Online sessions celebrate Scots and aim to help revive language

FREE online sessions celebrating Dundee’s history, culture and dialect have been launched for people who want to learn a “bitty mair” about the city.

Well-known faces from the city’s cultural scene have created Dundee’s Scots Language to raise awareness of the words used by many Dundonians, as well as their origins.

Hosted by writer and presenter Alistair Heather, the free sessions will be informal and encourage participants to produce their own stories in Dundee Scots.

Guest hosts include the poet and performer Gary Robertson, singer Sheena Wellington and writer and broadcaster Billy Kay, who will share their expertise and support participants.

Scots has been spoken for centuries but is now classed as vulnerable by the United Nations.

Recently, campaigners have been fighting for its protection, highlighted in a series of articles, Spikkin Scots, by DC Thomson.

It is hoped these weekly sessions, supported by the Maryfield Community Regeneration Forum and Dundee United Community Trust (DUCT), will help speakers understand the value of Scots and help with its revival.

Paul Wilson, head of community development at DUCT, said: “The sessions Ally and his guest hosts are planning will be fantastic in improving the awareness of Scots as a minority language.

“Scots is widely used in everyday life in Dundee and raising awareness of this minority language will help to empower those who currently speak the language.

“It will give confidence to those who have stopped using the language and also help improve the mental health and wellbeing of those attending sessions.”

Many Dundonians say their dialect was corrected growing up, because Scots was deemed a slovenly version of English.

Among them is Dundee city councillor Lynne Short, who plans to join the sessions.

She said: “I had my pronunciation corrected as a child and now feel uncomfortable using Scots, however I do like to use it within my communications.

“I hope to be able to join in the sessions and feel as comfortable using my own language as much as those I had to use when working overseas.”

The sessions start on January 21.

Registration, via Eventbrite, is free by searching Dundee’s Scots Language Sessions, but places are limited.