I really want to read scottish poems in their originals. so, i am willing to learn scots but i don't know how. are there any online resources that i can read? open to any recommendations.

Hello!

Trying to write a poem about Auld Lang Syne and wanted to include the opposite of that phrase. How would someone say something along the lines of "times yet to come" or even just "future" in Scots?

I tried a translator but I don't know enough of the language to know if what I was getting was any good or if there were better ways to word my search. I figured it wouls be better to ask a real human brain.

Althocht mony wirds a dinnae ken or a dinnae onnerstaun hou tae pronownce :(

Working on a Child ballad, Sheath and Knife,

https://mainlynorfolk.info/tony.rose/songs/sheathandknife.html

In Ewan McColl's version

“Sister we’ll gang tae the broom,

O sister, I would lay thee doon.”

A footnote indicates that "gang tae the broom" means "make love."

Is this correct?

This would tend to add another layer of meaning to the refrain in other versions

O the broom blooms bonny and the broom blooms fair,

...

And they’ll never go down to the broom anymore.

Does Scots feature stress in the same way as English? Would make sense since they're sisters languages, but I genuinely can't tell

I have been researching historically used terms for intersex people. I was directed in my query to this link for The Historical Thesaurus of English:

https://ht.ac.uk/category/#id=8630

One of the terms listed is "Scarth", year listed as 1578.

Clicking on the term gives links within the historical thesaurus to these definitions:

cource/principle of life :: Hermaphroditism :: hermaphrodite scarth (a1578 Scots)

01.03.01.06|04 n.

Ill-health :: Deformity :: monstrous birth scarth (1508 + 1508)

01.16.07.04.01|19.01 n.

Wholeness :: Part of whole :: a separate part :: a fragment scarth (a1340–1482).

The thing is, I've noticed that Merriam-Webster and the historical thesaurus seem to differ on the years in which terms first appeared, and I think there might be errors in the Historical Thesaurus.

My own dives into Google revealed this:

From Merriam-Webster:

dialectal, England

: a bare rough rock.

Of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skarth notch, mountain pass.

The Middle English Compendium says:

scarth(e)

Forms scarth (e n. Also skarth & (in place names) scharth, scart, sgarth, start, start (e.EtymologyON: cp. OI skarð notch, mountain pass & OSwed. scarþer shiver, splinter.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1.(a) A pottery fragment, shard; (b) in place names

Surnameb.com states:

This interesting and unusual surname is of Old Norse origin, and is found mainly in Northern England and Scotland, especially the Orkneys, and has two possible sources. The first source is locational from any of the various places named with the Old Norse topographical term "skarth", gap, notch. The second source is from the Old Norse byname "Skarthi", meaning hare-lipped, a derivative of "skarth", as before.

^None of this seems to have anything to do with intersex people.

Can anyone tell me if this word does or ever did refer to intersex people? Only the historical thesaurus makes any connection.

Thank you in advance.

​

I’m an American actor cast in a comedy as a Scottish constable. I am looking for a suitable exclamation when the poor fellow is shot in the foot. So far I’ve come up with “Och mo dhia a chronachadh!” But it seems a bit long? I could also use some help with pronunciation on that last word…. Thanks in advance, hope this is on topic.

I don’t speak Scots and I’m trying to write the lyrics of Ewan MacColl – Johnnie O’Breadisley for Musixmatch. I’m writing it based on the lyrics I found on the Internet, mainly those on Genius. I fixed some spellings and added some things I understood that lacked from the lyrics I found. For those interested, here’s the full text I have: https://pastebin.com/raw/3Phj3uPN (if someone wants to correct it, I’d appreciate it, although it’s outside the scope of this post).

But my question only regards the last verse. This is what I have:

Johnnie showed the six o’ them

And the seventh he wounded ser

And he swung his [?] oer his horses’ back

And he swore that he would hunt more, more

He swore that he would hunt more

I can’t understand the missing word. Can someone?

