SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1797 Title : Scots Tung Wittins 146 Author(s): Robert Fairnie Copyright holder(s): Name withheld Text Nummer 146 Jan 2006 A guid Scots Tung in yer heid's nae guid if yer mooth's ower blate tae yaise it! Scots Tung WITTINs Eydently Campaignin tae Uphaud the Scots Language Ph. [CENSORED: phonenumber] Scots Tung Wabsite: http://uk.geocities.com/rfairnie@btinternet.com/ Stravaiger Ph. [CENSORED: phonenumber] A Guid New Year A Guid New Year tae yin an aw an walcome tae 2006! Jings! Juist anither 94 year o the twinty-first century left. A Guid New Year tae ane an aw, An mony may ye see! An durin aw the years tae come, O happy may ye be! An may ye ne'er hae cause tae murn, Tae sigh or shed a tear! Tae ane an aw, baith great an sma, A hertie, Guid New Year! 2005 Gaun Oot Wi a Bang! BI the hinnerend o 2005, there wis an innin gien tae twa three ongaun projecks ettlin tae forder the cause o the Scots language an ither aspects o oor kintrae's culture.On St Andrae's Day the Literature Forum for Scotland pit forrit a petition tae the Scots pairlament wi mair nor fifteen hunder signatures on it cryin for a compulsory meisure o Scottish literature, an the Scottish languages, alang wi Scottish history intae the curriculum. This cry for a wee bit o compulsion for Scottish cultural subjects in the curriculum shuid shuirly faw in wi Jack McConnell's ain consaits that cultural considerations shuid be at the hert o government an that ilka depairtment shuid big the airts an culture intae thair decision makin. Coorse, we aw ken whit the ootcome is gaun tae be. Oor politicians is gaun tae sympathise an agree wi the petitioners but they'll pynt oot an aw that the best they can dae is advise cause the Scottish Curriculum isnae prescriptive. No prescriptive? Whit a joke! The teachin o the English language haes been compulsory in aw Scottish schuils for 133 years! Ay, it'll no be a non-prescriptive curriculum that'll dae the skaith tae the education o oor Scottish bairns but mair like a want o political will bi politicians that's feart tae pit actions whaur thair mooths is. The Kirk o Scotland haes raicently taen steps tae forder the yiss o Scots in kirk services bi settin up a curn athin the Kirk's Worship an Doctrine Comatee tae fetch oot language packs tae help meinisters that wants tae yaise Scots in thair sermons an prayers. A Kirk forspeaker said that the Kirk needit tae be clear that it wis speakin tae aw the airts o Scotland an no juist tae the ae social cless an that mair yiss o Scots in the Kirk wad help tae brak doon the association o the language wi the lower social groups. He said an aw that the Kirk wad hiv tae be able tae speak tae this pairt o the population that yaises Scots. A campaign tae gie the Scots language an culture community the richt tae yaise a .SCO domain on the internet wis launched juist afore St Andrae's Day. See the neist column for mair particlars an for weys tae uphaud an forder this campaign. The stert o December seen the launch o BooksfromScotland.com, an e-mercat wab-steid sellin aw kin kind o Scottish interest buiks an is a shop windae for the buiks sector in Scotland howpin tae sell aroond 10,000 titles. The wabsteid is operated on behauf o Scottish publishers bi the limited company, BooksfromScotland.com, wi the Scottish Publishers Associe (SPA) haudin the feck o the shares. The Scottish Airts Cooncil pit up the siller tae get the wabsteid up an rinnin. The wabsteid ettles tae growe ayont a simple e-mercat wabsteid intae yin that's a foont o wittins aboot buiks bi region, bi subjeck maitter, bi genre, as weel as airticles, wittins, reviews an a guid sicht mair forbye. [NOTE: logo here of the dot Sco campaign in original] Whit wey dae they want a .SCO? Cause the Scots language an culture is a community that they believe shuid be identified wi its ain domain on the internet. Unner a .SCO domain thae organisations, companies an fowk that expresses thirsels in the Scots language an/or ettles tae forder Scots culture will be able tae be registered an will be easy tae recognise on the wab. Can languages an cultures hae domains? Syne cooperatives (.coop), the aero industry (.aero), museums (.museum) an the Catalan language an culture (.cat) hiv aw been recognised as communities wi thair ain domain on the internet, then the Scots language an culture shuid hae a gey strang foond for haein .SCO as a domain. Wha's ahint the campaign for .SCO? The nem o the associe that's speirin for .SCO is cried dotSCO. They're cryin on aw individuals, curns, organisations an