What They Don't Say About Scottish Accents
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Scottish Language, Scottish accents, English slang? As Burns night approaches Scottish history tour guide, Bruce Fummey, talks about the history of oor mither tongue.
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Scotland History Tours is here for people who want to learn about Scottish history and get ideas for Scottish history tours. I try to make videos which tell you tales from Scotland's past and give you information about key dates in Scottish history and historical places to visit in Scotland. Not all videos are tales from Scotland's history, some of them are about men from Scotland's past or women from Scotland's past. Basically the people who made Scotland. From April 2020 onward I've tried to give ideas for historic days out in Scotland. Essentially these are days out in Scotland for adults who are interested in historical places to visit in Scotland.
As a Scottish history tour guide people ask: Help me plan a Scottish holiday, or help me plan a Scottish vacation if your from the US. So I've tried to give a bit of history, but some places of interest in Scotland as well.
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Hi Bruce,
I’ve been a avid follower of your site for the best part of 6 months now and have enjoyed your insight of Scottish History interesting, informative and can say amusing in parts, the way you describe history feels it was only yesterday it all happened.
Now I know people say that they have Scottish ancestry, but I really do my great great grandfather came down from Renfrew to Kent in 1850 to find work!He settled down, married, although that’s debatable as I couldn’t find a marriage certificate, but had 8 children, so he was a busy lad.
I have always wondered how my Scottish surname came to be down south and now I know.
I apologise for boring you with this text but it my way albeit on a personal level how interesting history can be, I only need now to convince my daughter!
Bruce, are you familiar with the book 'How the Scots Invented the Modern World"? Good stuff, but not without controversy.
I am new to this channel and I just wanted to say listening to you talk unabashed about your culture was beautiful.
I got my hand on a few Victorian era's copies of Burns in Canada, I love languages. Being bilingual French-English I was fascinated by language history. Scot language is so beautiful ( some say it's an acquired taste, lol). It's like rather old English with a French pronunciation to some extend. It's unique vocabulary makes is a language on it's own rather than a dialect. Anglo-Normand like in "La Chanson de Roland", is more understandable if pronounced with an English pronunciation. I saw really bad translations made by scholars. Scot with it's 421 words for snow. Makes me wonder why Canadians don't speak Scot instead of English. But some do say "Aboot" according to our neighbours the United-Statians.
@@Padraigcoelfir ,
One of the things I love about the Scots is their speech. It sounds like nothing else. It is as unique as their culture.
The London Evening Standard art critic, the late Brian Sewell wrote a full page article about his obvious contempt for Scots. The headline was " Beware the Mac factor, they the Scots are, a self-righteous tyrannical minority, with no culture worthy of name". So we are sub-human? The London Evening Standard stated, Brian Sewell was a brilliant art current affairs, art & literary critic, which to be fair he was. They went on, anyway, it is only an opinion, fair enough! He also referred to Scots as the masters of bigotry, try Saudi Arabia on that one. Pretty vitriolic all the same. Now compare that mindset to the reaction in the English media when a very young Andy Murray reacted to a snide question by a sun journalist about the 2006 World Cup & the fury that young man faced. Well!
@@KeithWilliamMacHendryFankle - a mixture of knot & tangle of rope & knitting wool
😊
Always love having to back up and play it again until I comprehend what he has said. Never did I think it was his problem and instead blame my comprehension. Nor would I do as someone else thought it proper to say it’s unwatchable or it’s his inability to speak. God Bless!
Tapadh leibh. Tha sibh sgoinneil! My family were Gaelic speakers and learnt standard English, but I agree with you about the merit and importance of the Scots language. Standard English is obviously an important skill in the modern world, but Scotland needs to cherish and maintain Scots and the Gaelic as integral to its identity and heritage.
How can someone like me learn gaelic
@@Crimsonwolf-is3sf duolingo
@@Crimsonwolf-is3sf TeachYourself Scottish Gaelic. Order online,
An dtuigeann tú mise? Táim ag labhairt teanga ó oileán sa deisceart
Oileán Mór is ea é sin
I worked on a team in London and there was another Scot on the team. A comment we got was that when we spoke to anyone else they could understand us fine; but when we started talking to each other within a couple of minutes they could no longer follow our conversation.
As it should be
I’m Scottish-heart and soul- but grew up with non-Scots parents who spoke standard English with ‘posh’ accents. They loved the Scots language- and my father said there were words in Scots that simply had no equivalent in English- gey dreich, scunnert, birlin, gowk. I remember people laughing when my father used expressions like ‘sair fecht’ in his posh accent. He loved Burns too.😄 Once he came to Scotland-he never went back. He always said that he chose Scotland-and Scotland chose him. Your videos are wonderful, Bruce. I hope you all recover soon.
So you’re English lol
Home is where the heart is & your fathers was Scotland 🏴
dreich I use dreich, It sounds like a soggy hat and coat.
