Scots Language Resource
Group Leaders’
Information Booklet
Contents
Welcome! .................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4
How can I use this learning resource? ...................................................................... 5
Analysing the Evidence ............................................................................................. 6
Archaeology Detectives: Investigation Record with example answers .................... 10
How does this resource link to the Curriculum for Excellence? ............................... 11
Archaeology Detectives: Investigation Record ........................................................ 13
Welcome!
Thank you for downloading this learning resource! We hope that you find it a rewarding,
informative, stimulating and fun experience.
We created this to commemorate Dig It! 2015, and to fit into Dig It! 2015’s overarching theme of
identities. Dig It! 2015 is a year-long celebration of Scottish archaeology, co-ordinated by the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and Archaeology Scotland. From kids taking over museums,
and people exploring the story of their own local area, to digs, festivals, competitions, hidden relics
and lost worlds, there are so many ways for people to get involved. We will be exploring our past
through song, art, performance and story-telling. It will be exciting, fun, grassroots and messy –
just like archaeology and archaeologists.
At its heart, Dig It! 2015 will explore the theme of identities.
Identities are dynamic. They operate at different scales, from the individual and local communities
to the international. They change according to circumstances, whether in the great outdoors or in
urban city landscapes, at sporting events or religious occasions, with the family or among
strangers. They are about belonging, difference, new and old, the individual and the collective.
More than anything else, identities are forged where people, places and the past meet.
The initial programme will be launched in 2014, with themed content and additional events added
to the core list as 2015 approaches. An exciting line-up of events designed to get people
exploring the archaeology around them is already in place, including exhibitions, ‘big digs’, and
festivals. We are now working on developing that programme further, bringing in creative and fun
ideas.
We would love for you to get involved in Dig It! 2015, whether you want to roll up your sleeves or
just want to hear a bit more about archaeology and what’s being planned. If you have an idea for
an event, something already in the pipeline, or just want to discover what’s going on, drop us a
line! Dig It! 2015 Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, c/o National Museums of Scotland,
Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LF, ring us on 0131 247 4066 or email us at
info@digit2015.com
Introduction
What is Archaeology?
Archaeologists study people in the past through what they have left behind. This resource
demonstrates the process of interpretation by examining language. Archaeologists can look at
language to understand where people settled from the earliest times to the present. It intended as
a companion to Archaeology Scotland’s Archaeology Detectives resource, which examines other
areas of evidence.
This resource is part of a larger project - it is effectively a crowd sourced research project with
learners and group leaders undertaking the research in their local area. Once you have done your
research, please send it into Dig It! 2015 for now - as we envision that it will be pulled together to
update a map of the influences on Scots language, backed up by evidence of words used, place
names, last names and archaeological remains. If you would like more information on this, please
contact Dig It! 2015 and ask to see our Scots Language Framework.
How Can I Use This Learning Resource?
This resource is meant to act as a guide for looking at Scots language in your area, and provides
suggestions for places to source the evidence you will be interpreting and analysing. The following
are the parts of this activity:
1. Three sections outlining the areas of language study: everyday words, surnames and place
names.
2. Dull, Perthshire - an example of place name study with guidelines on interpreting the
information and sourcing information for your own place name study.
3. An Investigation Record for learners along with a sample guide for leaders on completing
this sheet for place name studies. This can be printed and completed by learners or serve
to suggest discussion questions.
This activity is divided into individual sections which cover the three types of language evidence.
These can be examined individually or can be used together to provide a holistic analysis of your
local area. Suggested ways in which to use these sections include:
1. Focus on one section of analysis through discussion as a group.
2. Divide your group into three. Each small group will complete analysis on their own section
then come together for a discussion to interpret their findings.
3. Carousel groups through each section, once they have visited all sections come together
for a group discussion to interpret their findings.
4. Have the five groups write a report on their findings using answers from the Investigation
Record. Practice presentation skills by presenting reports to the larger group.
5. Send your group’s findings to Dig It! 2015 to help create a map of Scots language in
Scotland.
Analysing the Evidence
This resource for teachers and learners to explore the different people who have lived in Scotland
through looking at the legacy they have left on the Scots language, names and place names. It
encourages learners to use critical reasoning skills in interpretation and analysis much like an
archaeologist or a detective would be required to do. Archaeologists constantly need to make
educated guesses and assimilate information to solve the puzzles of the past.
Where can you find language sources?
Scots Language sources

