SCOTSPEOPLE

     Before you find out anything else about Scotland, it is essential that you first understand a bit about the peoples who formed the Scots nation in the middle of the 9th century, although their story starts long before then.

     Scotland is a nation which was made up from four different peoples.  Three of these were Celtic peoples, the other came from what is now mainland Denmark. Scotland became a united kingdom in the reign of Scots king Kenneth MacAlpin in 843 AD.

the peoples were:

THE ANGLES

     The Angles came from mainland Denmark & arrived in about the 7th century.  As well as giving their name to England they also lived in South Eastern Scotland.  The Angles of southern Scotland & northern England were the first of this people to convert to christianity, whilst the southern English Angles remained heathen people for many years (centuries in fact).

 

BRITONS

     The Britons were the most widespread of the Celtic peoples.  Whereas in England they had been to the most part screwed completely by the Saxons, they remained proud & independent in other parts of Britain.  The only instance where Arthur's (who was never seen as a king in Scotland, but as a great warrior chief) name appears in history is in the great epic poem "Y GODODDIN".  This told the story of how a disasterous bid was launched from Manau Guotodin (read modern day Edinburgh) against the heathen southern Angles who were pushing ever northward.  He is mentioned when after the battle one of the survivors is talking about how bravely the men fought and how, "He fought well, but he wasn't Arthur."  Arthur should therefore if you want to believe the mythology be king of Britons, not king of England as so many of these ridiculous films about him make out.

 

PICTS

     The Picts were THE aboriginal people of Scotland, theirs was also the largest of the four kingdoms.  Sadly not much is known about them, as no written documents have survived, and neither has their language.  We know the Picts only from what other peoples have said about them, and their mysterious carved stones which can be found throughout Scotland.  The Romans called them "Pictae" (hence Picts), & the Gaels called them "Cruithne" (which means painted men.  Pictae means picture people).  They were supposedly fearsome in battle and would fight to the death to preserve their freedoms.  The Romans called the Pictish lands Caledonia, after one of the tribes of this people, and this name has been as an alternative for Scotland in the past.  Many people are now of the belief that they were closely related to the Britons.  According to the chronicler Tacitus, the Picts must've been quite an eloquent people as he records their leader Calgacus'(who was the leader of the Pictish army against the Romans) views thus:

"To robbery, butchery & rapine they give the lying name of government; they create a desolation & call it peace."

 

SCOTS (GAELS)

     Of the four kingdoms that of the Scots was the smallest.  Their kingdom was based around Dalriada, which is modern day Argyll in Scotland.  It was the Scots who brought the Stone of Scone from Ireland with them; the Lia Faill.  They came from north eastern Ireland, both as settlers & pirates.  Indeed the Romans name for Ireland was at one time Scotia!  In time it was the Scots who would unite the four  peoples, and not only give Scotland its name (which in Gaelic incidentally is Alba) but also most of our mythology etc.

 

LANGUAGES

     As previously stated we don't know what language the Picts spoke so we will just assume they spoke the same language as the Britons.  Most of Scotland originally spoke this language, and its ancestors today are: Welsh, Cornish & Breton among others.  After the coming of the Scots the language changed to Gaelic, which was widely in use all over Scotland, but is mainly spoken in the Highlands & Islands today although is undergoing a current revival.  Around about the 11th century AD Scots became more prominent as a language.  It is a teutonic language like English, German etc.  Its introduction was mainly due to Queen Margaret (later St Margaret) & was originally the same language as English (it was originally called "Inglis"), although the two languages evolved completely differently.  Today it is mainly spoken in rural parts of Scotland, & has many dialects such as "Doric" in the northeast & "Lallans" in the lowland areas.  I believe it is now on the school curriculum over here!!!!  This was not the case when I was at school.  Most Scots children speak this before going to school but it is actively bred out of them as being incorrect.  Maybe being part of the school curriculum will redress the balance.  After the act of union in 1707 English became the major language, or at least a variant of it Scots/English.  It differs from English in England mostly in the way we phrase things, for instance: 

"I'm away to do the messages" translates as "I'm going shopping" in English/English.

     I just wish I could speak more Scots & gaelic!!!  A lot of Scots sneeringly (and I must say quite correctly) regard English as the language of the occupation.