Hello Bruce, I'm originally from Banffshire and my favourite Scottish word is "Bubblyjock" which is a Doric word for a Turkey, that big bIrd that you have for your Christmas dinner. I also like "Foggy Bummer" which is Doric for a Bumble Bee.
ive been trying to push this point for years, its bad enough they have almost killed Gaelic but i refuse to let them kill our dialects, i would much rather have to teach every person i speak to a little bit of Doric than change my accent for everybody i come across
Its not the powers that be that will kill dialects its youtube
My wee boy has a strange scottish/ american accent from watching youtube
Hes never left the UK in his life
Its got to the point i pull him up for using the proper pronunciations of words and try to get him to speak more glaswegian
Words like "haunel" "gerage" "awiy" "tae" "git" etc
It's not UA-cam that kills accents, it's time. Or parents!
@@LeeGee ....rubbish....its too much tv and kids grow up watching cartoons and learn american accents and speak them...........now they have PC games,etc......all usually american accents..........i know loads of kids who speak with an american twang
The biggest percentage of
Scots Gaelic speaking people can be found in Nova Scotia in Canada this is due to people making there way to Canada and setting in Nova Scotia after The Jacobite lose at
The Battle of Culloden knowing the game was up what was left of
The Jacobite forces made there way to the west coast & on world to
Canada & Nova Scotia in particular.
Lallanns
As Canadian of Chinese descent, growing up a fan of Braveheart, the Scottish accent is hands down one of my favourite accents. Much love and respect from Toronto, Canada.
Good to hear from you
First of all hope you and the missus get better soon...
Secondly I am one of those sassenach immigrants to Scotland and I love Scotland, and through your video's I am appreciating it so much more knowing more about the history of the places and the people than I would have learned from dusty old boring libraries...
You make Scottish History accessible with your polished performance style and humour far more accessible than watching some boring humourless fart drone on and on...
Keep it up Bruce ❤👍😉👍
Watch you every night hope you feel better soon xxx
I'd love to live in Scotland. How did you manage to move there permanently?
@@sarahwithanhyouheathen3210 Well it is a long story but I had a lot of friends up here in Scotland and two friends suggested I move here, I thought they were joking but I lost my job and because I lost my job my house was reposessed (Couldn't pay the mortgage any more) so I was technically homeless so I called those friends again who I thought was just joking and they told me how to apply for a flat in their building, so I filled in the application form and stayed with them and within a month I had my own flat here right next door to my friends...
The Scottish people are friendly and helpful and I found Scotland a lot friendlier in general than England where I came from...
👍😉👍
@@aelthric oh ok this actually makes a lot more sense now lol. I am stuck here in the U.S. and i am sick of it. I don't think they'd be as willing to give me a chance 🤪
@@sarahwithanhyouheathen3210 I have a friend here in the Building from the US, she married a Scottish friend of mine who passed away in 2020
She comes from Florida and is a Native American, now I am not suggesting you go through the process of marrying someone just to come to Scotland but if you truly want to do it you could start by looking at the possibility of a work / study visa and then take it from there... 👍😉
If you do choose to come to Scotland the Scottish People will be very friendly and helpful as they were for me...
Some of the favourite Scottish-isms I heard growing up in Canada were oxters, dreich, glaikit and skew whiff(pronounced skwee whiff by my mother). My mother was Canadian but lived in Scotland (war bride) between 1946 and 1958. When my family moved back to Canada after I was born, she spoke with such a broad Scottish accent that her family asked my Scottish father to translate because they couldn't understand her. My Canadian friends always looked askance at me whenever I used any Scottish words. I'd just tell them to keep the heid!
it's actually keep yur heid on but hey so what , aye ! 🙃👍
Awa n sh!te, is a good ane tae
I moved at up to the North east of Scotland to stay with my dad's family when i was 16 and they spoke really strong doric the language of the Fisher folk and they had to completely change the way they spoke when we had a conversation 🤣 but when they did is sounded like a knockoff posh English accent so for the first 6 months I was there I died laughing every time they spoke
Ha ha ha ha, oxter, fantastic word!
Dreich is Dutch
I been to Scotland a few times and I think the Scottish people have a freedom of thought that allowed them to do many great things over their history. And put them on the end of a British sword or bayonet quite a few. As a person who's only been able to speak English fluently, I I both see the value of a lingua franca and the value of a mother tongue. Diversity of thought sets us free and ability to communicate helps is share our ideas and views.
For me, its "bairn", as my great grandmother taught me my first words and I was to her, her wee bairn. That was over 60 years ago. I must say you are the most entertaining historian I have ever been drawn to and I truly appreciate your work! Tapadh leat from a Canuck that appreciates honest work!
Fav Scots word: ‘laldy’, as in ‘giein it laldy’
Wow, this hits. I'm from western North Carolina in the US. When I started my career, I quickly figured out that I could add 15 points to my IQ by changing my accent. There's a lot of Scottish influence in this part of our country, so I'm very glad to have found this channel. Thank you
I understand exactly what you are saying. I grew up in the ninth ward of New orleans, Louisiana. When I was in high school, my parents decided to move to Iowa. Even though I was a straight A honors student, after the school administration heard me speak, I was immediately enrolled in the special education classes. I wasn't in those classes for long, lol, I quickly realized it was my accent. It always amazes me how judgemental people are in different areas of the US.
@@perpetualartstudent23 Backwards people are everywhere.
I love Southern accents, I think they sound a lovely as Scottish ones. It's just the classist and elitist post British influence in the "upper" classes that taught their sycophants to sneer.
Yep
The Scots that moved there in the 1700's were given land on the border I think, between first nation and Europeans.. for fighting purposes I imagine.