Get videos and audio clips of Scots and information on the history of Scots from the Scots
Language Centre. Also check out their written resources section


Scuilwab is for teachers and young people
Use Dictionary of Scots Language and the Online Scots Dictionary to get translations and
find word meanings
1. Everyday language
Record words which the children use in everyday life and trace these words. If they come from a
wide area, are the words the same across the area?
2. Place names
Different peoples have left their mark on the land, through the use of place names. These names
have often changed over the years, being shortened and sometimes changed altogether. There
are resources to use to trace this:
 Mapping History – a guide to reading historic maps, helping learners to trace place names
as they were mapped
 Ordnance Survey guides to Scots place names (the main page includes guides to
Scandinavian, Welsh and Gaelic place names in Britain)
 For Gaelic names also see Iain mac an Tailleir’s 2003 collection of Gaelic place names
(and these were previously available on the Scottish Executive’s website)
 Education Scotland – Studying place names
 Scotland’s Places – huge repository of information, including the Ordnance Survey place
name books and Scottish Place Names Gazetteer, with information about place names
across Scotland
Place names in the landscape –Use Ordnance Survey guides to look at how many place names
reflect geographical features and which language was used to name them.
3. Last names
Some people have lived in Scotland for a long time, while others arrived more recently. Using
the census and the Statistical Accounts of Scotland and other archival material, can you trace
last names in your school back to some of the peoples who used to live in your area? Use
public profilers to trace names around the UK and worldwide and use genealogy sites such as
Family Education to look at names originally from other countries such as India. How long do
learners think their surnames will survive? What can we tell about how people moved around
through last names?

National Records Scotland – Scottish Archives for Schools has lots of sessions to help
learners find out about the past by using Archives

Case study of Eaglesham Primary using the Statistical Accounts of Scotland to study their
local area

