Leid

Ulstèr-Scotch is claught wi Scotch, at wus kerriet intae whit’s caa’ed Scotlann noo wi incummers frae tha Continen’ o Euraip roon aboot sïx hunnèr A.D. It wun tae tha islann o Airlann whaniver a routh o Scotch fowk stairtit tae cum tae tha norlin enn o tha Airds frae 1606, tae taks o lann weirdit tae Montgomerie an Hamilton, twa buddies frae Ayrshire. Frae thon airt tha incummers skailed oot in thon horse-shae pattren at Professor Rabert Gregg taak’d aboot a lock o hunnèr yeir eftèr, at tha fore-enn o his skeelie lear anent Ulstèr-Scotch.

Tha wurds ‘Ulster Scots’ wus yaised fur tha furst (fur whit tha fowk wus caa’ed) in wittins frae 8 October 16 an 40 (‘The Life and Original Correspondence of Sir George Radcliffe, Knt.’, at wus mintit at in James Seaton Rid’s History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland).

Fowk flittit back an forrit atween Ulstèr an Scotlann throch tha 17t centurie a hantle mair nor fowk nooadays recks oan. Still an withal, tha leid cum oan throch awnin wi whit we caa Norlin Hiberno-English (inbrocht wi tha Inglis incummers) an wi tha Airish o tha hameart fowk fur tha thie hunnèr yeir eftèr. It wus tha wye tha fowk at stellit Amerikay taak’d, an it wud be ‘thair ain mither tongue’ fur thoosans o Ulstèr fowk.

In tha ninetaen hunnèrs Ulstèr-Scotch wus a leid at yins taen a scunner tae, an thon wud be tha wye o’t yit. Tha routh o auld wurds frae lang syne is scant got, owercum wi BBC Inglis. Fowk recks affen at it’s a dialect o Inglis – an Professor Gregg caa’ed this takin ‘ridiculous’ – or mair betoken, a soart o ill-lairnt Inglis, a wrang takin forbye. Hooaniver, fowk’s huilie jubin oan crawin croose o thair leid heirskip. In Mairch o 2001, tha Claught Kïngrick Goverminn homologatit tha ‘European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages’, an fur tha pairt o Ulstèr-Scotch the gien it Sten 2 stannin. Tha Societie is gaein hale-heidit fur ettlins tae wun tae Sten 3 stannin fur tha leid, seein thon’s a maun-dae furtae hae Ulstèr-Scotch lairnt in tha schuils.