It's unique -- don't stop speaking like you do. My husband (of now 28 years) could not understand anyone with a 'southern accept' (my relatives in Southwest Virginia). He's from Northwestern Pennsylvania. I found that quite amusing. Keep being you! Be proud of how you speak! I can't wait to visit Scotland in September!
I see many similarities to my situation. I come from Germany, Bavaria to be precise. As a student of business administration, it is particularly strange to speak in dialect. Every now and then you hear it said that you should speak proper German, but often you are "only" denied competence. Dialects are an enrichment and the cultivation of customs prevents us from forgetting where we come from. I wish you all a good recovery.
Stimmt.
Scots an Bavarian urna Inglis ur German thay ur different leids frae thaim!
Are you of African descent also?
@@piplee1439 Whom are you asking that?
@@bystanemusic990 the Kraut
As an ex English teacher in Scotland, I could not be more supportive of your video. The number of times I have had to have a radge when a parent said their child was talking “slang.” I often refer to the bit in Docherty by McIllvanney when the boy gets belted several times for saying “sheuch” instead of drain. Great vid. Get well soon.
Docherty- an excellent read. i Took a module in Scottish Literature at university and this was one of the texts.
I got a row for writing an essay in Doric back in the 80s told never to write in my native tongue again. Now, it's encouraged. My great granda was treated badly when he came to Aberdeen from Wick as he only had the Gaelic . All changed now, thankfully. By the way, ye was affy guid last night
Sheuch was used in the North of Ireland for a drain
@@josephfisher6745 still is!
@@josephfisher6745 Still used in Ayrshire. I've been described as being as slow as sheuch watter a few times.
Favourite Scots word is probably Scunnered. The one I enjoy using most often is probably Outwith. I don't understand why nobody else uses it, it's very handy.
Can you use "outwith" in context? As an Eastern Englishman, I can't fathom its purpose.
@@PiousMoltar explaining languages is outwith my skillset
@@PiousMoltar you just did?
@@dunc71 🤦🏼♂️
@@PiousMoltar Outwith is like the Scottish English loan of the Scots word Ootwith I think
Glakit, just shows how versatile the Scots is. A sentenced reduced to a word. Living in Australia a fun thing I like to do sometimes is insist that English is dumbed downed Scots with some french words and watch them get wound up. Feel free to try in your neck of the woods where appropriate
I like it, almost like a 'English; a Dummies Guide to the Scottish Language'
Cheers Bruce, you are so right.
I grew up in Edinburgh confused by my accent and how to speak. Surrounded by the middle class types at school on one side who spoke 'properly' while from a working class background where Scots words were used (because it was less likely to have been 'educated' out of them). This means that I have had two accents and code switched without even realising. It really f***s with your sense of self. Even right now I'm typing in perfect English because I don't know how to type in Scots, nobody thought to teach us.
Anyhow, like your conclusion here (which is wonderfully put) I started doing the same, I use what Scots I have, and try to use it with self assurance and class in the way it is implied we should use our 'English' words. I will only code switch for foreign people now, not posh people.
Hope you and your wife get well soon, take care!
I am not from Scotland though but i love history and languages,and I totally agree with you,that people should keep their languages keep alive,as well as dialects and accents,thank you very much for a such interesting contect you provide about your culture and language !
Cheers from Poland !
Och eye luddie
I am an Aussie (with some Scottish heritage) and it shits me when people try to get me to speak in pure English, so I hear you..
This is so brilliant. As an English-mother-tongue native of Montreal/Quebec I am reminded of the conversations around the “legitimacy” of spoken “quebecois” French, or “joual”, if you will, and French “as she is spoken” in France (standard set by….). You can imagine the response of a Quebecois to a snooty Parisian who assumes a superior position, linguistically. Its a class thing, with historical antecedents and contemporary realities. As for me, my accent (clearly anglo) was influenced by an excellent Tunisian immigrant back in the late 50’s. I can’t speak or understand “joual” (other than some common phrases, or pronunciations). But joual is rich, dynamic, irreverent, fast, and alive. It comes to life in film and television, is well supported in the performing arts, as far as I can see although I might be talking through my “toque.” . My favourite film (8 times, now) is La Grande Seduction for a unique insight into a culture that has survived against all odds. ❤️ sorry for the ramble; blame it on Bruce and his compelling Scottish History Tours.
Well done on writing half the novel 🤣
Lol how true. I also grew up in Montreal. As an immigrant in the late 50s we learned English and french in school, which had no relationship to that spoken by people around us on the street. My French teacher was from Morocco! My youngest sister learned her French from the neighbours and speaks fluent joual. This was awkward at school.
Actually, Isle De France "francais" was only spoken in Paris area. Everyone else spoke "archaic" French/Frankish - more similar to "Cajun".
@@calvinferguson8588 "Frankish" is a bit anachronistic, since Frankish was a Germanic dialect spoken by the Franconian elites in Northern France from about the 5th to the 8th century and didn't have much to do with the basic Gallo-Romance languages or dialects spoken even in the "Île de France" either then or in the 1600s.
