117-451: 55°30′N 4°18′W / 55.5°N 4.3°W / 55.5; -4.3 East Ayrshire ( Scots : Aest Ayrshire ; Scottish Gaelic : Siorrachd Àir an Ear ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland . It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway , East Renfrewshire , North Ayrshire , South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire . The headquarters of the council are located on London Road, Kilmarnock . With South Ayrshire and
234-493: A day hospital which provided assessment and rehabilitation facilities. East Ayrshire is served by a number of general practice (GP) surgeries under NHS Scotland and a variety of other healthcare services including dental treatment and pharmacies. East Ayrshire has nine secondary schools, forty-three primary schools, four schools which cater for children with additional support needs, thirty-three early education childhood centres and three children's houses. Kilmarnock Academy
351-923: A 1996 trial before the Census, by the General Register Office for Scotland (GRO), suggested that there were around 1.5 million speakers of Scots, with 30% of Scots responding "Yes" to the question "Can you speak the Scots language?", but only 17% responding "Aye" to the question "Can you speak Scots?". It was also found that older, working-class people were more likely to answer in the affirmative. The University of Aberdeen Scots Leid Quorum performed its own research in 1995, cautiously suggesting that there were 2.7 million speakers, though with clarification as to why these figures required context. The GRO questions, as freely acknowledged by those who set them, were not as detailed and systematic as those of
468-650: A Scots language listing. The Ferret, a UK -based fact-checking service, wrote an exploratory article in December 2022 to address misconceptions about the Scots language to improve public awareness of its endangered status. In Scotland, Scots is spoken in the Scottish Lowlands , the Northern Isles , Caithness , Arran and Campbeltown . In Ulster , the northern province in Ireland , its area
585-458: A castle at Riccarton, later part of Kilmarnock, as well as his surprise attack on the English at Loudoun Hill in 1297. Wallace is also associated with Lockhart's Tower in the town of Galston . Lockhart's Tower was largely rebuilt during the middle ages, and is commonly referred to as Barr Castle presently. Wallace is said to "have made a daring escape" from Lockhart's Tower at one point. During
702-469: A collection of children's nursery rhymes and poems in Scots. The book contains a five-page glossary of contemporary Scots words and their pronunciations. Alexander Gray 's translations into Scots constitute the greater part of his work, and are the main basis for his reputation. In 1983, William Laughton Lorimer 's translation of the New Testament from the original Greek was published. Scots
819-433: A continuum ranging from traditional broad Scots to Scottish Standard English . Many speakers are diglossic and may be able to code-switch along the continuum depending on the situation. Where on this continuum English-influenced Scots becomes Scots-influenced English is difficult to determine. Because standard English now generally has the role of a Dachsprache ('roofing language'), disputes often arise as to whether
936-720: A further 5,700 classed as self employed. During this period, East Ayrshire had an unemployment rate of 3.2%, about 1,900 people of the population. The largest category of economic activity in East Ayrshire in 2023 was professional occupations, with an estimated 10,600 people (19.2%) of the East Ayrshire population employed in this sector. Other large sectors for employment across East Ayrshire include skilled trades tccupations (14.0%), caring, leisure And other service occupations (13.3%), elementary occupations (9.0%), Managers, Directors And Senior Officials (7.7%) and process plant and machine operatives (7.4%). Health care in East Ayrshire
1053-415: A language from a dialect , scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots, particularly its relationship to English . Although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects exist, they often render contradictory results. Broad Scots is at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum , with Scottish Standard English at
1170-465: A more phonological manner rather than following the pan-dialect conventions of modern literary Scots, especially for the northern and insular dialects of Scots. Mauchline Mauchline ( / ˈ m ɒ x l ɪ n / ; Scottish Gaelic : Maghlinn ) is a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire , Scotland . In the 2001 census Mauchline had a recorded population of 4,105. It is home to
1287-578: A recent neologism merging Ulster and Lallans. Scots is a contraction of Scottis , the Older Scots and northern version of late Old English : Scottisc (modern English "Scottish"), which replaced the earlier i-mutated version Scyttisc . Before the end of the fifteenth century, English speech in Scotland was known as "English" (written Ynglis or Inglis at the time), whereas "Scottish" ( Scottis ) referred to Gaelic . By
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#17327726088341404-612: A representative sample of Scotland's adult population) claim to speak Scots to varying degrees. The 2011 UK census was the first to ask residents of Scotland about Scots. A campaign called Aye Can was set up to help individuals answer the question. The specific wording used was "Which of these can you do? Tick all that apply" with options for "Understand", "Speak", "Read" and "Write" in three columns: English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots. Of approximately 5.1 million respondents, about 1.2 million (24%) could speak, read and write Scots, 3.2 million (62%) had no skills in Scots and
1521-649: A similar facility at Ayrshire Central Hospital in Irvine was opened in the grounds of the hospital in 2006. In March 2012, the hospital officially became University Hospital Crosshouse as a result of a partnership with the University of the West of Scotland . Kirklandside Hospital , in neighbouring village Hurlford closed between 2018 and 2020. Kirklandside hospital provided consultant-led services for frail elderly patients. It had 25 long-stay beds for inpatient care and