Listening to the Tannahill Weavers' very lovely "Braw Burn the Bridges" (which has been playing in my head on a loop for the past three days or so) and one word in the chorus is driving me nuts:

Aye, the road was haudin' frae the lass that I will aye remember

Braw burn the bridges far behind me in the rain

The leaves were changin' tae the colors o' the glowing embers

My heart lay waiting for the spring tae come again

http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/tannahill/braw.htm

I know "haud" as "hold", but that doesn't make sense here. From the context, it seems like it should be something like "the road was coming from" or maybe "going away from". According to the Dictionary of the Scots Language entry (https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/haud), "haud for" means "to aim at, to make for" (I think "hold for" can have a similar meaning in some older variants of English) but I can't find anything for "frae".

Very quiet sub, I see, but I hope someone can help.

The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 12 June @ 7pm BST / 2pm EDT, via Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81584949449

The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 22 May @ 7pm BST / 2pm EDT, via Zoom:

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I'm planning on referencing this poem in a design, but I want to make sure I'm understanding this one verse of the poem correctly.

The poem is generally about a serving-lass who is love with the heid horseman, but he has eyes only for the horses and his work. That being a serving maid and the head groom?

Like fire upon her satin coat
Ye gar the harness shine,
But, lad, there is a safter licht
In thae twa een o' mine!

But specifically, in this verse, is it right to say that she's referring to the "softer light" in her own eyes(?) rather than the light of the horses' satin coat and harness?

The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 8 May @ 7pm BST / 2pm EDT, via Zoom:

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The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 24 April @ 7pm BST / 2pm EDT, via Zoom:

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The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 10 April @ 7pm BST / 2pm EST, via Zoom:

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The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 27 March @ 7pm GMT, via Zoom:

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I’ve been doing genealogy research recently. One of my ancestors’ clan motto was “I mak sikkar”.

My first guess would be that this is scots, but I watched a video recently that referred to it as Scottish gaelic.

So which is it? Scots or Gaelic?

The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 27 February @ 7pm GMT, via Zoom:

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Juist a wee minder at Transatlantic Scots Conversation meets the day via Zoom, at 7pm GMT. Aa Scots speakers is welcome. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81584949449

The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 13 February @ 7pm GMT, via Zoom:

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Wean - Child

Burn - Stream

Ginger - Fizzy Drink

Glen - Valley

Squint - Askew

Greet - Cry

Piece - Sandwich

Close - Tenament Stairs/Alley

Scheme - Housing Estate

Bunker - Worktop

Wee - Small

How - Why

Mind - Remember

Cunt - Person

Ken - Know

Burst - Knackered/Smashed

Slaver - Bullshitter

Barrie - Good

Chore - Steal

Chum - Accompany

Hey there!

I'm no Scottish per se (though I lived there and am dreaming of moving back... [insert wailing]). Trying to learn (very slowly) from various films and audio/podcasts. Basically, I've been writing something in very bad Scots for fun - not to share. Mostly 'bad' because full-on Scots wouldn't be comprehensible to my writing partner, so I've been toning it down and mixing it with English (sigh). On the way, I've discovered a few interesting sites and resources [not just for learners] - might post those separately, though I have no idea whether they are of interest to people who are not academics or actively looking for language resources.

I've got a few questions though:

1. Any good books to recommend in Scots? [fiction, I mean]

2. Any good podcasts in Scots? [thus far the only ones I've found seem to be geared for kids/families... maybe I'm not looking for the right stuff. Having said that, I found Scots Radio but it won't play through my podcast provider :(]

[I've probably got more questions, but can't think of anything right now. Thanks!!]

Thanks!

In the gloamin' glint o' the simmer sun
Ah wander wild through the heather an' gorse
Freen frae the ties o' the warld an' its bun
Ah'm free tae rove an' tae feel at my force

In the bloomin' braes an' the flowin' burns
Ah'm lost in the beauty o' nature's design
The muckle stanes an' the rustlin' ferns
Remind me o' the peace that's aye mine

In the bonnie glens an' the bens sae hie
Ah'm free tae be mesel, free tae be wild
Aneath the sky sae blue an' sae high
Ah'm free tae love, free tae be smiled

Sae here's tae the hills, an' the heather an' broom. An' the burnies that babble an' sing in the gloam Here's tae the life that is free an' unshoom. An' tae the love o' the wild land ah'll roam.

- Anonymous

The Lansdowne Library (USA) and its Scottish friends invite both native speakers and learners of Scots to join us in Scots language conversation on Monday, 23 January @ 7pm GMT, via Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81584949449