Cajun is a modern descendant of Acadian French. Acadian French was mainly an amalgam of French as spoken in the 17th century New World province of Acadie by immigrants mainly from Brittany and the Atlantic ports such as La Rochelle and Bordeaux. But Cajun was already influenced by 100 years' contact with northeastern Native Indian tribes such as the Miqmaq, Mohawk and Mohican, Huron and Iroquois generally, before they were expelled in the 1760s and (some) made their way to Louisiana, where their language became further differentiated by contact with the local peoples and the more recent Spanish and French immigrants.
People in France never spoke Cajun.
My wife is Acadian, and her french varies from that of a Quebecois, and they have the nerve to tell her that her French was not as good as that of Quebec. I have to step between the two lest she put a beating on those from Quebc.
This is brilliant and so resonates with my experience. Once as a tour guide giving tours of the Scottish capital, someone complained that I had a Scottish accent and I should speak "English" !
When you are next on the Royal Mile have a look at Paisley Close. In November 1861 the tenement collapsed killing about 30 people. The story goes that the rescuers heard in the rubble a young boy shouting 'Heave awa' lads, I'm no' deid yet'.
When the close was rebuilt the young boy was remembered with a plaque above the close mooth, but the good burghers of Edinburgh modified his Scots to 'Heave awa' CHAPS, I'm no dead yet' Presumably so Queen Victoria on her way hame to Hollyrood and the visiting tourists from down south would know weren't Philistines and the local working-class peasants would know how to speak proper, like the boys fae the Academy ;-)
It needs to be change to the original words, its stuff like that that chips bits away at a time till its gone. Love From Scotland xxxx
As a Scottish descendant living in Southeast Louisiana, I understand you quite easily! Your English is impeccable!
Ma Da, who was fa Rutherglen, never lost his accent. I loved listening to his stories too. He started every story the way you do. Wee Tam was quite the storyteller. When I was just a wee yin I got to have a pal over after school for a homework date. My Da greeted her at the door, invited her in and proceeded to blether on aboot some nonsense while offering her a cuppa. I will never forget the look on her face when she asked me what he said and in what language! I pished masel laughing while trying to explain his very Glaswegian/Ruglonian accent and that he was in fact speaking English. One of my favorite memories of ma Da. Thank you for sharing your stories Bruce. Slainte Mhath!🏴💚
Love your videos! My parents are from Glasgow and have been here in Canada for 55 years. Not only do they still speak Scots but they still use a lot of the "Glesca Banter"! I won't post in a public comment what my mum would say if someone told her to speak "proper english"!
"Away an' bile yer heid"??
Thanks for this one, Bruce. I am an American, (native "English" speaker) but I'm polylingual. I speak French, Japanese, Irish, and Dutch. When I was learning Dutch, my small knowledge of Scots words (ken, coo, bin, kerk...) helped me A LOT because these words are the same in Dutch. So thanks Scottish comedians for that! Also, I am a big proponent of regional dialects and minority languages. I speak Ulster Irish, and I get treated completely differently in Donegal and Derry than I do in Dublin. And I speak the Kyoto dialect of Japanese. This gets me looked at funny in Tokyo, but my accent was the reason I got to party with a bunch of Geisha one night in Gion: I speak THEIR language. As someone whose native regional accent was beated out of her as a child (I'm from the coal mining are of Pennsylvania), I have learned that speaking with a regional accent or speaking a dialect often makes you tons of friends. We all learn the "book" language in school. But the living, breathing language as it is used has variations. And to those who also speak that variation, you just sound familiar. It's lead to a lot of fun adventures in my life. I will never discourage someone from speaking in a regional accent or dialect. Thanks for being a proponent of them!
I never realized that there were so many different accents and dialects in Scotland. Thanks for making this so interesting with such wonderful humor and knowledge of Scottish history, Bruce.
every town and village has its own dialect. People in Hawick speak different than ppl in Selkirk.
As an American I find Scott’s language music to my ears,especially the preachers,thanks for your teaching,Be blessed
I moved when I was a kid from west Somerset to Hampshire, I got no end of stick for speaking in a West Country accent/mode of speech so this video definitely resonates with me.
Ha, I got the same moving from Portsmouth to Aldershot, both of which are at opposite ends of the same county, Hampshire
I know it doesn't sound particularly Scottish, but "outwith" seems to be almost solely used in Scotland. I'm doing my best to increase its use here in Australia as it's concise and the meaning is clear from the context.
And indeed, "fornent" as in "in front of", or "ahint" as in "behind", or "aside" as in ....well that one is pretty obvious ...
I have made it my life's mission to slip "outwith" in all documents I write that are longer than one A4
Day one of university they told us we can't use 'outwith' in an essay as it's a Scots word and not English. Was news to me, I aye thought it was quite a high-fallutin word. Needless to say I said f*ck that and carried on using it. Degree number four currently and it's thrown about aw'where.
@@DNeuropsych I did uni before I learnt the word, but my professor was fae Kirkaldy so I think I would've been fine.
I heard it said a lot growing up in the North East of England (particularly as you head into rural Northumberland), but when I went to uni down south no-one knew what it meant
It's interesting that our language and dialect has so many different roots. I realised this when playing a game the other day there, Battlefield 5 to be exact. One of the characters you play as is Norwegian and straight out of the garbled sounding language she turned into the broadest Scottish woman for a single word. She said "Hus" but it was spoken exactly the same way as we do: "Hoose".