1638-460: A simple solution to the issue of giving territory to be administered from Kilmarnock, with the population also roughly balanced with those of Cunninghame and Kyle & Carrick (which became North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire respectively); however, it did mean some settlements historically within Kyle , more closely aligned to Ayr for amenities and which would typically have been described as located in
1755-451: A suitable medium of education or culture". Students reverted to Scots outside the classroom, but the reversion was not complete. What occurred, and has been occurring ever since, is a process of language attrition , whereby successive generations have adopted more and more features from Standard English. This process has accelerated rapidly since widespread access to mass media in English and increased population mobility became available after
1872-562: Is in Scots, for example. Scott introduced vernacular dialogue to his novels. Other well-known authors like Robert Louis Stevenson , William Alexander, George MacDonald , J. M. Barrie and other members of the Kailyard school like Ian Maclaren also wrote in Scots or used it in dialogue. In the Victorian era popular Scottish newspapers regularly included articles and commentary in the vernacular, often of unprecedented proportions. In
1989-416: Is located on the west coat of Scotland, sharing borders with the following neighbouring council areas; North Ayrshire , South Ayrshire , Dumfries and Galloway , East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire . Blackcraig Hill reaches an elevation of 2,298 feet (700 metres), the highest peak in East Ayrshire. Combining the existing Kilmarnock & Loudoun and Cumnock & Doon Valley government districts offered
2106-767: Is lykest to our language..." ( For though several have written of (the subject) in English, which is the language most similar to ours... ). However, with the increasing influence and availability of books printed in England, most writing in Scotland came to be done in the English fashion. In his first speech to the English Parliament in March 1603, King James VI and I declared, "Hath not God first united these two Kingdomes both in Language, Religion, and similitude of maners?" . Following James VI's move to London,
2223-523: Is one of only two schools in the world to have educated two Nobel laureates : Alexander Fleming and John Boyd Orr . Both men attended Kilmarnock Academy when it was located on North Hamilton Street; the school has since relocated to Sutherland Drive. Grange Academy in Kilmarnock, is one of only seven Scottish Football Association (SFA) Performance Schools . The Robert Burns Academy in Cumnock
2340-543: Is provided by NHS Ayrshire and Arran , one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland . The health boards main, and largest, hospital is University Hospital Crosshouse located between the village of Crosshouse and the administrative town of East Ayrshire, Kilmarnock. Other NHS Ayrshire and Arran hospitals within East Ayrshire include East Ayrshire Community Hospital in Cumnock, and the former Kirklandside Hospital in Hurlford . Work on University Hospital Crosshouse, which
2457-591: Is sometimes used in contemporary fiction, such as the Edinburgh dialect of Scots in Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (later made into a motion picture of the same name ). But'n'Ben A-Go-Go by Matthew Fitt is a cyberpunk novel written entirely in what Wir Ain Leed ("Our Own Language") calls "General Scots". Like all cyberpunk work, it contains imaginative neologisms . The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
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#17327726088342574-537: Is the largest educational campus in Scotland. The area's secondary schools include: Kilmarnock is home to a campus of Ayrshire College , which provides a range of courses to adults as well as school-aged pupils. It is funded by East Ayrshire council and other educational providers. The campus opened in October 2016 in a new, £53 million, building on the site of the Johnnie Walker bottling plant. It superseded
2691-478: Is the wondrous 'Mauchline Quern ' that ground constantly, except on Sundays. It could be heard working underground and the local place name "Auchenbrain" may celebrate it, translating from the Gaelic as "field of the quern". As well as containing the remains of many of Burns' contemporaries, including the man generally assumed to be the model for 'Holy Willie', Mauchline Kirkyard is the resting place of Mary Cameron,
2808-567: Is used to describe the Scots language after 1700. A seminal study of Scots was undertaken by JAH Murray and published as Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland . Murray's results were given further publicity by being included in Alexander John Ellis 's book On Early English Pronunciation, Part V alongside results from Orkney and Shetland, as well as the whole of England. Murray and Ellis differed slightly on
2925-540: Is usually defined through the works of Robert John Gregg to include the counties of Down , Antrim , Londonderry and Donegal (especially in East Donegal and Inishowen ). More recently, the Fintona -born linguist Warren Maguire has argued that some of the criteria that Gregg used as distinctive of Ulster-Scots are common in south-west Tyrone and were found in other sites across Northern Ireland investigated by
3042-481: The English Dialect Dictionary , edited by Joseph Wright . Wright had great difficulty in recruiting volunteers from Scotland, as many refused to cooperate with a venture that regarded Scots as a dialect of English, and he obtained enough help only through the assistance from a Professor Shearer in Scotland. Wright himself rejected the argument that Scots was a separate language, saying that this
3159-664: The First War of Scottish Independence , the areas Loudoun Hill was the scene of a Scottish victory over the English during the Battle of Loudoun Hill on 10 May 1307. The battlefield at Loudoun Hill is currently under research to be included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009. During
