Anither Kinna Oo.

Posted by Bob Fairnie

A like the Scots Language. It wis the first language A lairned as a bairn tae descrive the warld aboot me wi an thae's the words A yaise maist o the time tae think wi. Coorse, in 1872, the British (Liberal) Government threapit in thair Education (Scotland) Act that fae then on the only language that wad be alloued tae be spoken in aw Scottish scuils wis tae be the English language. Sae, whan A stertit the scuil at the age o fower an three quarters, A juist hid tae haud ma Scots tung in the clessroom an dae whit A wis telt.
A didnae hae ony bother lairnin English an aye got guid merks for it in the exams. It wisnae lang afore I was expressing myself in perfectly good English in the classroom and, at the same time, chyngin ower intae Scots in the playgrund an at hame. Howanever, some bairns wis mair like tae pit thair fit in it nor ithers in the cless an wad whiles come oot wi an "ay" insteid o a "yes". Things widnae hiv been sae bad if the teacher haed said somethin like, "Ay is a Scots word. The English word you should have used is yes." But naw! Whit she maistly cam oot wi wis, "I don't want to hear that rubbish in my classroom. Learn to speak properly. The proper word is yes." This kinna reaction did nae want o psychological herm tae aw the bairns an maun hiv been pairt o the raison for the stert o the Scottish Creenge.
Ilka Januar we aw hid tae lairn a poem bi Robert Burns aff bi hert an sing lots o his sangs. The teacher aye spake aboot thaim bein in Scots but oo cuid nivver unnerstaun whit wey they cuid be Scots whan yaised bi Robert Burns but becam rubbish ony time oo yaised thaim in the clessroom. Did the teacher mean that Scots wis rubbish or wis it juist the wey oo yaised it that makit it rubbish?
Yae day durin history she wis tellin us aboot hou Robert the Bruce stabbed the Red Comyn in a Dumfries kirk an hou he cam oot an telt his freends that he thocht he hid killed him. Yin o his freends said, "Ye think? A'll gang an mak siccar."Noo the teacher spiert the cless if onybody kent whit "mak siccar" meant an naebody kent sae she telt us it meant, "make sure".
A mind anither day we war in the middle o oor lessons whan the clessroom door swung open an in breenged the Heidmaister. He stuid afore the cless waitin for the teacher tae tap her desk an tell us aw tae sit up wi oor haunds ahint oor backs. He then spiert the cless if onybody kent the Scots word for "wool". A pit up ma haund an said, "Woorstit, Sir." cause thon wis whit ma Granny aye cried her wool an she did an awfu lot o knittin."No." said the Heidie, "Does anybody else know?"Naebody else kent sae he said, "The Scots word for 'wool' is 'oo'."At thon, he noddit tae the teacher, turnt an mairched oot the cless athoot anither word but wi a richt croose leuk on his face. We aw leukit at the teacher an the teacher leukit at us than she tappit her desk wi her ruler an cairried on wi oor lessons.
Efter a while, A stertit takin tent that the fowk at the tap end o the cless efter the exams wis aye the yins that wis best at speakin English sae A stertit tae judge the intelligence o fowk A met for the first time bi hou weel they spake English. This wis aw richt until an English laddie cam intae oor cless. It wis durin the war an his faither wis in the RAF an stationed at Drem sae the laddie an his mither hid come tae stey in Musselburgh tae be nearby.
Tho this laddie spake wi a Midlands accent, it wis the best English A'd ever heard apairt fae on the wireless, sae A thocht he wad be shuir tae be at the tap o the cless efter the neist exams. Weel the exams cam an gaed an A cuidnae believe it whan the English laddie endit up at the fit o the cless. An him sic a guid English speaker tae. Syne thon day A've aye kent that intelligence haes naethin at aw tae dae wi the English language. A body can be intelligent in ony language.
In raicent days there haes been a richt stooshie comin fae the Daily Express an the FBS cryin doon the proponed lairnin o mair Scots in Scottish scuils. It's weel seen that thair ain command o the English language cannae be that guid whan they can read lairnin mair Scots in Scottish scuils tae mean lairnin less English.
For a guid wee while noo, a nummer o Gaelic Medium scuils haes been stertit up in this kintrae an there haes been mair nor yin report comin fae education authorities that thae bairns consistently daes better in thair English exams nor the bairns that gauns tae the English Medium scuils. Gin the Express an the FBS really ettles tae see a better staundart o English education in Scottish scuils, shuid they no be upsteerin tae see Scots Medium scuils takin ower fae the praisent English Medium yins?

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