SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1824 Title : Scots Tung Wittins 173 Author(s): Robert Fairnie Copyright holder(s): Name withheld Text Nummer 173 Aprile 2008 Keep a guid Scots Tung in yer heid, hert an mooth!! [NOTE: logo here of the dot Sco in original] Scots Tung WITTINS Eydently Campaignin tae Uphaud the Scots Language Ph. [CENSORED: phonenumber] Scots Tung wabsite: http://www.scots-tung.com Stravaiger Ph. [CENSORED: phonenumber] Scots Tung WITTINS On the wab. Copies o the Scots Tung Wittins gaun back tae Nr 41 can be gotten in pdf format frae Scots Tung's wabsite at:- http://www.scots-tung.com A hard copy o STW is sent free o chairge tae aw maimbers o Scots Tung ilka month. Maimbership subscreivins is £5 (Scotland/UK) Peyed ilka September. €9 (Ireland/EU) Whit's Guid For The Goose.... [NOTE: photographs here of Bill Wilson and Linda Fabiani in original] EFTER hearin Gordon Broon proponin for the British Cooncil tae set up a wabsite foondit English lairnin coorse, a Scots Tung maimber wis gart intae proponin in an e-mail tae a nummer o freends it wad be richt braw if there wis sic a wabsite setten up sae that onybody cuid yaise it tae learn thirsels Scots. He thocht an aw that it micht cuid be foondit on Colin Wilson's "Scots Language Learner" an fundit bi a Scottish Government depairtment bi wey o the Scottish Airts Cooncil. Bill Wilson MSP, ane o thae abuin freends, raxed the norrie on tae Culture Meinister Linda Fabiani MSP wha reponed wi the follaein letter (owerset intae oor ain language bi the Editor). "Dear Bill, Thank ye for yer letter o 21 Januar anent correspondence ye haed gotten frae a constituent aboot the estaiblishin o a Scots language wabsite. As ye micht be awaur, A've telt ma officials tae pit in place an audit o whit meisures exists areddies tae forder the Scots language, an whit inlats is thare tae forder thaim, aither as pairt o, or eikit tae, the manifesto commitments the Scottish Government haes gien for Scots. A'm blithe tae threap that we're suin due tae inveet consaits o interest for this piece o wark. A'm awaur that a nummer o organisationsan individuals is daein a reinge o guid wark tae forder the Scots language in sindry weys. A think yer constituent's suggestion tae estaiblish a Scots language wabsite typifies the kinna norries that needs tae be conseidered if we're tae mak forrit wi oor manifesto commitments tae the Scots language. A'll mak siccar that ma officials taks this maitter intae conseideration when weyin up aw the ootcomes o the audit. A howp this repone is helpfu. Yours, Linda Fabiani" Whaur Noo For Oor Ain Language? IN her letter abuin, Culture Meinister Linda Fabiani MSP howps her repone is helpfu. Scots Tung wad threap that, as meinisterial letters gauns, this ane maun rank as ane o the maist positive in a lang while. There nae doot aw Scots language upsteerers maun be gey hertened bi the positive souch o her words. Howanever, oor ain Scots language needs mair nor juist uphaudin words frae the Scottish government tae survive. Tae survive it needs fowk tae speak an write in Scots an yaise it as a language for ilka-day communication, no juist in private but in formal situations as weel. Oor ain language needs its ain fowk tae yaise it as a real language tae descrive the warld aboot thaim an tae communicate wi thon warld an wi ane anither. As wis pyntit oot last month, Scots speakers can speak, hear an think in Scots but maist o thaim can only read an write in English. The maist dowie thing aboot this is that thae Scots speakers disnae think there onythin orra aboot this an disnae gie it a saicont thocht. An ootshot o this can be seen in the likes o dizzens o buiks aboot the Scots language, Scots gremmar or e'en sae cried Scots dictionars that's aw written in English. This juist threaps tae the warld that the Scots language isnae guid eneuch tae speak aboot itsel, an it's no guid eneuch tae descrive its ain gremmar system or the meanin o its ain words. Imagine an English dictionar that haed the meanin o the English words alang wi ony text aw written in anither language. Wad it still hae the richt tae be cried an English dictionar? In Scotland we see nocht wrang wi it.This haes aw cam aboot throu generations o British politicians garrin generations o teachers in Scottish