Welcome to the History of English Podcast, a podcast about the history of the English language.

This is Episode 116, the Celtic French.

In this episode, we're going to turn our attention to the state of English beyond the borders

of England.

In the parts of the British Isles where the Celtic languages were traditionally spoken.

The spread of English into those regions was mostly a result of military conquest, and

most of those regions had experienced some sort of invasion from England over the centuries.

Scotland was no exception.

It had also been invaded by England.

But the English language spoken in the south of Scotland had been native to that region

for centuries.

And there was little if any difference between the English of southern Scotland and that of

Northern England.

But in the 1300s that Scottish form of English started to become distinct, and the emergence

of that dialect took place in a country that was fighting for its freedom.

That Scots dialect is first recorded in a famous poem about that war for Scottish independence

called The Bruce.

So this time we'll look at the rise of Robert the Bruce, and the beginning of Scots'

literature, and the state of English in the Celtic French of the British Isles.

But before we begin, let me remind you that the website for the podcast is historyofenglishpodcast.com.

And you can sign up to support the podcast and get bonus episodes and transcripts at patreon.com

slash historyofenglish.

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