Big Bob

What's the deal with the Scots genealogically? What's the difference between the Scots language and the Gaelic language? And who were the people that lived in Scotland before the Scotti got there in the 5th century AD?

PubFather

Very briefly.. lol...

Old Scots (as opposed to Gaelic) is closely related to Anglo-Saxon/Old English but has certain unique words that form part of the Scots dialect today. You can see parallels between English and "Old Scots" in the NE of England, for example.

Before the Scotti, (who were Irish Celts and who settled what became the Kingdom of Dalriada) were the Picts and the Celts. I distinguish between the two as its not clear whether they were ethnically linked. Some theories state that the Picts were left-overs from the old Stone age peoples, others that they were Celtic. Certainly the Picts were culturally different.

When the Scotti appeared in the West Coast - around the time of the fall of Rome, there were Romano-Celtic Britons living in lowland Scotland: for example the kingdom of Rheged in the South-East, the kingdom of Strathclyde, centred (it's believed) on Dumbarton Rock.
Ultimately, the kingdom became united ( iirc under Malcolm I) shortly before the Norman invaison of England.

The language of the easily accessible lowlands changed with contact with the south from, the end of the Roman period onwards. The dominance of the kingdom of Northumbria also had a part to play in the transmision of Anglo-Saxon. And a lot of Norman lordlings - third sons were invited north to support the Scottish crown in later periods, cementing this relationship. Robert de Brus (the Bruce), for example was of Norman descent. The less accessible, more insular Highlands and Islands retained their language and more clannish outlook.

Of course, there were also extensive Viking/Norse invaisons in the North - especially the Orkneys, Hebrides, Sutherland etc.

Hope that helps a bit...

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Big Bob

Thanx, that was pretty good info.