Braw
When my Grandad thanked people he alway said "Thank you very Muckle" my brother and I still use this.
Definitely my favourite Scotts word.
Hello from a Texan transplant living in Dumfries! I married a doonhamer and moved to Scotland a year ago. About 6 months ago I started working at The Globe Inn, hailed by Robert Burns himself as his “howff”. I’ve become so interested in researching and learning Burns history, I’m now giving tours of The Globe. I really enjoyed your “Burns in 10 Minutes” video! I was looking to add information in my tour about Robert Burns’ connection to keeping the Scots language alive. Thank you so much for this video. The information is exactly what I was looking for. Come visit The Globe Inn in Dumfries some time!
Guid lass
I absolutely adore the Scottish accent 🏴 and language, my grandad was from Glasgow ❤️
My favourite Scottish word - Stramash. My least Dreich - a perfect description of the weather here I hate most. I listened to a lovely Radio 4 programme about taking the train from Aberdeen to Penzance, and the immense shifts in accent in such a short distance from Doric, to Dundee to Morningside etc. Your plea to speak Scots, oh yes, take it back and add some more joy to a uniform world. My Dad's Welsh, his mother spoke Welsh, his dad, a miner, just Welsh accented English. I remember being in Telford and there was a school party from North Wales and all the little children and teachers were speaking Welsh. One of my group asked what language they were speaking, as she thought it sounded like Dutch. Welsh, one of the oldest and most beautiful chest infections in this country - Dutch!! I could go on, but won't. Great episode and get well soon!
Oi! What's wrong with Dutch?! 😜
Hi Bruce , great work as per. My father was born in Leith , in 1942 he volunteered for air crew and like thousands of others had to moderate his speech to be clearly understood over the intercom. Although I was also born in Leith my life was on air bases until the age of ten . On moving to rural perthshire I found I spoke standard english but the locals spoke scots and as a 10 yr old i learned to speak scots but had speech problems . My mother was Welsh and spoke with a soft accent and my father having been aircrew for 26 yrs had a very slight accent . but with old friends from Leith and few a drams he slipped into Scots as he had been as a bairn. The technological changes of the radio and television and the second world war meant that mainly men had to adapt and use standard english as an operating system. peace
Excellent video. Very informative. Love how the subtitles just couldn't 'handle rip the pan oot'
Your Scottish accent is what brought me to the channel...I can listen all day long. Love it 💕
Yay, thank you!
Perfect. My own Yorkshire accent has been so twisted and turned by education and travel etc. that it's a poor ghost of the original, which was considered wrong and ugly. I wish I'd held onto more.
Hope you and the family get well soon, Bruce.
Hope you feel better soon Bruce ❤️
It’s no often your videos bring tears tae mah eyes but this wan did. Mostly because I grew up being punished for “slang” at home if I dared to use any of those “vulgar thick fifer words” and at the same time being picked on in school for sounding “posh”. To this day I struggle to drop the code-switching and feel a little like an imposter if I use Scots words. Gradually getting easier over the last couple of years.. point being it has long lasting impact.
I very much relate to the imposter thing, sometimes I do things like stop myself saying "aye" and say "yeah" instead, and feeling like I shouldn't speak my own language even though I'm Scottish.
Love everything about Scotland and it’s people. Having a lifelong friendship with a Scot from Perth has meant that I am fortunate enough to not require subtitles 😀😀.
Take care and hope you recover soon, from a new subscriber!
Welcome aboard
What a hoot!
I can understand most of what you say, when you're letting your hair down, but the part that I miss is probably key.
Poking fun at yourself, and at me at the same time, is something I can always appreciate.
This is the first of your videos I've watched, but it will, by no means, be the last. What a fantastic literary and linguistic history lesson!
I heard myself saying, 'Wow' several times through this video... I have so much respect for those who speak the Scots language and hold it dear. Thank you for your research and passion for what you do.
I'm fourth generation expatriate, citizen of the US. I enjoy history and still feel a connection to Scotland, so I have been devouring your videos. Saving the language is definitely an important part of saving the culture, and I have welcomed the opportunity to expand my familiarity with the language. Keep up your great work, your pride is deserved.
This reminds me of my visit to Edinburgh in 1995. We stayed with some friends of my wife, and we could understand them perfectly. Then they took us to the Barras, and magically we suddenly needed translation. It was like it was old Scottish territory. They gave me a shirt with Awayegoyemugye on it, so I think it's my favorite Scottish word. If it is Scottish.
Lol. It is, away you go, you mug you...
It is indeed Scottish, ya mug ye
🤣🤣🤣 good explenation, love it.
Keep giving more 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
You should genuinely do more in yer natural leid. It’s heartwarming. Melting really.
Bruce, you're so right. Speak whatever Scots you have. The same goes for a lot of other 'minority' languages in Europe. I'm glad that my father spoke Friesian to his bern, and yes, that means what you think it means, Mr Fumey. Now I see the similarity between coos and Kühe! Thanks!
