Explore Innergourie and Meffen on new Scots language map

Digital resource to help preserve country’s mother tongue

An innovative Scots language project has finally put Glescae and Embra on the map.

After two years of sifting through old documents, poems and audio recordings, the Scots Language Centre (SLC) unveiled its first digital map of Scotland at a ceremony in Perth.

All place names are written in Scots, showing how the mother tongue has changed over the centuries.

Some names such as Perth and Dundee remain intact, but users can explore other less familiar-sounding locations such as Meffen, Innergourie, Brochty and Scoun.

Over the years, the map is designed to grow as an online database for schools and businesses, with viewers adding more names. It is hoped that eventually users will be able to zoom in to look at individual streets’ Scots names.

Pupils from Perth High School and Robert Douglas Memorial Primary helped Education Secretary John Swinney launch the map at the AK Bell Library.

He said: “This is a really creative piece of work.

“The Scots language is an integral part of Scotland’s heritage, national identity and current cultural life, and the map will be a valuable resource for young and old alike to explore both locally and nationally in their mother tongue.”

The map – at scotslanguage.com/ scots-maps – also gives visitors the chance to create their own road signs and share them on social media.

SLC director Dr Michael Dempster said: “Projects like these – and the purpose of the SLC – is to help to raise awareness of the Scots language alive in Scotland, to preserve and expand the popularity, and the appreciation for Scots.

“Technology has thankfully made it much easier to increase Scots visibility, and for people to enjoy and learn simultaneously.”

He said: “What’s critical is that this is not a spoken map. These names are seldom seen written down, and that’s what makes this project very special and very unique.”

A physical version of the map is also available via the SLC website.

Robert Douglas Memorial pupils get acquainted with the map at the AK Bell Library launch.

Pictures: David Johnstone Photography. Deputy First Minister John Swinney, Dr Michael Dempster – director of the SLC – and graphic artist Stewart Bremner, with a copy of the map.