Dr Clive Young embarks on a quest to learn about the secret life of the language he spoke as a bairn. Along the way, he encounters centuries of intense argument on the very nature of Scots, from the first dictionaries, through MacDiarmid, The Broons, Trainspotting and on to present-day Twitter rammies. (And of course, endless stushies about how to spell it.) Some still dismiss Scots as ‘just’ a dialect, slang or bad English.
Behind this everyday disdain Dr Young uncovers a troubling history of official neglect and marginalisation of our unique minority language, offset only by a defiant and inspiring linguistic loyalty.
A refreshing counterbalance to the usual gloomy prognosis of Scots’ supposedly ‘inevitable’ demise, Dr Young sketches out a practical roadmap to revitalise Scotland’s beleaguered tongue and simple ways we can all keep it ‘hale an hearty’ for future generations. |