Feel well soon Bruce .We all went through the school system in Glasgow with teachers who tried to smooth out our Glaswegian brogue…we were told to try to speak as if we came from Inverness. Having left in 1958 and spending the next 3 years with not a Scots accent within hearing I think my Weegie may have flattened a bit , as relatives asked me why I was trying to speak posh . Ten years on when trying to catch a bus near George Square I complained to the bus driver..’Chu man ,you out to leave me’ His rejoinder was Aw hen, which part of Jamaica are ye from ? ‘ I guess I now a mixture of brogues…One love Bruce,keep us entertained
😂
Whilst spending time with a guy from Sweden and some Scottish people. We discovered some words like house pronounced in a Scottish accent. We’re the same in both languages. American newspaper printers started to shorten certain words to get more words on a page. So Colour became color. If you are interested in the way people of this island spoke in the past Simon Roper UA-cam channel is worth looking at.
Definitely! Simon Roper does some amazing work! ✌️😎
Swede here and noticed ”house” too when I visited Scotland recently :) ”hus” in Swedish
As a resident of Utah in the USA, I love your accent. Don't lose it.
Oh Brucie, please get well and don’t overdo! I’m working on month two because I didn’t take care.
Your videos are helping me through ♥️♥️♥️
I'm glad they help😘
Cheers for another great story Brucie lad. When I first moved to the Lakes District I was aware of a few "mainstream" accents in English. I quickly became fascinated with different accents in different parts of the county, country and abroad. So this video is especially dear to me.
Sad to hear you've caught that nasty bug. I'll down a glass for your health tonight mate. Stay safe and keep them stories coming. Do dheagh shlainte.
Our community public health nurse was from Scotland, Marie Pepper. She made a house call anytime one of us children came down with a communicable illness in the 1950s-- red measles, chicken pox, mumps. I was thoroughly fascinated with her accent. Even though the circumstances that occasioned one her visits were less than pleasant I looked forward to her visits just to hear her talk.
Get well soon Bruce.
I spent just over a year working in Scotland mostly in the central belt. I've also worked all over England and parts of Wales. I'm lucky enough that I can for whatever reason understand most accents and dialects from broad Geordie to heavy valleys Welsh and indeed all the different Scottish accents that I encountered including Glaswegian (even Aberdeenshire). I also spend a couple of years living abroad flat sharing with a Scot from just outside Glasgow who would fairly regularly drop Scots words in often for dramatic effect to remind everyone that he was Scottish. Hoose and coo were his favourites for this which is ironic because were had plenty of Germanic language speaking friends who I now realise understood him better when he did this!
I love linguistics. Thank you for teaching about Scotland's language. Very educational.
Our pleasure!
So sorry that you have the covid. I love listening to you because of you accent. I find your stories interesting but it was your voice that keeps me coming back. I hope you recover quickly.
Just a wee couhh
I find your Scottish accent quite soothing 👍🏾Thank you for all your entertaining videos!
I watched a video by Simon Roper where he demonstrates how the London accent evolved from the 14th to the 21st century. I was amazed at how scottish sounding it was before the great vowel shift. Thanks to this video, I now know why :)
When I was in my teens and started becoming familiar with languages and accents, something about Scots instantly caught my attention, and became my favorite. From that time, I was always delighted to hear it anywhere, even if it was in "Brigadoon" or Scotty on "Star Trek"! As for favorite Scots words, I don't really have just one, but a friend of mine had a band named "Drumnadrochit", and I always enjoy saying it!
It jist flows aff the tongue
Mmmmm, I could listen to this accent for ages. How do you have such a gorgeous voice EVEN suffering with COVID? Get well soon
I really like the word, "flichterin'" like the flame of a candle. Thanks for your wonderful videos.
Can see that was tough to get through Bruce. So sorry to hear you are sick Bruce. Hope the family are doing ok. Get well soon all. Thank you for bring so dedicated.
I've always loved hearing the Scots accent. Wee is one of my favorite words.
I wish you a speedy recovery Bruce.
Hope the Rona doesn't get you down too much. Great video as ever. Code switching for most Scots comes naturally. I've been with non Scots who I've modified the accent for clarity with, look at me like I've gone mad when they hear me with a fellow Glaswegian. Add a few beers and I might as well be talking Gaelic. Favourite word is Numpty and I'm sure there'll be a few along in the comments.
My mother was a Scot who immigrated to Canada in 1925. As I grew up I could understand whatever she said because I lived with her but was surprised to hear once I had grown up that not one of my childhood friends had understood a word my mother had ever said to them. They would just nod their heads and say, "Yes, Mrs. McCorriston.".
I'm doing live shows in Canada in 2024. Shows in Halifax, Annapolis, New Glasgow, Moncton, Montreal, Perth , Ottawa, Toronto, Fergus, Seaforth, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria. Most of the details are here www.brucefummey.co.uk/shows.aspx
Im Still lovin yer work bigman, your recounting of Scottish history is second to none, keep up the good work pal
You would really go bonkers over Appalachian Scottish. I understand every word you say. Being from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountain chain, I recognize many similarities and speech patterns not to mention cultural similarities. The rest of the United States is practically Scottish illiterate. Once, while I was living in Missouri, there was a person from Appalachia speaking on the afternoon television news. Not only did I have to translate for those around me, but the news media had to run a banner across the bottom of the screen showing a translation. I loved it! I love being a redheaded Scottish/Native American person!
😁
Mungeon?
