The Handbook of World Englishes, 2nd Edition

2English in Scotland

FIONA DOUGLAS

1 Introduction

On 18 September 2014, Scotland stood at a political crossroads. With the Union of the Scottish and English Crowns in 1603, and the Treaty of Union merging the parliaments just over a century later in 1707, Scotland had relinquished its independence. For nearly 300 years, until the reinstatement of its own parliament (albeit with limited devolved powers) on 1 July 1999, it was effectively a stateless nation, though it retained its own distinctive triumvirate of church, legal and education systems, and a strong sense of national and cultural identity. Now, centuries later, the people would vote in a historic referendum to decide whether Scotland should become an independent country once more. At 85%, the turnout rate was the highest recorded for any election in the UK since the introduction of universal suffrage in 1918, and for the first time 16‐ and 17‐year‐olds were allowed to vote. Although a 55% majority voted to remain part of the United Kingdom, the strength of the “yes” campaign sent shockwaves through the UK political establishment and prompted promises of extra devolved powers for Scotland. Much has been written on the link between language and nationhood, but what effect, if any, has Scotland’s changing political landscape had on its distinctive linguistic varieties?

For Scotland, those languages are Scottish Gaelic (a Celtic language, and therefore outside the remit of this book) and the peculiarly Scottish variety ...