education tae muild generations o bairns intae thinkin this wey for political raisons. This linguistic cleansin wis cairried oot in Scotland for mair nor a century. Maist o the Scots writin that's duin the day is duin bi fowk that's learnt thirsels tae read an write in Scots in spite o the education system an no because o it an it's a meisure o thae writers' intelligence that they've managed tae ower-come the system whaur writin's concairned onywey. It's juist a peety that maist o thae writers disnae chuise tae owercome the system whaur conversin in oor language is concairned. There nae wey this can be pitten doon tae a want o intelligence or abeility an can juist be pitten doon tae pairsonal chyce. A guid exemplar o this is the Scots language delegation that gaed tae ane o the TV offices in Glesca tae fleetch for mair Scots in the programs a puckle year syne. Whan they arrived, the TV director met thaim in reception an speirt if the forgaitherin shuid be conductit in Scots or English for it wis aw the same tae him. The Scots forspeaker wis reportit tae hiv said that it wad hiv tae be in English for he haed his ain professional reputation tae think o. Ay, there a richt want aboot oor ain language the day an its biggest want is for its ain fowk tae yaise it as a proper language an tae be seen an heard tae be yaisin it as a proper language. If the Scottish government is speirin the Scots language muvement for ideas on hou tae help oor language tae survive, ane easy answer wad be tae fund a real Scots dictionar. Ane that's written aw in Scots an wordy o bein cried a Scots Dictionar. But whit can the government dae tae gar aw thae Scots language upsteerers gie up thair embarrassment an stert yaisin oor language as a proper language, baith written an spoken, in public as weel as private? Whit wad it tak? If you ken onythin the government can dae that wad gar YOU stert speakin oor language in public, whit for no juist drap Linda a line? http://www.scots-tung.com Time Tae Get Oor Ain Domain Noo NOO that we've got oor ain pairlament, like Catalonia, it's time we got oor ain .SCO domain, juist like Catalonia haes wi its ain .CAT domain. For a guid lang while noo Euan McCreath an Ross Ingebrigsten o the organisation cried dotSCO haes been dargin awa wi ither sib like bodies an organisations tae pit thegither an official application for a new tap level .SCO Warld Wide Wab domain for the Scottish language an cultural commonty tae yaise. See the dotSCO wabsite at :- www.dotsco.org It's expeckit that a formal application for this cuid be raxed forrit tae the ICANN aroond the back-end o 2008 but confirmation o this date is still aye wantin. Tae forder this campaign Ross haes pitten forrit an e-petition tae the Scottish Pairlament cryin on it tae gie fu uphaud tae the dotSCO campaign, juist the same wey as the Welsh Assembly haes duin wi regaird tae the dotCYM campaign in Wales. dotSCO is speirin as mony fowk as possible tae contack thair ain MSPs an seek thair uphaud for the e-petition an for awbody tae sign the e-petition itsel. This can be duin nae bother bi cleekin on tae the follaein URL:- http://epetitions.scottish.parliament.uk/view_principalpetitioner.asp?PetitionID=216 The actual wordin o the e-petition is :- "Petition by Ross Ingebrigtsen, on behalf of dotSCO, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to give full support to the dotSCO application to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to introduce a standard "".sco"" top level domain name in order to enhance Scotland's distinct languages, culture and identity, and for use by all Scottish public bodies." A richt lang leet o signatures in this e-petition is the best wey tae mak siccar the Scottish pairlament gies the application its full uphaud. Yours micht be the ane that daes it. [NOTE: logo here of dot Sco in original] New scots-tung Wabsite [NOTE: image of the scots-tung home page in original] SCOTS TUNG'S auld wabsite haes saired us weel ower the years but for a guid wee whilie noo, wi a scowth for juist 15Mb o wittins, it haes lang syne been at the stage whaur naethin new cuid be eikit athoot an aqual meisure o auld wittins bein taen oot tae mak waygate. It wis time tae upgrade tae a new wabsite wi scowth for 2000Mb wi a new URL eikin in Scots Tung's ain