History of the Scots Language

Scots has been spoken in Scotland for many centuries and is spoken today throughout the east and south of the country - the historic Lowlands - and also in Orkney and Shetland which form the Northern Isles.

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550-1100 Anglo-Saxon (Pre-Scots)

Around AD 600 the Angles arrived in south-east Scotland speaking the Germanic language ancestral to Scots, and later formed the kingdom of Northumbria, much of which was eventually absorbed by the expanding kingdom of Scotland.

1100-1350 Pre-Literary Scots

The language, now called Inglis, absorbed influences from Dutch, French, Gaelic, Latin and Scandinavian and became the dominant language of southern and eastern Scotland.

1350-1450 Early Scots

The language now became the favoured tongue of the royal court, parliament and burghs with an increasingly distinct literary output and identity and spread north to Orkney and Shetland too.

1450-1550 Early Middle Scots

The Scots language, as it was now widely known, had evolved into a full language of state, producing writers of European stature, and was known and used throughout the kingdom.

1550-1600 Late Middle Scots 1

During this period the Reformation took place and cultural influences from neighbouring England became stronger but Scots remained central at the Scottish court and in all aspects of daily life.

1600-1650 Late Middle Scots 2

Due to changing political alignments, and the effect of religious struggle, wars and depression, Scottish cultural life suffered with a corresponding decline in literary output in Scots.

1650-1700 Late Middle Scots 3

The second half of the 17th century witnessed increasing influence from the English language through the print media, though Scots of all classes continued to speak and conduct business through Scots.

1700-1750 Modern Scots 1

In this period Scotland was joined in a new political union with England which had profound consequences for language and cultural identity. Scots was now commonly branded provincial dialect though there was a revival in Scots poetry.

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1750-1800 Modern Scots 2

The Scottish ruling class adopted English speaking to compete with their counterparts in London and the modern division between their speech, and those of the population generally, was born. Poetry in Scots continued its revival under notable figures such as Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns.
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1800-1850 Modern Scots 3

The traditional pillars of Scottish culture began to buckle under the pressures of industrialisation. Increased population mobility led to changes in traditional speech and ideas about corrupt urban speech and pure rural (Doric) speech became prominent. But the vast majority in Scotland still spoke Scots.
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1850-1920 Modern Scots 4

Taking its lead from an increasingly centralised state, the education establishment in Scotland began to attack the Scots-speaking community and push for English-only medium education. At the same time there was a relatively flourishing state of journalism in Scots.

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1920-1990 Modern Scots 5

The 20th century witnessed the most sustained attack on Scots-speaking through a combination of English-only education and mass media. As Scots declined in some places and settings some even began to question what Scots was. Others began to push for a literary revival in the language.

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1990-2020 Modern Scots 6

As the 20th century gave way to a new century, some began to take a greater interest in speaking and writing Scots, and in language rights issues, often aided by internet technology. Publications in the Scots language were once again in a relatively flourishing state while education began to open its doors to learning about Scots.
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