I NOTE with interest the letters from Margaret Oertig (August 13) and Jim Meikle (August 14) on the subject of Scots grammar.
The low status of Scots has, it seems to me, as much to do with class as it has to do with linguistics.
My own upbringing was bilingually in Scots and English but I remember getting the tawse if I answered “Aye!” to “Have you done your homework?” Did not Shakespeare use the word?
Still the mistaken belief persists that nice, intelligent people speak English and Scots is for those poor unfortunates who know no better.
My own command of English is above average but LallanScots wiz ma faither’s ain mither tongue and I love its strengths.
When I am in Germany, Spain, or France however, out of courtesy and respect I use the language of the country. Language, any language, is for communication and so lang may oor tongue be heard.
David Phin,
Schoolhouse Palnackie, Castle Douglas.
I FEEL bound to respond to Margaret Oertig and her “Scots dialect” assertion. Since when did “I’ve went” and “I done it” became dialect grammar? In my view, both are just examples of very poor English grammar
Brian D Henderson,
44 Dundrennan Road, Battlefield, Glasgow.
AS a proud native of Scourie I would like to give a positive direction to your correspondent Pricilla Douglas (Letters, August 11).
Scourie, in the English language, is pronounced “Scowrie”, never “Scoorie, except by people who probably pronounce “Glenmor(r))angie” as “GlenmorAngie”.
Incidentally, the proper Gaelic name, which is the universal language of place-names in that parish is “Sgobhairidh”. The first part is Old Norse, possibly meaning “wooden” or “in a wood” and the second part means “shieling” in Scottish Gaelic.
Ian Munro,
48 Dockers Gardens, Ardrossan.
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