Today was a very historic occasion for Scotland. Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the country and celebrated a huge, open air mass in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. During the event the Holy Father gave a blessing in Scottish Gaelic which he described as “the ancient language of your country.” In fact, this is incorrect. Scotland does not have a single, ancient language. Rather, Scotland has two, ancient indigenous languages – Scottish Gaelic and Scots –  the roots of both of which can be traced back to the same period, and a third, international language, English. It was pleasing to hear a Scottish Gaelic prayer also offered up during the mass but no prayers or texts were included in the Scots language, even though such is easily available through the Scots version of the New Testament, or indeed, the Glasgow Gospel. This had the unfortunate effect of excluding the Scots-speaking community from any representation in this historic event. No doubt the Holy Father can only proceed on the basis of the information he is supplied with, but questions are bound to be asked in Scotland about how informed Vatican advisors really are about Scottish culture.

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