companies that wants tae threap thair uphaud for this projeck tae jyne thaim. They want tae shaw uphaud for the Scots linguistic an cultural communities aroond the yird online. They believe that uphaud can be in-gaithered frae athort civic Scotland an frae throu-oot the Scots Diaspora. They're foondin thair organisation on the successfu puntCAT campaign for the Catalan language an culture www.puntcat.org. Wha can jyne dotSCO? Thae organisations that warks tae forder the Scots language an culture can speir tae jyne bi writin tae the interim cooncil o dotSCO, particlars can be fund at www.dotsco.org. Maimbership o dotSCO is subjeck tae the approval o the interim cooncil o the associe. Maimbership is apen tae individuals an organisations that warks tae encourage an forder the Scots language an culture. Political pairties an public admeinistrations cannae be maimbers o the associe. Whit daes dotSCO want the noo? dotSCO is leukin the noo for maimbers an uphauders. They're leukin for uphauders o the Scots language an culture frae athin an furth o Scotland. The Scots language an culture haes influence athort the yird an they howp thair maimbership will reflleck this in time. They howp awbody will tak time tae consider jynin the campaign an the organisation. They howp that fowk will jyne wi thaim in takin this campaign forrit an help tae gie the Scots language its richtfu place in the Warld......wide wab. www.dotsco.org Scots Tung WITTINS On the wab. Mair raicent copies o the Scots Tung Wittins can be gotten in pdf format frae Scots Tung's wabsite at:- http://uk.geocities.com/rfairnie@btinternet.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. £6 (Ireland/EU) $14 (Americae) Lavlut - Liet Ynternasjonaal [NOTE: a photograph here of Gwenno performing in original] THE fowerth European sang contest for minority languages, Liet International, is tae be hostit bi the city o Östersund in Swedish Sámiland on the 14t o October 2006 unner the name o Lavlut - Liet International. The first three Liet International competitions aw taen place in the Frisian capital o Ljouwert but chyngin the festival tae the north o Europe maks guid sense cause it wis the Sámi that won Liet thae lest twa year wi Sámi singer Niko Valkeapää frae Kautokeino beirin the gree in the lest competition.In Sweden, Lavlut - Liet International will be rin bi organisations frae the Finnish an Sámi minorities. The Swedish brainch o EBLUL, Sweblul, taen owerance for haudin the festival in Sweden an organises the hail ongaun. In this ongaun, it haes uphaud frae the city o Östersund, the province o Jämtland as weel as the Sámi Pairlament. The festival will tak place in the Storsjöteater in Östersund. Minorities or bands that wants tae tak pairt in Lavlut - Liet International shuid send thair entries tae Sweblul for the tent o Birger Winsa, Rapsodivägen 48, 142 41 Skogås, Sweden, e-mail:- [CENSORED: emailaddress] Ither sib wabsteids is:- www.liet.nl www.omropfryslan.nl www.transjoik.com The abuin wittins is taen frae a report bi Onno P Falkena in Eurolang. It's sic a dizzie that Scots language airtists hisnae kicked a ba in Liet at aw tae gie the likes o Gwenno an the ithers a rin for thair siller up tae noo. Is the Scots commonty no guid eneuch tae compete wi Cornwall an ither wee minority language cultures? Shuid the Scots Executive, the Cross Pairty Group, the Scots language muvement, the Scottish Airts Cooncil, the Scottish pairt o the British EBLUL comatee an the sindry music an performin airts associes no be gettin thair heids thegither noo tae see hou oor culture an language can be representit at Liet ilka year? Shuid the Executive an the Edinburgh City Cooncil alang wi oor ain TV companies no be ettlin tae bring sic a kenspeckle festival tae the Capital? "Viking Place Names of East Lothian" Bi Iain M M Johnstone A review bi Reid Moffat AWBODIE belangin the Lothians that, in oniewey, cleiks wi the sound and the history cairried bi the nems pit on ti the places roun about thaim, shoud hae a luik at this buik. But on tap o that, this is an important wark for students o the Scots Leid. Place Nems ir a key pairt o Language; an in Scotland thay, as wi our Scots Tung, hae lang been the tairget o poleitical manipulation. Fykie facts hae been gien a bit shougle or birl. Maist patent o yon is the attribution o awthing that's no Brythonic or Gaelic ti Anglo-Saxon. We shoud aw warm ti Stevenson [RLS] flytin at his brither in 1894: "Get the Anglo-Saxon heresy out of your head....". An nou, we hae ti thank Iain Johnstone for pittin a C21st sklent on ti that wi his acronym