Scots missed

The existence of several Anglo-Saxon dialects in Scotland does not make one dialect or language as Derrick McClure, at last, acknowledges (Letters, 18 March).

Perhaps David Purves might now be persuaded to abandon his "Scots language society" (Letters, 14 January) whose purpose has been to list obsolete Anglo-Saxon words in a "Scots" thesaurus in a desperate, but futile, attempt to prove that once all Scotland had an Anglo-Saxon language understood by all.

Many in Scotland do need to learn about their two languages, English and Scottish Gaelic. Both have been standardised to avoid confusion. And both have survived as a result.

COLIN WILSON

Arnothill Court

Falkirk

Since the Scotch Provincial Cringe is still very firmly entrenched in Scotland, it may be some time before Derrick McClure (Letters, 18 March) sees an end to treatment of the Scots Language as a vulgar dialect of English which it is the purpose of "education" to correct. Although there are surviving localised dialects in Scotland, the fact that it was the State Language of Scotland before 1603 and the ballads and Scots songs are not localised and generally understood, reveal the status of Scots as a national language and an important aspect of our cultural identity as a community.

Before 1603, Scots was spoken by virtually everybody in Scotland who did not speak Gaelic.

DR DAVID PURVES

Scots Language Society

Strathalmond Road

Edinburgh