3276-501: The Isle of Arran , Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae , which had until then been administered as part of the County of Bute . The former Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council was twinned with Sukhumi , Abkhazia . Following a review of such links in 2005, East Ayrshire continues the link as a friendship link. East Ayrshire, and its associated political body, East Ayrshire Council ,
3393-473: The Kays of Scotland curling stone factory is now the only one of its kind in the world, leading to an upsurge in trade. Robert Burns , Scotland's National Poet, came to live on the outskirts of the village at Mossgiel Farm in 1784. Many of his poems are believed to have been written whilst he was there, notably The Holy Fair , To a Mouse , and Holy Willie's Prayer . Many of his poems were directed towards
3510-730: The Kilmarnock College building on Holehouse Road. Policy and decision making in East Ayrshire is the responsibility of East Ayrshire Council , the body of elected councillors elected to represent East Ayrshire on the council. The council chambers and HQ is located on London Road in Kilmarnock. Elected members to the UK Parliament Elected members to the Scottish Parliament Constituency MSPs Regional List MSPs East Ayrshire
3627-578: The Laigh Kirk in Kilmarnock, Galston Kirk Yard, Loudoun Old Parish Kirk near Galston, Newmilns Keep and Kirkyard, Threepwood near Galston, Lochgoyne Farm above Fenwick, Priesthill Farm near Muirkirk, Mauchline, Sorn, Cumnock and Airds Moss near Cumnock. In 1648, Mauchline was the location of a battle between the Covenanters and Royalists, known as the Battle of Mauchline Muir. A Covenanters Memorial
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3744-509: The Linguistic Survey of Scotland . Dialects of Scots include Insular Scots , Northern Scots , Central Scots , Southern Scots and Ulster Scots . It has been difficult to determine the number of speakers of Scots via census, because many respondents might interpret the question "Do you speak Scots?" in different ways. Campaigners for Scots pressed for this question to be included in the 2001 UK National Census . The results from
3861-501: The Low Countries . Scots also includes loan words in the legal and administrative fields resulting from contact with Middle Irish , and reflected in early medieval legal documents. Contemporary Scottish Gaelic loans are mainly for geographical and cultural features, such as cèilidh , loch , whisky , glen and clan . Cumbric and Pictish , the medieval Brittonic languages of Northern England and Scotland, are
3978-735: The Protestant Church of Scotland adopted the 1611 Authorized King James Version of the Bible; subsequently, the Acts of Union 1707 led to Scotland joining England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain , having a single Parliament of Great Britain based in London. After the Union and the shift of political power to England, the use of Scots was discouraged by many in authority and education, as
4095-723: The Scottish Reformation . After the reformation the lands of Mauchline passed into the hands of the Earl of Loudoun , and no further historical events are recorded in the parish. The Holy Fair has been revived as an annual event in Mauchline. Formerly horse races were held on the road from the National Burns Memorial past Mossgiel as part of the annual Mauchline Fair. In 1544 George Wishart , an influential Protestant preacher, visited Mauchline to find
4212-469: The Second World War . It has recently taken on the nature of wholesale language shift , sometimes also termed language change , convergence or merger . By the end of the twentieth century, Scots was at an advanced stage of language death over much of Lowland Scotland . Residual features of Scots are often regarded as slang. A 2010 Scottish Government study of "public attitudes towards
4329-536: The University of Aberdeen , and only included reared speakers (people raised speaking Scots), not those who had learned the language. Part of the difference resulted from the central question posed by surveys: "Do you speak Scots?". In the Aberdeen University study, the question was augmented with the further clause "... or a dialect of Scots such as Border etc.", which resulted in greater recognition from respondents. The GRO concluded that there simply
4446-661: The West Germanic language family . Most commonly spoken in the Scottish Lowlands , the Northern Isles of Scotland , and northern Ulster in Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots ), it is sometimes called: Lowland Scots , to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic , the Celtic language that was historically restricted to most of the Scottish Highlands , the Hebrides , and Galloway after
4563-627: The prestige dialect of most of eastern Scotland. By the sixteenth century, Middle Scots had established orthographic and literary norms largely independent of those developing in England. From 1610 to the 1690s during the Plantation of Ulster , some 200,000 Scots-speaking Lowlanders settled as colonists in Ulster in Ireland. In the core areas of Scots settlement, Scots outnumbered English settlers by five or six to one. The name Modern Scots
4680-627: The unitary council areas of East Ayrshire (covering the area of the former Kilmarnock & Loudoun District and Cumnock & Doon Valley District), North Ayrshire (covering the area of the former Cunninghame District Council) and South Ayrshire (covering the area of the former Kyle and Carrick District). There are many early settlements within East Ayrshire. There are many early settlements within East Ayrshire. The Burns Monument Centre and Dick Institute (both in Kilmarnock) are notable museums and cultural venues. In 2017, East Ayrshire Council
4797-555: The " Buchan Claik ". The old-fashioned Scotch , an English loan, occurs occasionally, especially in Ulster. The term Lallans , a variant of the Modern Scots word lawlands [ˈlo̜ːlən(d)z, ˈlɑːlənz] , is also used, though this is more often taken to mean the Lallans literary form . Scots in Ireland is known in official circles as Ulster-Scots ( Ulstèr-Scotch in revivalist Ulster-Scots) or "Ullans",
