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Document 1813

Scots Tung Wittins 162

Author(s): Robert Fairnie

Copyright holder(s): Name withheld

Text

Nummer 162
Mey 2007

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://uk.geocities.com/rfairnie@btinternet.com/ Stravaiger Ph. [CENSORED: phonenumber]

The First Independence Referendum
ON THE EVE O THE BATTLE O BANNOCKBURN, Robert the Bruce, King o Scots, speirt his men gin they shuid staund an fecht for independence or no. A 14t century verbal referendum reportit an screivit in 1375 bi John Barbour wi some o the mair obscure auld words an spellins owerset intae a mair modern form.

'Lordings, we aucht tae praise an love
Almichty God that sits above
That sends us sae fair beginnin.
It is a gret discomfortin
Till oor faes, that in thae weys,
Sae soon haes been rebuttit twice,
For whan they o thair host sall hear
An ken siccarly in whit mainner
Thair vanguard, that wis sae stout,
An syne thon ither jolly rout
That I trow o the best men war
That they micht get amang thaim thare,
War rebuttit sae suddenly,
I trow an kens it aw clearly
That mony a hert sall waverand be
That seemit airlier o gret courage,
An frae the hert be discomfortit
The body is nocht worth a mite,

Tharfor I trow that guid endin
Sall follae frae oor beginnin.
But I say nocht this you till
For that ye shuid follae ma will
To fecht, but in you aw sall be,
For gyff ye thinks it richt that we
Fecht we sall, an giff ye will
We leave, yer likin tae fulfill.
I sall consent in ilka wey
Tae dae richt as ye will devise,
Tharfor speak yer mind plainly.'
An wi ae vyce than did they cry,
'Guid king, athoot ony mair delay
The morn as suin as ye see day
Ordane us aw intae the battle,
For fear o daith we sall nocht fail
Nor nae pain sall refusit be
Till we hae made oor country free.'

Thae forebeirs o oors, votin in the first independence referendum, wis weel awaur o aw the risks an dangers they war like tae face an war weel awaur o hou puir thair ain country wis in compare tae England. They kent braw weel that the English airmy wis faur gretter nor thair ain but that day they haed gien the English twa bluidy nebs areddies an thon gied thaim a psychological heeze. Naebody telt thaim that if they won the neist day it wad cost thaim nae want o siller nor did thon maitter a docken for they aw pit mair nor siller on the line thon day - they pit thair verra ain lives.

A! Fredome is a noble thing!
Six year efter the battle the Scots estaiblishment sent a letter, noo kent as the Declaration o Arbroath, tae the Pope. In it they telt hou thair country wis aye bein sair fashed bi thair suddron neibour an they speirt his Holiness tae see if he cuid get the English telt. The follaein walin frae the Declaration spelt oot aince an for aw that the maitter o siller didnae come intae the equation at aw. In years tae come similar consaits wad fund thirsels bein pitten intae the constitutions o ither freedom lovin nations, in particlar the USA.
For sae lang as a hunner o us remains alive, we will never unner ony conditions be thirled tae the lordship o the English. For we fecht no for glory nor riches nor honours, but for freedom alane, whilk nae guid man gies up except wi his life.

Scots An The Election
AWBODY kens that Unionism haes daured the yuiss o the Scots language in aw the Scottish schuils syne a Liberal government passed the Scottish Education Act in 1872, threapin that frae then on, English wad be the only language that wad be alloued tae be spoken in aw the Scottish schuils. The reddin oot o the teachin o Scots history in the schuils howanever haes been cairriet oot in a mair sleekit an gradual mainner, a wee bit at a time sae that it wisnae noticed at aw bi maist fowk. In the late 20t century an education forspeaker threapit that Scottish education cuid consider itsel tae be successfu if ilka succeedin generation o bairns wis less Scottish in culture, language an awaurness. Succeedin Scottish administrations haes aye yaised the non-prescriptive nature o the Scottish curriculum as an excuiss tae dae naethin aboot this criminal situation. A body can easy jalouse frae this that there wis naethin non-prescriptive aboot the 1872 Act.