Yes! This fellow's Scottish English sounds so familiar to me. Not quite foreign at all. I knew some Scottish immigrants to Canada over the years. Maybe that's why. Certainly the Royal Family's English sounds very foreign to me.
Love "Bourach"! I was involved in the renovation of Davies "Bourach" on Jocks road , check him oot Bruce!
My current favourite is a phrase rather than a word. If someone talks to much you can say their tongue is "gain like the clatterrin bean o' a Dukes erse"! (From an old timer I know from Fettercairn)
With you on "bourach". And given the Fettercairn origin of your source on the latter saying, I suspect that your "Duke" should be "jook", as in a duck ... see hilarious conversation between "Scotland the What" star Sandy, frae the Toy Shop, Ballater, and Her Majesty the Quine: "Na, na, yer majesty, nae a duke, a jook!" Well worth looking up on UA-cam.
Man this is some quality content Bruce, straight to the bone as usual. I work in the community in social work & using Scots is a great way to make connections with (certain) people & really help them to relax & open up - usually end up having a laugh.
Excellent & timely video, all the best for 2022.
Loved this!!! THIS is why we need to know history. Thank you Bruce!
My pleasure
This man is so amazing to me. I hope I can meet him when I travel to Scotland.
I've just found your channel and I'm totally enthralled. I'm going to try and work my way through all your videos. I've kinda studied history, Scottish and global all my life. My mum was a history teacher and she got me interested. I'm loving your approach to history. I like dreich, it's a great way to describe some of our weather. Gaun yersel.
Welcome on board
Another one that’s not used much is haar. (Mist or fog)
This was really interesting. Thank you! I know it isn't really the same, but where I'm from in Suffolk, the local accent and phrases the old boys had have pretty much disappeared in just one modern, exposure to tv generation. I find it so sad, it's a wonderful way of speaking. Everyone must hold onto and be proud of what makes them them and their heritage. World'll be pretty bloody boring otherwise. New subscriber here. You have a wonderful way of telling a tale. Cheers me dears :)
Shoogle and scliff were the first two scots words I ever heard (beyond the high frequency words like wisnae, oot, wee, wit etc), when my cousin came to Australia from Hamilton. I started my own Scots dictionary in an exercise book, and followed him around (I was nine at the time).
Ahem...you didn't "follow him around", you "chummed him by", or "chummied".
Paradoxically, this word has its roots in French (chambre)...which 'may' be a remnant from the 'Auld Alliance'. (ssh!)
@@davidsmart8594 Those usages are definitely Scots, but there is no record in the Dictionars o the Scots Leid of their use before 1700, so I doubt if that goes back to the Auld Alliance. Chum does originally come from French, but it entered the language through English, as in chumming or sharing a room at university. The Scots just took the term and ran with it, giving the verb new meanings, which shows that Scots is a productive language.
Shoogle is a great word. I remember back at school (which wasn't yesterday) struggling with a seat that was very uneven and the teacher upon spotting this raised her voice to ask "What is the matter with you boy?" without even thinking I blurted out "Ach it's this chair, it's too shoogly fur me."
The whole class burst into fits of laughter, including the teacher. I was even allowed to get a different seat.
@@alicemilne1444 Ah, but Alice...there were many French soldiers stationed in Scotland prior to the Auld Alliance...
@@davidsmart8594 The Auld Alliance wis fae 1296 tae 1560. An see me? See ma mammy? Her wis French, ken. Nae "chummin" in Auld French nor Modren French forbye. Yon's a bonnie wee story ye've jist hatched yer lane wee sel. 🤣
My father went to public school in Dundee by the time he came to England to work. He would never even know he was a Scott, so I completely understand what you’re saying. I’m proud to be a Scott myself even though I have an English accent. Well done. Fantastic videos you put out 🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🇬🇧
Hey Bruce I have a story for you. My wife and I are from Minnesota (ya fer sure, you bet-cha) and the same age as you. We visited Scotland in 2017. I'm a low key traveler so I like to blend in, which means no loud shirts and Bermuda shorts if ya get my drift. I didn't have any problem understanding the locals but for my wife, it was a different story. There were quite a few times when I had to translate to her. One chat with our lodging host got on the subject of camping in a caravan. All she picked up was the term "caravan" and thinking he was talking about a Dodge Caravan minivan, made a comment about an old one we had. We both looked at her, paused and I said "we were talking about an RV camper". Up to that time, I've never seen her have a deer-in-headlights "Ohhh" moment. It was precious. We want to visit again, soon. Keep up the great vlogs.
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Another interesting topic Bruce. I always learn something from your videos. You have a natural gift for storytelling and teaching. My favourite Scots word is “Braw”.
My favorite Scots word is 'ken.' My mom's last gift to me was the book Treasure Island and I loved this book and how I had to look up words the sailors used like ken meaning know. When reading it I didn't know it was Scots and since I was born in Scotland it gives me an indescribable feeling when I read that book.
Ken comes from the Dutch word kenning meaning to know. another germanic word that makes our language
@@cowsarsc Thanks I didn't realize that. it sounds obvious now that you say it!
I'm an American with (which I just found out with 23andme) 65% Irish ancestry and the rest French and German, but I just LOVE the Scottish accent and language AND your videos...