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4914-463: The "midst of some of Scotland's finest countryside". Kilmarnock is the largest town in East Ayrshire, and has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996. It is the East Ayrshire region's main commercial and industrial centre. The town grew considerably during the 1870s and the town's growth subsumed the village of Bonnyton , and by the 1960s, new purpose built suburbs such as New Farm Loch were constructed to accommodate
5031-424: The 13th–15th century. Many of the areas castles played a prominent role, largely in part due to barons being at the peak of military and political powers. Many of the barons were involved in wider Scottish politics and affairs, in particular, resistance to the advances of Edward I towards Scotland. Prominent Scottish independence figure William Wallace has close connections with East Ayrshire. The Wallace family had
5148-465: The 17th century, the Covenanters were particularly active in the East Ayrshire area, as well as along Scotland's west coast where they began promoting National Covenant . During this period, a significant number of Covenanters died as a result of advocating their beliefs. In order to commemorate those lost, a number of sites and monuments in East Ayrshire were erected, including Fenwick Kirk Yard,
5265-554: The Crowns in 1603, the Standard English of England came to have an increasing influence on the spelling of Scots through the increasing influence and availability of books printed in England. After the Acts of Union in 1707 the emerging Scottish form of Standard English replaced Scots for most formal writing in Scotland. The eighteenth-century Scots revival saw the introduction of a new literary language descended from
5382-624: The Dragon Stone in Darvel , along with cup and ring markings near to the Ballochmyle Viaduct at Mauchline , indicate early occupation and settlement in and around East Ayrshire. The areas first permanent settlements is said to date from the expansion of Christianity in Scotland, after St Ninian established a church at Whithorn. East Ayrshire is home to a number of towers, castles and other structures which were constructed between
5499-454: The Kingdom of Great Britain, there is ample evidence that Scots was widely held to be an independent sister language forming a pluricentric diasystem with English. German linguist Heinz Kloss considered Modern Scots a Halbsprache ('half language') in terms of an abstand and ausbau languages framework, although today in Scotland most people's speech is somewhere on
5616-720: The Middle English of Northumbria due to twelfth- and thirteenth-century immigration of Scandinavian-influenced Middle English–speakers from the North and Midlands of England . Later influences on the development of Scots came from the Romance languages via ecclesiastical and legal Latin , Norman French , and later Parisian French , due to the Auld Alliance . Additionally, there were Dutch and Middle Low German influences due to trade with and immigration from
5733-523: The National Burns Memorial. The town lies by the Glasgow and South Western Railway line, 8 miles (13 kilometres) east-southeast of Kilmarnock and 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Ayr . It is situated on a gentle slope about one mile (1.5 kilometres) from the River Ayr , which flows through the south of the parish of Mauchline. In former days Loch Brown was about 1 mi (1.6 km) west of
5850-575: The Philosopher's Stane , a Scots translation of the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , was published by Matthew Fitt . The vowel system of Modern Scots: Vowel length is usually conditioned by the Scottish vowel length rule . The orthography of Early Scots had become more or less standardised by the middle to late sixteenth century. After the Union of
5967-480: The Scots language was also featured. It was found that 1,508,540 people reported that they could speak Scots, with 2,444,659 reporting that they could speak, read, write or understand Scots, approximately 45% of Scotland's 2022 population. The Scottish Government set its first Scots Language Policy in 2015, in which it pledged to support its preservation and encourage respect, recognition and use of Scots. The Scottish Parliament website also offers some information on
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#17327726088346084-471: The Scots language" found that 64% of respondents (around 1,000 individuals in a representative sample of Scotland's adult population) "don't really think of Scots as a language", also finding "the most frequent speakers are least likely to agree that it is not a language (58%) and those never speaking Scots most likely to do so (72%)". Before the Treaty of Union 1707 , when Scotland and England joined to form
6201-581: The Scottish Executive recognises and respects Scots (in all its forms) as a distinct language, and does not consider the use of Scots to be an indication of poor competence in English. Evidence for its existence as a separate language lies in the extensive body of Scots literature, its independent – if somewhat fluid – orthographic conventions , and in its former use as the language of the original Parliament of Scotland . Because Scotland retained distinct political, legal, and religious systems after
6318-550: The Scottish economy, it supports 1,500 jobs within the area. Food and drink as well as local tourism provides a large sum to the economy of East Ayrshire, with visitor attractions such as Dean Castle , Palace Theatre and Dumfries House generating large means of income for the area. Places of interest within East Ayrshire include: In 2022, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of East Ayrshire (which includes
6435-638: The Standard English cognate . This Written Scots drew not only on the vernacular, but also on the King James Bible , and was heavily influenced by the norms and conventions of Augustan English poetry . Consequently, this written Scots looked very similar to contemporary Standard English, suggesting a somewhat modified version of that, rather than a distinct speech form with a phonological system which had been developing independently for many centuries. This modern literary dialect, "Scots of