The ootgaun Scottish Executive, baith Labour an Liberal, haes haed aicht year tae dae somethin positive tae mak richt the abuin colonial conspiracy agin the bairns o Scotland but, apairt frae giein some mealie-moothit lip-service, they hiv duin naethin positive tae forder an uphaud aither the Scots language or the teachin o Scots history. Thae twa cultural richts is seen bi thaim an ither Unionists as a threat tae the Union an they've nae intention o honourin thair pledges tae the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages as lang's they can jouk ahint the non-prescriptive nature o the Scots curriculum.

The Scots pairlamentary election takin place on the 3rd o Mey, will kythe a new Scots Executive an the ootcome o this will aither gie a muckle swall o howp tae the Scots language an the fowk that yaises it, or anither fower year o juist mair o the same.
Aw the political pairties haes gotten thair manifestos oot bi noo an there a report ower the page aboot whit ilka yin is gaun tae dae or no dae aboot the Scots language. This is taen frae the Scots Language Centre's wabsite whaur ye can see aw the manifestos at:-
http://www.scotslanguage.com/

Wee Calf
RAICENT adverts yaised bi STV tae forder general advertisin on its ain telly programs, maks gey clivver yuiss o a play on the Scots language. Yin o the proponed adverts shawn as an exemplar threaps:-

Wee Calf
TRAVEL

A wee calf shuirly maun be a richt needcessity afore a body can dae ony kinna serious traivelin tho it haes tae be said that a body can traivel an aw on a wee ken but no juist as faur as he can whan he's got a wee calf.

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. €9 (Ireland/EU)

Jamie Stuart's "A Glasgow Bible"
A review bi Irene Broon (Owerset intae Scots bi the Editor)
[NOTE: image of the book cover in original]
IN the Scots Tung Wittins 161, the airticle cried Words Fowks Herts Kens Best wrote aboot hou the yuiss o Scots in the kirks haed a positive effeck on congregations. The airticle wis foondit on a piece bi Ron Ferguson in Life and Work entitelt Resurrecting the Past. Ferguson minds us that whan Jesus preached, he did it in Aramaic, the language o the fowk he wis preachin tae. In the sindry owersettins the Bible haes gane thro ower the centuries, it's nae wunner it can whiles seem ootlin an oot o reach.

I can mind a Scots Language Week on Radio Scotland a puckle year syne whan the reading frae Lorimer's owersettins moved me as they spake strecht tae me in a wey the English text hidnae. This year, the Scots Language Centre merked Easter wi reading bi Tom Fleming frae the Gospel o St Luke owerset bi Lorimer.

A Glasgow Bible bi Jamie Stuart disnae mak itsel oot tae be an owersettin. The size o the text itsel (145 pages coontin a vocabular) maks siccar o that. Stuart haes interpretit intae his ain vairsion o the Glesca vernacular, stories frae the Auld Testament frae the Creation an Noah up tae Job an Jonah, wi weel kent tales o Ruth, Samson, David an Solomon in atween. His vairsion o the New Testament kivvers the prophesyin o John an Jesus throu tae the Resurrection.

That Stuart's wark is ane o love cannae be gainsaid. It's nae mean feat tae condense a muckle tome the likes o the Bible an tae dae it wi a caller, invigoratin vyce. We're aye hearin aboot dwynin kirk nummers an ministers wunnerin hou tae get fowk back intae the habit o gaun tae the kirk bi thinkin o weys o makin services mair engagin. I dinnae ken if Sunday Schuils exists ony mair, but I wad think that engagin Scots bairns wi the hertsome Glesca text in A Glasgow Bible wad be a shuir wey o gettin a new generation interestit. Hou cuid they haud agin the directness o thae Ten Commandments?