The Statistical Accounts of Scotland is a great resource giving a snapshot into eighteenth
and nineteenth century Scotland
Getting outside –have your learners find surnames in your local graveyards. Having identified the
people who lived in the area through language, place names and last names, what physical
remains have they left? Are there archaeological sites in your area where there is evidence that
these people lived here? For example, kirk means church or you may find a Medieval castle,
which was owned by a laird who the town is then named after. Can you visit these places and
record any evidence of how these people lived? See Archaeology Scotland’s resources about
recording and interpreting sites.
Go Further:
Folktales – what local stories are there and when do they originate? Do the same creatures and
characters appear in stories in other areas or other countries? The Kist o’ Riches website has
many recordings of oral histories and folk tales from across Scotland.
The Future of Scots – look at the marks we will leave on the language. What about the people
who are arriving in Scotland now?
The Diaspora – where have Scots gone and what has their influence been on the language of
other countries?
Example (1) Section 4: Image of a place name in Scotland. The ScotlandsPlaces Gazetteer
entry lists Dull as “an inhabited place within Dull Parish”, which is “a parish in Perthshire until
1975. A medieval parish and a parish for both civil and religious purposes from the sixteenth
century until 1975”. The online Ordnance Survey map of 1861-2 for the area confirms that it is
being called Dull by 1860s and shows that it is associated with the Appin of Dull, Dull Wood and
Dull Farm, and is close to stone circles and two cup-marked rocks. Dull is listed in the Ordnance
Survey name books for Perthshire vol 23 (1859-62). Dull is not listed in any of the Ordnance
Survey guides on Gaelic, Scots or Scandinavian origins of place names in Britain. However, it is
listed on page 42 of Iain mac an Tailleir’s 2003 collection of Gaelic place names as meaning
‘"haugh" or "meadow". Appin of Dull is Apainn nam Mèinnearach, "The Menzies' Appin’”. Today
the town sign is a minor tourist attraction and has been twinned with Boring, Oregon.
How do you analyse this information? We can see that Dull was listed as such from the
Medieval period. The Gaelic origins show us that Gaelic speakers lived in the area and the area
itself has a history of long habitation (illustrated by the cup mark stones and stone circles nearby).
The fact that it corresponds with the English and Scots word dull (in Scots it means ‘slow to
understand or think’ –Dictionary of Scots Language) has given the town a negative meaning not
originally intended.
Dull, Perthshire. Creative Commons picture by Iain Farrell on Flickr
Archaeology Detectives: Investigation
Record with Example Answers
Look at Place Names
Questions
Answers
What does this tell us?
What language is the English
place name?
The medieval Parish name and OS
maps were written in English.
Are there similarly
named places
nearby?
This denotes that it may have been a
place of importance and may have
been there a long time.
Yes.
Do the Ordnance
Yes.
Survey place name
books or
ScotlandsPlaces
Gazetteer have more
info?
Has the name
Yes.
changed over time?
Has it changed
languages?
Does the place name Yes.
reflect geographical
features?
Does the place name Yes.
mean the same in
Scots & English? Use
an online Scots
dictionary
Dull had enough weight to have the
parish named after it from medieval
times until 1975.
It changed from Gaelic to English (it
was anglicised). This shows Gaelic
speakers lived in the area and the
change into English on documents
shows English was language of
administration – but not necessarily
that of the local people.
It means “haugh” or “meadow” in
Gaelic.
Both meanings are not the same as
the Gaelic original.
*Only for Leader’s
guide: How does this
information help to
answer the ‘big
picture’ questions?
What: People were living here – the
stone circle and cup marked rocks on
the map shows us people were here
for thousands of years (both types of
monument are associated with the
people of late Neolithic/Bronze age).
Who: possibly associated with the
Menzies
Why: we can guess that it was
farming land (it means meadow ,was
associated with Dull farm and
monuments by ancient peoples who
were farmers)
How Does This Resource Link to the
Curriculum for Excellence?
Subject
Social Studies
Third Level
I can use my knowledge of a
historical period to interpret the
evidence and present an informed
view.
SOC 3-01a
Social Studies
I can use a range of maps and
geographical information systems to
gather, interpret and present
conclusions and can locate a range
of features within Scotland, UK,
Europe and the wider world.
SOC 3-14a
Listening and
I can independently select ideas and
Talking: Finding relevant information for different
Useful Information purposes, organise essential
information or ideas and any
supporting detail in a logical order,
and use suitable vocabulary to
communicate effectively with my
audience. LIT 3-06a
Forth Level
I can evaluate conflicting sources of
evidence to sustain a line of argument.
SOC 4-01a
I can use specialised maps and
geographical information systems to
identify patterns of human activity and
physical processes.
SOC 4-14a
I can independently select ideas and
relevant information for different
purposes, organise essential
information or ideas and any supporting
detail in a logical order, and use
suitable vocabulary to communicate
effectively with my audience. LIT 4-06a
Participation in
I have used the skills I have
Performances and developed in the expressive arts to
Presentations
contribute to a public
presentation/performance.
EXA 3-01
I have experienced the energy and
excitement of presenting/performing for
different audiences. EXA 4-01
Archaeology Detectives: Investigation Record
Look at Place Names
Questions
What language is the place
name?
Are there similarly named
places nearby?
Do the Ordnance Survey
place name books or
ScotlandsPlaces Gazetteer
have more info?
Has the name changed over
time? Has it changed
languages?
Does the place name reflect
geographical features?
Does the place name mean
the same in Scots & English?
Use an online Scots dictionary
Answers
What does this tell us?