6552-775: The Three Kingdoms . In 1684 the Covenanter James Smith was wounded during a skirmish at Burn of Ann in Kyle. He was taken to Mauchline where he died in prison. In 1685 five men from the town were dragged out of their homes and executed at the loan. A monument was placed over their grave (this was removed in 1861 and replaced by a plinth, with the original monument being built into the wall of the school shed where it stands to this day). The Battle of Mauchline Muir took place in 1648 between Covenanters and Royalist troops. A Covenanters' flag from this battle still hangs in
6669-497: The Union, many Scots terms passed into Scottish English. During the 2010s, increased interest was expressed in the language. The status of the language was raised in Scottish schools, with Scots being included in the new national school curriculum . Previously in Scotland's schools there had been little education taking place through the medium of Scots, although it may have been covered superficially in English lessons, which could entail reading some Scots literature and observing
6786-413: The abolished Strathclyde Regional Council within the area. The area's name references its location within the historic county of Ayrshire , which had been abolished for local government purposes in 1975 when Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Cumnock and Doon Valley, and Strathclyde region had been created. In April 1996 the two-tier system of regions and districts was abolished and Ayrshire was divided between
6903-704: The activities of those such as Thomas Sheridan , who in 1761 gave a series of lectures on English elocution . Charging a guinea at a time (about £200 in today's money ), they were attended by over 300 men, and he was made a freeman of the City of Edinburgh . Following this, some of the city's intellectuals formed the Select Society for Promoting the Reading and Speaking of the English Language in Scotland. These eighteenth-century activities would lead to
7020-419: The beginning of the fifteenth century, the English language used in Scotland had arguably become a distinct language, albeit one lacking a name which clearly distinguished it from all the other English variants and dialects spoken in Britain. From 1495, the term Scottis was increasingly used to refer to the Lowland vernacular and Erse , meaning "Irish", was used as a name for Gaelic. For example, towards
7137-521: The book" or Standard Scots, once again gave Scots an orthography of its own, lacking neither "authority nor author". This literary language used throughout Lowland Scotland and Ulster, embodied by writers such as Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Murray , David Herbison , James Orr, James Hogg and William Laidlaw among others, is well described in the 1921 Manual of Modern Scots . Other authors developed dialect writing, preferring to represent their own speech in
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#17327726088347254-435: The border between English and Scots dialects. Scots was studied alongside English and Scots Gaelic in the Linguistic Survey of Scotland at the University of Edinburgh , which began in 1949 and began to publish results in the 1970s. Also beginning in the 1970s, the Atlas Linguarum Europae studied the Scots language used at 15 sites in Scotland, each with its own dialect. From the mid-sixteenth century, written Scots
7371-415: The church. The flag was also carried at the battles of Drumlog and Bothwell Brig . The village has at some point been a centre for quarrying sandstone , clock making , box-work, and the production of curling stones. The sandstone quarry dates back to the 18th century. The peak of production and demand was at the turn of the 19th century when over 200 men were employed at the quarry. A railway siding
7488-403: The creation of Scottish Standard English . Scots remained the vernacular of many rural communities and the growing number of urban working-class Scots. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the use of Scots as a literary language was revived by several prominent Scotsmen such as Robert Burns . Such writers established a new cross-dialect literary norm. Scots terms were included in
7605-408: The doors of St Michael's church barred against him. His reaction to this was to retreat to Mauchline Moor and to preach for over three hours to a large congregation, under the watchful eye of the Sheriff of Ayr and an armed force. John Knox also preached in Mauchline in 1599 after his return from exile in France and Switzerland. When the Scottish Parliament adopted the Scots Confession of 1560,
7722-694: The early twentieth century, a renaissance in the use of Scots occurred, its most vocal figure being Hugh MacDiarmid whose benchmark poem " A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle " (1926) did much to demonstrate the power of Scots as a modern idiom. Other contemporaries were Douglas Young , John Buchan , Sydney Goodsir Smith , Robert Garioch , Edith Anne Robertson and Robert McLellan . The revival extended to verse and other literature. In 1955, three Ayrshire men – Sandy MacMillan, an English teacher at Ayr Academy ; Thomas Limond, noted town chamberlain of Ayr ; and A. L. "Ross" Taylor, rector of Cumnock Academy – collaborated to write Bairnsangs ("Child Songs"),
7839-411: The end of the fifteenth century, William Dunbar was using Erse to refer to Gaelic and, in the early sixteenth century, Gavin Douglas was using Scottis as a name for the Lowland vernacular. The Gaelic of Scotland is now usually called Scottish Gaelic . Northumbrian Old English had been established in what is now southeastern Scotland as far as the River Forth by the seventh century, as
7956-401: The fifteenth century, much literature based on the Royal Court in Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews was produced by writers such as Robert Henryson , William Dunbar , Gavin Douglas and David Lyndsay . The Complaynt of Scotland was an early printed work in Scots. The Eneados is a Middle Scots translation of Virgil 's Aeneid , completed by Gavin Douglas in 1513. After