pairsonal domain o:- www.scots-tung.com The new wabsite is foondit on the auld ane for the noo but wi mair pages, mair photies, wittins an stories. Whaur the auld ane haed yaised up 14Mb o waygate, the new ane is yaisin 73Mb areddies. This means that insteid o haudin copies o the Scots Tung Wittins juist gaun back tae Nr 151 (Juin 2006), the wabsite noo haes copies gaun aw the wey back tae Nr 41 (Sept. 1997) an this wis the verra first ane tae be furthset in colour an the first tae tak the newsletter format raither nor juist a copy o the meinits as they haed been up tae then. Thae auld edeitions gies a guid record o hou the language an spellins o the STW haes evolvit ower the hinnermaist eleiven year. The auld wabsite will maist like bide active for a guid while yet wi wittins aboot the new site an a hyperlink cleek kythin on aw its pages takin the readers strecht intae the new wabsite's Hame Page (see on the left). Scots Tung wad be gratefu if ither sib-like Scots language wabsites that shaws a cleek tae oor auld wabsite, wad tak a meinit tae chynge the auld URL tae the new ane o:- www.scots-tung.com Scots Tung wad walcome ony consaits anent the new wabsite frae ony o oor STW readers. Lat us ken if thair ocht ye wad like tae see that's no thare or ony ither chynges ye wad like tae see bi raxin forrit an e-mail line tae:- [CENSORED: emailaddress] Makar's Neuk To a Louse Ha! whare ye gaun, ye crowlan ferlie! Your impudence protects you fairly: I canna say but ye strunt rarely, Owre gawze an lace; Tho faith, I fear ye dine but sparely On sic a place. Ye ugly, creepan, blastet wonner, Detestet, shunn'd, by saunt an sinner, How daur ye set your fit upon her, Sae fine a Lady! Gae somewhare else an seek your dinner, On some poor body. Swith, in some beggar's haffet squattle; There ye may creep, an sprawl, an sprattle, Wi ither kindred, jumping cattle, In shoals an nations; Whare horn nor bane ne'er daur unsettle Your thick plantations. Now haud you there, ye're out o sight, Below the fatt'rels, snug an tight, Na faithye yet! ye'll no be right, Till ye've got on it, The vera tapmost, towrin height O Miss's bonnet.. My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out, As plump an gray as onie grozet: Or fell, red smeddum, I'd gie you sic a hearty dose o't, Wad dress your droddum! I wad na been surpriz'ed to spy You on an auld wife's flainen toy; Or aiblins some bit duddie boy, On's wylecoat; But Miss's fine Lunardi, fye! Haw daur ye do't? O Jenny dinna toss your head, An set your beauties aw abread! Ye little ken what cursed speed The blastie's makin! Thae winks an finger-ends, I dread, Are notice takin! O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us An foolish notion: What airs in dress an gait wad lea'e us, An ev'n Devotion! Robert Burns 1759 - 1796 This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document. Information about document and author: Text Text audience Audience size: N/A Text details Method of composition: N/A Word count: 2078 General description: monthly newsletter Text medium Leaflet/brochure (prospectus): Text publication details Published: Publisher: Scots Tung Publication year: 2008 Part of a longer series of texts: Name of series: Scots Tung Wittins Text type Article: Prose: nonfiction: Other: mixed text type Author Author details Author id: 95 Forenames: Robert Surname: Fairnie Gender: Male Decade of birth: 1930 Educational attainment: College Age left school: 16 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism Occupation: Consultant Marine Structural Engineer (Retired) Place of birth: Musselburgh Region of birth: Midlothian Birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Musselburgh Region of residence: Midlothian Residence CSD dialect area: midLoth Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Fisherman Father's place of birth: Musselburgh Father's region of birth: Midlothian Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's occupation: Fishwife Mother's place of birth: Musselburgh Mother's region of birth: Midlothian Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: At work Language: German Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: In Germany to communicate with two grandsons Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Wherever Scots is understood