studies, magazines, law tracts, recipe books, or social media for published evidence of the word”. But if the new additions are anything to go by, the Scots origins of these words have been ignored and/or reduced.
While languages mix and evolve over time and a lot of words are “loaned” from one leid to another, their origins need to be acknowledged and respected, especially by an institution with as much linguistic respect as the OED.](/proxy/post_attachment/1127229/ca422a553e.png "From the linked article. A man reads part of the Oxford Dictionary of English with the text
How the English dictionary took Scots words and branded them 'slang
THE Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has delegitimised the Scots language by adding several new “Scottish” words.
While English and Scots are sister languages characterised by mutual intelligibility, they are still very much separate languages with their own grammar, syntax and words. But decades of cultural oppression persist and Scots remains reduced to either slang, or, in this case, an offshoot of English.
One of the recently added Scots words is “scaffie”, meaning “raggedy”. But writing as a Scots language author who spent nine years living in England, I never once heard an English-only speaker say scaffie (also spelled as scaffy). The other recent additions to the English dictionary – including “loup” and “gowp” – are even worse.
READ MORE: Bòrd na Gàidhlig invites Reform for talks after attack on Gaelic language
Fiona McPherson, the Scottish executive editor at the OED, said: “It’s always special when I get to work on Scottish words, and those included in this update of the OED are evocative and familiar.
“While new to the OED, [others] have long established histories. Loup and gowp are found as early as the 16th and 18th centuries respectively, meaning ‘of the heart, blood: to beat or pulse rapidly or strongly’. The later sense of ‘to throb or ache with a pulsating pain’ has also been included.”
There are many things wrong with this statement. The most glaring being that the dictionary’s Scottish executive editor chose to describe these words as Scottish and not examples of the Scots language – a year on from Scots receiving legal recognition and protection for the first time in history with the Scottish Languages Act.
This emphasises how far we still have to go when it comes to having Scots recognised as a leid. Especially as it has legal recognition by Unesco since 2009 and the European Charter for Minority Languages since 2001.
According to the OED, for a word to be included, its development needs to be researched using sources including “newspaper archives, online forums, academic studies, magazines, law tracts, recipe books, or social media for published evidence of the word”. But if the new additions are anything to go by, the Scots origins of these words have been ignored and/or reduced.
While languages mix and evolve over time and a lot of words are “loaned” from one leid to another, their origins need to be acknowledged and respected, especially by an institution with as much linguistic respect as the OED.")