Serve me an me alane
Take nae heed o ither idols
Honour ma name - aye - respect the name
o the Lord yer God
Nae workin on the Sabbeth
Love yer faither an mither
Nae murderin
Nae theivin
Nae lyin
Stick fast tae yer ain partner
Nae greedy habits

A Glasgow Bible is noo in its 12th reprent, hivin selt mair nor 100,000 copies. Foondit on that, I doot the question that is the title o Stuart's autobiography Will I be called an author? disnae need tae be answert!
Aiblins some o the fowk that bocht A Glasgow Bible disnae see thirsels as Scots speakers, but nane-the-less the Scots tung is shuirly speakin tae thaim.

A Glasgow Bible bi Jamie Stuart
(ISBN0 -7152-0749-0) is publisht bi St Andrew Press whase wab address is:-
www.churchofscotland.org.uk/standrewpress. The cover design is bi Mark Blackadder an the kivver illustration is bi Sheila Cant.
© Irene Broon

Election 2007
WHIT aw the political pairty manifestos haes tae say aboot the Scots language:-
CONSERVATIVES
Nae policies for the Scots language.

SSCUP
Nae policies for the Scots language.

SOLIDARITY
Nae policies for the Scots language.

SCOTTISH GREENS
We will uphaud measures tae enhance the status an yuiss o Gaelic an Scots.
We recognise the benefits an importance o uphaudin Scotland's mony languages, includin Scots, Gaelic, ethnic minority languages an British Sign Language throu thair inclusion in education an multilingual public information.

LABOUR
Gien its diverse nature, we will investigate the best wey tae promote Scots an will wark tae big a consensus on the maist appropriate role in oor society for it.
We will uphaud the development o bairns' literature in Scots.

LIB DEMS
We will improve uphaud for projects that recognises the importance o the Scots language.

SNP
We will promote an increased awaurness o Scots an its literature. This will include introducin a question on Scots in the census an makin siccar that European obligations tae develop the language is honoured. We will actively encourage the yuiss o Scots in education, braidcastin an the airts.

SSP
Promotion o Gaelic an Scots, wi aw thair diverse dialects.
A commitment tae gie Gaelic an Scots equal legal staundin wi English

Oor Gordon
DINNAE greet tae me aboot aw the siller A've taen oot o yer pension funds. It's the best thing that cuid hiv happened tae ye an A wad dae the same again if A haed tae. Whit's mair, it disnae maitter a docken if 75 year auld pensioners wi an income o up tae £9840 will hae tae pey double the income tax at 20% insteid o 10% in the new budget cause it's a sma price tae pey tae gie the higher, mair important earners a reduction in the standart rate frae 22% tae 20%." - Gordon Broon

Makar's Neuk
Gin I Was God

Gin I was God, sittin up there abeen,
Weariet nae doot noo aw my darg was deen,
Deaved wi the harps an hymns oonendin ringin,
Tired o the flockin angels hairse wi singin,
To some clood-edge I'd daunder furth an, feth,
Look ower an watch hoo things were gyaun aneth.
Syne, gin I saw hoo men I'd made mysel
Had startit in to pooshan, sheet an fell,
To reive an rape, an fairly mak a hell
O my braw birlin Earth, - a hale week's wark -
I'd cast my coat again, rowe up my sark,
An, or they'd time to lench a second ark,
Tak back my word an sen anither spate,
Droon oot the hale hypothec, dicht the sklate,
Own my mistak, an aince I'd cleared the brod,
Start awthing ower again, gin I was God.

Charles Murray (1864-1941)

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APA Style:

Scots Tung Wittins 162. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 28 March 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1813.

MLA Style:

"Scots Tung Wittins 162." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1813.

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If your style guide prefers a single bibliography entry for this resource, we recommend:

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. 2024. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk.

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Information about Document 1813

Scots Tung Wittins 162

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Text audience

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Method of composition N/A
Word count 2130
General description monthly newsletter

Text medium

Leaflet/brochure (prospectus)

Text publication details

Published
Publisher Scots Tung
Publication year 2007
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 Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes At work
German Yes Yes Yes Yes In Germany to communicate with two grandsons
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes Wherever Scots is understood

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