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ROBERT BURNS’ LEGACY ‒ SCOTS (LANGUAGE)


Summary. Oneof the culturalimpacts of the Act of Union between England and Scotland (1707) was the paradoxical 18th century revival of Scots as a literary language. Robert Burns became a representative of this ‘Vernacular revival’, that is the revival of poetry written in the Scots ‘tongue’.

At a time when some elements of Scottish culture were becoming ‘Anglicised’, Robert Burns showed a wonderful ability of his ‒ to appear in different personal and linguistic guises. Robert Burns has become a poetic genius, a global icon.

Key-words: Scots (language), elision, rhyme, rhetorical power, emotional appeal, code-switching, heritage.


By ‘Scots’ we mean one of the main languages of Scotland, traditionally associated with the Scottish Lowland. Scots is close to the English language. Both share many terms. Scots emerged from the same Germanic group of languages as English, but should not be confused with Scottish Gaelic which is associated with the Highlands and evolved from the Celtic family of languages.

Scots came from a variety of Old English spoken in the ancient kingdom of Northumbria. During the medieval period, Scots spread to supplant Gaelic as the main language used at court and in poetry.

The Protestant Reformation when the English Bible was adopted, the Union of the Crowns of 1603 when the Scottish court moved South, and the Act of Union between Scotland and England in 1707 ‒ all these events brought about cultural consequences. The result was the formation of Great Britain.

One of the cultural impacts of the 1707 Union was the ‘paradoxical’ 18th century revival of Scots as a literary language. At the same time Scotland ceased to be an independent political entity. Poets Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), Robert Fergusson (1750-1774), and Robert Burns (1759-1796) became representatives of what is known as the 18th century ‘vernacular revival’, that is the revival of poetry written in the Scots ‘tongue’, a kind of reaction to the Act of Union.

Robert’s father, William Burns, was a working gardener from the south of Stonehaven, a tenant farmer, in Kincardineshire. He was a hard-working man with high ideals about human worth and conduct. He paid particular attention to Robert’s education and upbringing.

By modern standards, Robert had the sketchiest of education. But at an early age he was proficient in the three Rs and well-grounded in the principles of Presbyterian theology. He was a great reader. Besides his early exposure to Scots poetry, Burns was, like most Scots, schooled in English.

He was privately tutored by John Murdoch, a young university student, who was hired by his father. William Burns himself used to have good English pronunciation.

Thus, Robert Burns’ command of language was shaped by this education. He wrote at a time when some elements of Scottish culture were becoming ‘Anglicised’ in conformity to English norms of polite communication, while Scots was seen as a mark of lower-class provinciality and was rejected by the ‘polite’, the professional, and the well-to-do. ‘Scotticism’ was being avoided in speech and writing.

In order to appeal to British public, a pure English style was cultivated. That is why there were regrets that Burns’ genius was expressed in a lowly ‘provincial dialect’.

There are a lot of examples in his poems where Scots words are pronounced with a different vowel sound to English equivalent. Very often we encounter ‘elision’ in Burns’ poetry, where a sound is omitted in pronunciation. Elision mainly appears in the final sound of words in order to suggest Scots pronunciation and to get a poem’s rhyme scheme (i.e. pattering of recurring stressed and unstressed syllables) in this way keeping its rhetorical power which can be lost in English.

Political concerns about liberty, tyranny and power were also not left unnoticed, and produced a great emotional appeal to the readers.

In ‘Scots Wha Hae’ we see another literary device ‒ code-switching. Bruce, the hero of the poem, starts his address in demotic (relating to or typical of ordinary people) Scots but by the end of the poem he moved into poetic English.

  1. Scots, wha hae we’ Wallace bled,

Scots, wham Bruce has often led,

Welcome to your gory bed

Or to victorie!

  1. Now’s the day, now’s the hour:

See the front o’ battle lour,

See approach proud Edward’s power ‒

Chains and slaverie!

And in stanzas 5 and 6

  1. By oppression’s woes and pains,

By your sons in servile chains,

We will drain our dearest veins,

But they shall be free!

  1. Lay the proud usurpers low!

Tyrants fall in every foe!

Liberty’s in every blow!

Let us do or die!

This transition between different kinds of languages is another feature which is frequently encountered in Burns’ verses. He could work fluently in both languages. Therefore, ‘Scots Wha Hae’ can be translated into English as ‘Scots Who Have’.

Burns’ choice of writing in Scots is explained by the fact that he aligned himself with the people.

At the end he reflects upon human concerns. Burns’ poem ‘To a Mouse’ is not only a nature poem; it is his reflection on the fortunes ‘Of Mice and Men’.

By the way, on the route to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, one can see a statue of a mouse on the poetic path.

This is how the poem is written in Scots, in the original.

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,

O, what panic's in thy breastie!

Thou need na start awa sae hasty,

Wi' bickering brattle!

I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,

Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry Man's dominion

Has broken Nature's social union,

An' justifies that ill opinion,

Which makes thee startle,

At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,

An' fellow-mortal!

And that is how the poem sounds in modern English.

Little, crafty, cowering, timid little beast,

You need not start away so hasty,

With argumentative chatter!

I would be loath to run and chase you,

With murdering plough.

I’m truly sorry man’s dominion

Has broken Nature’s social union

And justifies that ill opinion

Which makes you startle,

At me, your poor, earth-born companion

And fellow mortal!

However, though, his language reflected every day speech and dialect of common people, peasants, it was also a literary Scots.

Burns showed great interest in the customs of the ‘ordinary’ people which found its place in his song writing, later called ‘folk culture’.

Burns’ love of ‘rhyme’ led him into an increasing interest in song-writing. He selected and adapted tunes for his songs. Many of his works such as ‘Auld Lang Syne’ or ‘Red Rose’ were often published without music in edition of his works, as though these were poems. He called himself as ‘poet Burns’ and as a ‘Rhymester’ rather than a songwriter.

He gave expression to his sensibility, awareness and emotions in his works and up to now they attract readers and translators. He wrote 200 poems, 400 songs, left 800 letters and manuscripts.

He was admired by the British Romantic writers Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats. Two writers, Burns and the novelist Walter Scott (1771-1832) presented Scotland as a romantic place, as a land of sublime landscapes, colourful history, customs and people, the country folk.

Robert Burns was a genius who expressed himself in poetry and as a poet he triumphed. His poetry embraced human life, love, passion, emotion, intellect. He showed great sympathy for the poor and the oppressed because his feet remained firmly on the earth. And he cherished strong belief in the perfectibility of the human race.


References

  1. Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (including some hitherto unpublished poems). London and Glasgow: Collins, 1998.

  2. Роберт Бернс. Стихи в переводах С.
    Маршака. Москва: Художественная литература, 1976.

  3. Роберт Бернс. Песни и стихи (перевод с английского Виктора Федотова). Москва: Издательство Советская Россия, 1963.



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