Scotland Languages

Despite long being a multilingual country, most records used in Scottish research are in English, with older ones in the closely related Scots language. They may, however, be difficult to read because of unique Scottish words, Latin words, or different handwriting styles.

Occasionally records will also contain Gaelic, often written in English phonetics. In the medieval documents about Orkney and Shetland, you may also encounter Norn, an early form of Norwegian.

Scottish Gaelic

Gaelic (Gaidhlig) is the Celtic language of Scotland. It is closely related to Irish and Manx, and more distantly to Welsh, Cornish and Breton.

The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 gives some degree of recognition to Scotland's Celtic language. However, unlike Welsh, Scottish Gaelic has been written down far less frequently, and is not taught in many schools. The language is generally associated with the Highlands, but was historically spoken in most of the Lowlands as well. It was not spoken in Orkney and Shetland

Scottish Gaelic gives rise to many Scottish surnames, including any beginning with Mac or Mac, as well as names such as Campbell, Dewar, Menzies etc. Some of these were written down in English phonetics, e.g. MacDonald or McWhannel for MacDhomhnaill and/or were later translated e.g. Smith can translate Mac a' Ghobhainn, which is also anglicized as Gow or MacGowan. The old Scottish Gaelic naming system is extremely complex, and exists mainly in oral tradition.

Many personal names such as Iain (John), Malcolm, Duncan, Fiona and Morag all ultimately derive from the language too.

Scots language

The Scots language is the language of the Scottish Lowlands, Caithness, and the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland). It is closely related to standard English, and there is a long running, heated debate as to whether it is a dialect or a language in its own right. It is not to be confused with Gaelic, although there has been some mutual influence.

The Scots language goes by many different names. It is often called Broad/Braid Scots or Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Gaelic. In the north east especially, it is often referred to as Doric. In Buchan, it is known as the Claik, and in Glasgow as the Patter. In older writings it is often referred to as Scottis, or as Scotch, although the term "Scotch" is not liked by many Scots today.

Many Scots words can be found in older documents, as it was written down more frequently than Gaelic. It is common for Scots to use the dimunitive, e.g. James frequently becomes Jamie, Robert becomes Rab or Rabbie etc. This is done more often than in standard English and is not frowned upon.

Scots has no legal status, and there are no reliable figures for how many people speak it. However, it is much more common to hear it in Scotland than Gaelic. Due to its similarity with English, there is considerable debate as to what constitutes Scots as well.

Unique Scottish Words

Some words you will see in Scottish records are not used in English.

The English past participle -ed, is usually represented by -it in Scots. Older documents may also form the plural or possessive in -is. The English "wh" is often rendered as "quh" in old Scots.

The following list contains some Scottish words more commonly used in documents:

Scottish Words	English         Translation	A	A
afore/afoir	before
aith	oath
ane	one, an
anent	about, concerning
B	B
bairne, bairn	child or baby
bairnis	baby’s
baptist	baptized
beand	being
befoir	before
befeir	before
burgh	borough, town
by	near somewhere
C	C
callit	called
compear	appeared
croft	small agricultural holding
D	D
defunct	the deceased
delict	torts
deponit	deponed (witness)
do	ditto
dochter	daughter
docquet	authenticating signature on a deed
doits	money (coins)
E	E
Erse, Erisch	meaning Irish, referring to Gaelic culture or language
executor	a person who is empowered by the deceased to carry out the terms of his/her will
F	F
fay, fayr	father
forby(e)	besides, beyond, in addition
H	H
haid	had
heir portioner	inheriting daughter
I	I
ieroe	great-grandson (Gaelic: iar-ogha)
ilk ("of that ilk")	having a surname of the same place
J	J
jeroy	great-grandson (Gaelic: iar-ogha)
K	K
kirk, kyrk	church
kirkyird	churchyard, graveyard
L	L
laird	title of landholder; related to, but not equivalent to lord
lammas, lammastide	formerly 1st August, now the 28th August
lawful	legitimate offspring
M	M
miln, myln	mill
maid bairn	girl child
main bairn	boy child
mains	the main farm of an estate, known as the home farm in England
manrent	a type of contract, usually military in nature and involving Scottish clans
mortcloth	cloth covering body during burial ceremony
moy, moyr	mother
N	N
natural	often refers to illegitimate off-spring but could be used for legitimate offspring as well
nevoy	nephew
new born	usually unbaptized child
not proven, guilty not proven	a unique Scottish verdict which confirms the person as neither guilty, nor innocent
O	O
oe, oy	grandson
P	P
per stipes	a clause in a will saying that the grandchildren can inherit if the children predecease them
pns	presence (of)
producit	produced
provost	used instead of "mayor" in Scotland
putit	presented
pwir	poor
Q	Q
quwh	(such as who)
quha	who
qlk, quilk, quhilk, quhilck	which
quairfoir	wherefore
R	R
raiefeit	ratified
relict	widow, widower
resile, resiled	withdrawn (such as an offer of marriage)
S	S
schew	show
screivit	written
seik	sick
sic	such
siccan	such, of a type already mentioned
siclike, sicklike, syklyk	likewise
sicna	such, of a type already mentioned
stillborn	born and died same day
T	T
tack	yearly rent paid to a Highland landlord (Gaelic: "taic")
tacksman	member of the Highland middle class, paying a tack to the laird, and often subletting
twa	two
U	U
udal	relating to traditional Norse law in the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland)
udal law	the remnant legal system of the Northern Isles, similar to odelsrett
udal tenure	tenure under udal law
unquhile, umquil	late, former, deceased
V	V
varnit	warned
vide	see (such as, see page)
W	W
wreitting	writing
wmquil, umquil	now deceased

Scottish Dictionaries

To find definitions for other words that are unfamiliar to you, you can use one of several Scottish dictionaries:

Craigie, Sir William A. A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, from the Twelfth Century to the End of the Seventeenth. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1937-. (Family History Librarybook 403.41 Sco87c.)

Graham, William. The Scots Word Book. 3rd rev. ed. Edinburgh, Scotland: Ramsey Head Press, 1980. (Family History Library book 427.9411 G76s 1980.)

Jamieson, John. A Dictionary of the Scottish Language. Edinburgh, Scotland: William Tait, 1866. (Family History Library book 427.941 J242j.)

Warrack, Alexander. A Scots Dialect Dictionary. London, England: W. & R. Chambers, 1911. (Family History Library book 427.9411 W25s.)

Robinson, Mairi, ed. The Concise Scots Dictionary. Oxford, England: Aberdeen University Press, 1985. (Family Hhistory Library book 427.9411 C748c.)

The Dictionary of the Scots Language can be found online here.

Latin

Some Scottish records may contain Latin. Knowing some Latin will help you read these records. For help with Latin words, see the Latin Genealogical Word List (34077).

Handwriting

Handwriting styles have changed over time. In early records, the handwriting is quite different from what it is today.  Visit Scotland Handwriting in  Research Topics.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations are common in early handwriting. When recorders left letters out of a word, they indicated the fact by using various marks, such as a period, a colon, a tail on the last letter of the word, a curvy line over the word, or a raised letter at the end of the word. Abbreviations can be indicated in many ways, and it is important to study individual writers to see how they made abbreviations.

In Scottish church records, ministers often used only the first letter of the words, for example:

L.S. = lawful son

L.D. = lawful daughter

N.S. = natural son

N.D. = natural daughter

ch. = child

Ch. N. = child named

N. = named

Instead of writing the words father, mother, witness, son, or daughter, the minister may have used f, m, w, s, or other letters.

Dates

Dates, instead of being numerical, are sometimes referred to by the name of the feast day or by one of the terms listed below:

Term	Meaning	current, instant	Same month (Sometimes used to mean "within 30 days" or a month.)
proximo	next month
ultimo	last month
penultimate day, penult day	the day before the last day of the month
jajvii, jmjvii, mvii	indicates the century, such as 1700s
eodem tempore, eod tempore	at the same time (the same date)
eodem die, eod die, E.D.	the same day
Gods die	God’s day, the Sabbath
Feb 1st Sabbath	Exact day of month not stated
Feb 2nd Sabbath	Event took place in Feb on the 1st, 2nd, or  (whatever) Sabbath in the month