8073-417: The grounds of Ballochmyle and this led to his famous song 'The Bonnie Lass of Ballochmyle.' Robert gave shelter to Adam Armour , his wife's brother, following an incident in which Agnes Wilson, a maid at Poosie Nancie's, was driven out of the village by Adam, aged 15, and a group of 'Auld Licht' friends. Burns wrote Adam Armour's Prayer that describes the incident. William Campbell of Netherplace came to
8190-437: The increasing population of Kilmarnock. By mid–2020, the population of the town was estimated to be 46,970, making Kilmarnock the 14th most populated settlement in Scotland as well as the largest town in Ayrshire by population. The second largest town in East Ayrshire is Cumnock , which sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water . There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie just outside
8307-478: The industrial powerhouses of the expanding British Empire . Largely it was textile production which dominated the industrial expansion in the area, with other industries including muslin, cotton, blankets, carpets and woollen goods being produced in Kilmarnock. Other settlements, such as Stewarton, became known internationally its manufacturing of bonnets, and the Irvine Valley region had become renowned for its specialised lace industry. During this period, coal mining
8424-704: The kirkyard: "Holy Wullie" Willie Fisher, the Reverend William "Daddy" Auld, John Richmond, James Armour , "Clockie" Brown and notably Gavin Hamilton, his best friend. The plaque which marks Hamilton's grave was only placed there in 1919 by the Partick Burns Club. Gavin Hamilton had stated that he wanted no headstone, probably due to his run-ins with the Church in Mauchline. On one occasion Burns encountered Wilhelmina Alexander whilst walking through
8541-622: The language in Scots. In September 2024, experts of the Council of Europe called on the UK Government to "boost support for regional and minority languages", including the Scots Language. The serious use of the Scots language for news, encyclopaediae, documentaries, etc., remains rare. It is reportedly reserved for niches where it is deemed acceptable, e.g. comedy, Burns Night or traditions' representations. Since 2016,
8658-574: The language used in different situations. Such an approach would be inappropriate for a Census." Thus, although it was acknowledged that the "inclusion of such a Census question would undoubtedly raise the profile of Scots", no question about Scots was, in the end, included in the 2001 Census. The Scottish Government's Pupils in Scotland Census 2008 found that 306 pupils spoke Scots as their main home language. A Scottish Government study in 2010 found that 85% of around 1000 respondents (being
8775-571: The local dialect. Much of the material used was often Standard English disguised as Scots, which caused upset among proponents of Standard English and proponents of Scots alike. One example of the educational establishment's approach to Scots is, "Write a poem in Scots. (It is important not to be worried about spelling in this – write as you hear the sounds in your head.)", whereas guidelines for English require teaching pupils to be "writing fluently and legibly with accurate spelling and punctuation". A course in Scots language and culture delivered through
8892-497: The main Robert Burns Academy secondary school following the merger of Cumnock Academy and Auchinleck Academy, Lochnorris Primary School and Cherry Trees Early Childhood Centre. The campus is the largest educational establishment in Scotland. Largest settlements by population: 46,970 8,700 7,770 4,710 4,400 Scots language Scots is a language variety descended from Early Middle English in
9009-489: The main town, Kilmarnock . Other large population areas in East Ayrshire include Cumnock , the second-largest town, and smaller towns and villages such as Stewarton , Darvel and Hurlford . The largest school in Scotland, the Robert Burns Academy , is located in East Ayrshire at Cumnock . The area in which is now East Ayrshire features indications of early settlement as far back as 397. The presence of
9126-450: The mainland areas of North Ayrshire, it formed the former county of Ayrshire . East Ayrshire had a population of 122,100 at the 2011 census, making it the 16th most populous local authority in Scotland . Spanning a geographical area of 1,262 km (487 sq mi), East Ayrshire is the 14th-largest local authority in Scotland in terms of geographical area . The majority of the population of East Ayrshire live within and surrounding
9243-609: The mainland of North Ayrshire for purposes of calculating GDP) was estimated at £5.075 billion. Amongst Scotland's 32 local council areas, combined, East Ayrshire and mainland North Ayrshire are ranked as the 12th largest amongst Scottish areas by GDP rank. The average gross weekly page for full time employees in East Ayrshire in 2023 was £708.80, higher than the Scotland average of £702.40. Between January–December 2023, an estimated 56,300 people were classed as economically active within East Ayrshire, with 55,600 classed as in employment, 49,400 employees of businesses or organisations, with
9360-463: The manufacturing of railway rolling stock in Kilmarnock which would later become exported internationally. In May 1975, the county council was abolished and its functions were transferred to Strathclyde Regional Council . Subsequently, the county area was divided between four new districts within the two-tier Strathclyde region : Cumnock and Doon Valley , Cunninghame , Kilmarnock and Loudoun and Kyle and Carrick . The Cunninghame district included
9477-614: The medium of Standard English and produced by the Open University (OU) in Scotland, the Open University's School of Languages and Applied Linguistics as well as Education Scotland became available online for the first time in December 2019. In the 2011 Scottish census , a question on Scots language ability was featured In the 2022 census conducted by the Scottish Government , a question in relation to
