Re: Grammar

["Stephanie M. Thorson" <smt2@st-andrews.ac.uk>]

Poster: "Stephanie M. Thorson" <smt2@st-andrews.ac.uk>

Eogan wrote:

> I hate fine line divisions like this, because they tend to be misleading,
> and change over time.  I usually think of the Highland/Lowland division as
> one of altitude (geographically speaking) and not latitude.  But the
> division is really more important culturally than geographically, in which
> case the Highland/Lowland division has changed over history, regardless of
> actual geographical divisions.  I usually try to make my division sound
> more cultural and less geographical by referring to it as Gaelic/Lowlands,
> although there are (and have been throughout time) many different Highland
> cultures, and not all of them Gaelic.  So that doesn't work, either.  ANd
> this two-way division leaves out or assimilates the unique cultures of the
> outer Isles and the coastal regions of Scotland.

To a point you're right, but there is a VERY distinct geographical
boundary behind the so-called "Highland line", and while I suppose you
could argue for altitude as being the defining difference, it that same
geographical line *also* runs pretty clearly on a north-south axis, which
divides Scotland into eastern and western parts. Traditionally the Gaelic
speaking parts were west of that line.  Aside from all the fun I'm having
on my own, I share an office with another PhD student who's working on
Highland/Lowland divisions and perceptions in the later Middle Ages and
early modern era.  According to her, that geographical boundary made and
still makes a lot of difference.  Try driving due west from, say,
Edinburgh or St Andrews towards Glasgow, and you'll not only see what I
mean, but you'll also hear the dialect change.  Falkirk (as close to
exactly between as you can get) has a truly odd accent, because it's right
in between the soft "Gaelic" accent of the west and the thicker, more
Germanic-sounding dialect of the east.  I'm not getting into the isles, 
because they weren't part of the kingdom of Scotland for much of their 
history - they belonged to the kingdom of Norway.  The western isles were 
won after the battle of Largs in the 13th century, and Orkney and 
Shetland both were were Norwegian territories and under the bishop of 
Trondheim (Norway) until the late 15th century, when James III married 
Margaret of Denmark (which was then joined to Norway).  Her father put 
Orkney and Shetland up as collateral against her dowry, which he never 
paid, so the islands defaulted to Scotland.

> the Lowlands to seek refuge.  Thus Scots was not affected as much by
> French as English, and was instead affected more by Gaelic.

Scots probably has not many more Gaelic elements than standard English
does, as far as I can tell (and I hear it spoken daily), although one
could probably contend that the Gaelic elements in standard English came
in through contact with Scots speakers. <shrug> Remember too that the east
of Scotland, where Scots is mainly spoken, was originally the Pictish
kingdom, not the Irish one, and as near as we can figure, the Picts didn't
speak a Gaelic language.  There is of course considerable argument about
what sort of language the Picts actually did speak, but the case against
Gaelic is pretty good.  I'm not going to get into an argument about 
that.  I have troublesome saints to cope with, and frankly, the saints 
are less aggravating than hypotheses and arguments about who the Picts 
*really* were.  Eventually you can get some answers about the saints.

> Hey!  Sounds like you're having way too much fun!  That's not allowed at
> school, is it? ;)

Obviously you're going to the wrong school.  :)  Or you don't have enough 
Troublesome Saints <tm> - do we need to start establishing a US franchise?

Alianora
*****************************************************************************
Stephanie M. Thorson			|  SCA: Lady Alianora Munro
Dept. of Scottish History		|  Clan White Wing
University of St Andrews		|  Tarkhan, Khanate Red Lion

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