ASH. An we aw ken whaur ash/aise belangs!In his buikie, Johnstone airgues that the Angles (the Saxons never got here) left a gey smaw merk on the Lothians and the South o Scotland. He pynts ti the want o archaeological evidence o widespreid Anglian settlement, alang wi the total absence o Anglic holy places or the stamp o thair God's nems ower the landscape. As weil, some modren historical thinking quaistens the reality o an Anglian kinrick streitchin frae Humber ti Forth. Sae whaur did aw thae Germanic/Teutonic/Gothic-ruited place nems skailed across Scotland cam frae? Johnstone fins the gedderin evidence pynts ti the chaunel as bein Auld Norse raither nor Old English - an this evidence pynts faur mair ti Viking/Wast Skandinavian nor ti Danish. Agane, as wi the Place Nems sae wi the Language - gin the hail consait o Anglian dominance stauns a thing shougly, sae the ruits o the leid at cam ti be cryed Scots stauns ti be expiscatit ower agane. Here, Johnstone sterts ti dae juist that. An the affcome o his deleiberations neibor the Place Nem anes: Auld Norse - faur mair patent nor onie o our ASH-smoured dictionars awn. Readers wi weil-thoumed dictionars and/or an ontrest in place nems micht hae learnt afore o the Norse provenance o Fell an Firth, an mibbe a hantle wirds sic as kirk, lug, swither, graith, dreich, flittin, bing, lowp an reik. Efter giein this buik a guid sicht, the same readers wul hae a faur braider kennin o the key place belangin Auld Norse in the founds o the Scots Tung. For thaim whase ain middenheid is the subject o Johnstone's study, this deasil jant frae Whittinghame aw the wey roun an back ti neiborin Ninewar shoud plenish pleisur an insichts baith. ASH maun be mair entrenched than in Stevenson's time an Johnstone disna cairrie monie illusions anent the gargantuan job afore him in shiftin Language an Place Nem scholars aff thair bien behouchies. But he hauds yokit for the chauve. Guid fordir til him, an A'm shair thare wul be monie lyke me luikin forrit ti his projectit "Place Names of Scotland". "Viking Place Names of East Lothian" ISBN 0-9544992-2-0 furthset bi Tarmagan Press, 3 Piershill Place, Edinburgh, EH8 Nae Smokin Act THE Smokin, Health an Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 - Pairt I, Smokin, Prohibition an Control that wis passed bi the Scots Pairlament airlier the auld year, comes intae force on 1st Mairch 2006. The abuin Act daurs smokin o ony kind in aw enclosed public spaces an hauds the operators o sic spaces responsible for makin shuir the public is telt that they're no alloued tae smoke on thae premises. [NOTE: image here of a 'nae Smokin' sign in original] Tae help oot, Scots Tung can fend laminatit A4 Scots language Nae Smokin signs tae ony o the public areas that comes athin the owerance o the abuin Act, for £1.25 each includin p&p. Electronic pdf copies can be sent free bi e-mail an aw, if speirt for, sae that operators can prent thair ain copies. Scots Tung kens fine frae its ain experience wi its Scots language Christmas caird posters that Scots language signs grips the een o fowk faur better nor English language yins daes an is mair effective cause it's no whit fowk is expectin tae see an when they dae see yin, it feels juist like bumpin intae an auld freend. It's mair liker tae be gien a freendly reception nor yin that's prentit in English wi thon yin bein regairdit bi mony fowk as the language o colonial authority an yin that's mair liker tae be cockit a defiant snook at. Ony enquiries can be speirt tae the Scots Tung wabsteid or tae [CENSORED: emailaddress] or bi phonin tae [CENSORED: phonenumber] Makar's Neuk Bless Oor Hoose Bless this hoose, O Gweed we bid. Mak her saaf aa us tae hid. Tak tent fowr waas haud guid an stoot, Keppin wint an tribbles oot. Mak shair her reef an lums stye braw, Syne proteckin ane an aa. Bless frint door sae she wull be, Ayewyes apen tae luve frae Thee. Bless thon windaes clair an bricht, Lattin by Yer Hivvenly licht. Gaird ... ingle ... cheers ... roon, Far reek .... taks gweed-wirds abune. Bless the fowks we bide amang, An kep us aa frae daen wrang. Tak tent o us sae we micht be, Guid eneugh tae bide wi Thee. An, bless us ane day we micht ludge, Ivverlastin .... oor guid Gweed wi Ye. Owerset frae Helen Taylor's "Bless This House", bi John Henderson 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: 2397 General description: monthly newsletter Text medium Leaflet/brochure (prospectus): Text publication details Published: Publisher: Scots Tung Publication year: 2006 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