This is satire, bruv. You can’t be quoting 23andme results, that’s an American stereotype. hahaha
Absaloutely love your videos man these are the sort of things I should've been taught at school
Glad you like them Garry. Much appreciated
As someone who was born and raised in Buchan, but moved to Falkirk several years ago, it's so interesting seeing how my accent and language has changed. I often have difficulties understanding my Granny who speaks very broad Doric (she's fae the Broch!) but when I was younger I would have understood her perfectly.
In parts of the North of England you hear Scots words used colloquially (big word for me). It surprises me how many Scots words I hear in Yorkshire especially Barnsley.
Same when I was growing up in what is now the south of Cumbria. Make noise and grandad would shout wisht and he always called us bairns despite being English. And the Sunday Post was read in many households so learned a lot from the Broons.
There's a lot of Scots in Barnsley
Sleekit is my favourite Scottish word, especially when you say it properly - Ssssleekit 😁
I have lived all over the British Isles and recognize the vast richness of our language. We must NOT try and obliterate our accents for numerous reasons. We must learn to appreciate them and how our history has allowed these accents to form. Great Videos, Bruce. Try a wee dram fer yuh cold, man.
Was glad to hear there are comedic aspects to it. Scottish accents/words/cadence are charming and funny to me (wee bairn). I sometimes detect a twinkle in the speaker’s eyes and like to believe they know the delight they’re sharing. Also - OBSESSED with your videos. I think I’m fangirling!😍🥴😂
I absolutely love your blog. The sound on my TV starts at a reasonable level and ends rather loudly. Apparently, turning up the sound makes you easier to understand. 🤣❤️🏴 You’d probably have a field day with my Texas draw. I love traveling around Scotland. It’s awesome
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As a brit from england, Rab C Nesbitt was required viewing in the 90's. That program helped millions of non-scots to understand Glaswegian - brilliant stuff
...lol..and Hebridean
I moved to the borders in 92 sadly I no longer live there but was there for over 20yrs. Langholm is the home town of Rab C himself - Gregor Fisher, whom I had the pleasure of meeting on several occasions, what a lovely guy. His son went to school with my then step son. Favourite Scottish words would be. Drieghk - inclement weather, haud - hold, ye - your, wisht - mouth/tongue, hin - hen/woman, ken - know, tumpshi heed - turnip head, neeps 'n' tatties - turnips & potatoes, glen - glade , cairn - rocky outcrop, Munro - mountain. How did i do for an English incomer?
@@EskdaleHawks1 sheekss...you beat me well
My parents are extremely Glaswegian, but my natural manner of speech is much more anglicised. My mum, who grew up in Castlemilk, always corrected my pronunciation to "proper" English because she didn't want the way I spoke to hold me back. It makes me sad that she felt that way. In my adulthood, I've been trying to reclaim Scots words into my normal speech and learning Gaelic (slowly but surely).
Reclaim away
I’m about 3 months late hearing this. Hope you’re feeling better from the big! I really enjoyed this video! Helped me understand the language evolution much better than two classes in British Literature in college! I certainly understand and feel for where the Scots folk are coming from. I’m a native southerner in the USA born and raised in Alabama. I am college educated with a graduate degree, yet I sound remarkably like Jim Nabors, aka Gomer Pyle, not surprisingly because we both grew up about 60 miles apart. We southerners in America get looked down upon by Yankees due to our accents and are pressured to talk in a bland accent akin to newscasters on the evening news. One of my heros was the late E.O. Wilson, a Harvard educated, Alabama native who was our preeminent biologist. He never dropped his southern accent and succeeded in spite of it! Be proud of your accent and culture! Don’t let the political correctness crowd bully you! Thanks again!
Hello Bruce, I've read a few Irvine Welsh books and I'm glad to say I can understand you perfectly clear being a Brit, you do great work.
God bless you Bruce I have injod your history chats this one really brings it home Thanks
Sorry to hear that you’ve been hit with COVID. Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery. Being a poor American with no Scots ancestry, the best I can come up with corbies (thanks to the song “Twa Corbies”). By weird coincidence, my elementary school also featured elocution lessons to rid us of the benighted Philadelphia accent.
Sorry to hear you all have Covid, Bruce.
The class element of speaking Scots is probably the most pernicious. I've just turned 60, and it was only in the past 10 years I realised that Scots was even a written language!
Also, the Bassedyne Bible was published in Scots while the English were still prosecuting people for translating the Bible from Latin!
I tried looking for this bible...can you point me in the right direction please...I've found Scots Bibles, however not that one...I may have to try the Universities!
That's because it isn't a written language, it's been reclassified as such by modern academics
@@Alfonzridesagain Aye right, mate. Nothing was written in Scotland before 1707 when we learned to speak proper. 😂😂😂
@@Alfonzridesagain awa haud year wheesht.
I love videos like this, and as an American who enjoys steeping in his Scottish ancestry, I want to hear MORE Scots (and Gaelic!) It makes me sad that more Scots don't appreciate their own history and culture the way you do. Scotland, for such a small country, has had PROFOUND impact on the world history, especially the USA, and if more Scots knew about it, appreciated it, and promoted it, the world would be better off.
It's been battered out of us over the last 300 odd years
That story behind the play MacBeth was so cool! Never heard that before.
Great video. My two favourite Scots words that I use regularly are guddle and scunnered. Scots is a brilliant language and I encourage its use