9594-420: The newspaper The National has regularly published articles in the language. The 2010s also saw an increasing number of English books translated in Scots and becoming widely available, particularly those in popular children's fiction series such as The Gruffalo , Harry Potter , Diary of a Wimpy Kid , and several by Roald Dahl and David Walliams . In 2021, the music streaming service Spotify created
9711-401: The old court Scots, but with an orthography that had abandoned some of the more distinctive old Scots spellings and adopted many standard English spellings. Despite the updated spelling, however, the rhymes make it clear that a Scots pronunciation was intended. These writings also introduced what came to be known as the apologetic apostrophe , generally occurring where a consonant exists in
9828-456: The other. Scots is sometimes regarded as a variety of English, though it has its own distinct dialects; other scholars treat Scots as a distinct Germanic language, in the way that Norwegian is closely linked to but distinct from Danish . Native speakers sometimes refer to their vernacular as braid Scots (or "broad Scots" in English) or use a dialect name such as the " Doric " or
9945-497: The past (e.g. Corby or the former mining areas of Kent ). In the 2022 census conducted by the Scottish Government , it was found that 1,508,540 people reported that they could speak Scots, with 2,444,659 reporting that they could speak, read, write or understand Scots, approximately 45% of Scotland's 2022 population. Among the earliest Scots literature is John Barbour's Brus (fourteenth century), Wyntoun 's Cronykil and Blind Harry 's The Wallace (fifteenth century). From
10062-582: The perceived hypocrisy of the Church. The Church was particularly fanatical in Mauchline, which conflicted with the liberal attitude of Burns and his friends. The minister in Burns' time was the Rev William Auld of Old Helenton near Symington, South Ayrshire . Burns made many friends (his wife Jean Armour was born in Mauchline) and a lot of enemies whilst in Mauchline, many of whom are buried in
10179-554: The poet's attention due to his wife Lilias Nelson, a domineering individual of whom Robert wrote Epitaph on a Henpecked Squire ; "As father Adam first was fool'd, A case that's still too common, Here lies a man a woman rules, The devil ruled the woman." In the 9th century the Welsh monk Nennius wrote a history of Britain, the Historia Brittonum , in which he lists the thirteen wonders of Britain and included in it
10296-484: The proposed closure of the bottling plant facility in Hill Street, and in 2012, Diageo closed the facility with the loss of 700 jobs. In December 2015, Kilmarnock was awarded the title of Scotland's Most Improved Town due to efforts towards town regeneration and restoration. In rural communities of the authority, agriculture continues to be the leading sources of employment and economic productivity, particularly in
10413-696: The reformation was immediately accepted in Mauchline. Later, Mauchline became something of a stronghold for the Covenanter movement. Mauchline Parish's minister at the time, Reverend George Young, signed the Covenant in Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh in 1633 and subscribed to the Solemn League and Covenant in 1643, and several battles and skirmishes took place in the area during the Wars of
10530-463: The region was part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria . By the tenth century, Middle Irish was the language of the Scottish court , and the common use of Old English remained largely confined to this area until the thirteenth century. The succeeding variety of Northern Early Middle English spoken in southeastern Scotland is also known as Early Scots . It began to further diverge from
10647-467: The region, such as Auchinleck , Bellsbank and Dalmellington have struggled to recover from the economic hardship caused by the decline and gradual closure of traditional industries, and are supported through various initiatives to try and rejuvenate their economies. Kilmarnock has seen a gradual decline in manufacturing performance in recent years. In 2009, Diageo , owner of whisky maker Johnnie Walker (which had been founded in Kilmarnock) announced
10764-413: The remainder had some degree of skill, such as understanding Scots (0.27 million, 5.2%) or being able to speak it but not read or write it (0.18 million, 3.5%). There were also small numbers of Scots speakers recorded in England and Wales on the 2011 Census, with the largest numbers being either in bordering areas (e.g. Carlisle ) or in areas that had recruited large numbers of Scottish workers in
10881-452: The ruins of which still exist and are known as Hunters Tower or, more recently, as Mauchline Castle. Mauchline was created a burgh of barony by James IV in 1510 and was granted a further charter in 1610; both these charters however have been lost, believed to have perished in a fire at Register House, Edinburgh , in the 17th century. A ley tunnel is said to run from the castle of Mauchline to that of Kingencleugh . Mauchline featured in
10998-404: The settlements using the newly granted titles, the settlements were said to have "flourished and prospered after the granting of their Charters, with lively trade in agriculture, livestock and textiles". The arrival of the 18th century saw economic prosperity arrive in the area, with the main hub for industry arguably being Kilmarnock. During the 18th and 19th centuries, East Ayrshire became one of
11115-521: The seventeenth century, anglicisation increased. At the time, many of the oral ballads from the borders and the North East were written down. Writers of the period were Robert Sempill , Robert Sempill the younger , Francis Sempill , Lady Wardlaw and Lady Grizel Baillie . In the eighteenth century, writers such as Allan Ramsay , Robert Burns , James Orr , Robert Fergusson and Walter Scott continued to use Scots – Burns's " Auld Lang Syne "
11232-578: The sixteenth century; or Broad Scots , to distinguish it from Scottish Standard English . Modern Scots is a sister language of Modern English , as the two diverged from the same medieval form of English. Scots is recognised as an indigenous language of Scotland by the Scottish government, a regional or minority language of Europe, and a vulnerable language by UNESCO . In a Scottish census from 2022, over 1.5 million people in Scotland reported being able to speak Scots. Given that there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing
11349-510: The south of the county – particularly Dalrymple , Drongan , Patna and Dalmellington , the latter of which is 20 miles (32 km) south of Dundonald, South Ayrshire – became politically aligned to the East division. The local council boasts the proximity to Glasgow , the largest city in Scotland, as a unique selling point for the area. Additionally, the area is said to "combine an idyllic mix of rural beauty and urban living", and being set in
11466-550: The southern communities of the area. The public sector is the largest employer within the area, with the council and NHS Ayrshire and Arran being significant employers. Kilmarnock is home to the HALO Urban Regeneration company which was founded by Marie Macklin CBE, with a focus on providing opportunities for new businesses within the area, and with an estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) revenue of £205 million to
11583-467: The suspected source of a small number of Scots words, such as lum (derived from Cumbric) meaning "chimney". From the thirteenth century, the Early Scots language spread further into Scotland via the burghs , which were proto-urban institutions first established by King David I . In fourteenth-century Scotland, the growth in prestige of Early Scots and the complementary decline of French made Scots
11700-406: The town boundaries, Craigens, Logan and Netherthird , with the former ironworks settlement of Lugar also just outside the town, contributing to a population of around 13,000 in the immediate locale. A new housing development, Knockroon , was granted planning permission on 9 December 2009 by East Ayrshire Council . The town is home to the Robert Burns Academy , a new educational campus housing
11817-521: The town, but was drained when the railway line from Kilmarnock was built. Bruntwood Loch , near the old laird's house of that name, was once an important site for waterfowl, but drained for agriculture in the eighteenth century. In 1165, Walter fitz Alan , Steward of Scotland , granted a charter giving land to the Cistercian monks of Melrose . In those days the parish extended to the border with Lanarkshire at Glenbuck . The monks built an abbey,
11934-820: The twentieth-century biographer of James Boswell (1740–1795), described James's view of the use of Scots by his father Alexander Boswell (1706–1782) in the eighteenth century while serving as a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland : He scorned modern literature, spoke broad Scots from the bench, and even in writing took no pains to avoid the Scotticisms which most of his colleagues were coming to regard as vulgar. However, others did scorn Scots, such as Scottish Enlightenment intellectuals David Hume and Adam Smith , who went to great lengths to get rid of every Scotticism from their writings. Following such examples, many well-off Scots took to learning English through
12051-604: The varieties of Scots are dialects of Scottish English or constitute a separate language in their own right. The UK government now accepts Scots as a regional language and has recognised it as such under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . Notwithstanding the UK government's and the Scottish Executive's obligations under part II of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages,
12168-522: The view of the place of purchase. The transfer subjects ranged across Scotland and more of the British Isles to the rest of the world. Tartan ware was also extremely popular as a result of the Smiths inventing a machine for "weaving" tartan designs on paper. Fernware was introduced in the 1870s. This involved applying actual ferns to the wood which was then stippled in dark brown, the ferns removed and
12285-415: The wood varnished. These products were sent all over the world. A fire in 1933 stopped production, which was never restarted, and W & A Smith finally closed down in 1939. The making of curling stones began in the 19th century and for many years experienced full production, however for various reasons, the industry began to decline. Forty people were employed in the 1960s compared to a dozen now. However,
12402-489: Was a "quite modern mistake". During the first half of the twentieth century, knowledge of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literary norms waned, and as of 2006 , there is no institutionalised standard literary form. By the 1940s, the Scottish Education Department 's language policy was that Scots had no value: "it is not the language of 'educated' people anywhere, and could not be described as
12519-644: Was commissioned to replace the Kilmarnock Infirmary , began on the site in August 1972 with completion expected in May 1977. The contractor, Melville Dundas & Whitson , encountered difficulties with the water supply and ventilation systems and the facility was only officially opened by George Younger , Secretary of State for Scotland , as Crosshouse Hospital in June 1984. A new maternity unit, which replaced
12636-490: Was considered an important economic asset across the area, particularly in communities such as Dalmellington and Patna . Additionally, iron making was developed at locations such as at Dunaskin in the Doon Valley, ultimately in which all were contributed to the importance of industry in East Ayrshire. The areas strength in industry and manufacturing allowed other sectors to develop in many parts of East Ayrshire, including
12753-476: Was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 , which replaced Scotland's previous local government structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts with unitary council areas providing all local government services. East Ayrshire covered the combined area of the abolished Kilmarnock and Loudoun and Cumnock and Doon Valley districts, and also took over the functions of
12870-549: Was erected in Loan Green in Mauchline, commemorating the five martyrs who were hanged at the site in 1685. During the 17th century, the establishment of 'Burghs of Barony' titles evolved. Many towns in modern day East Ayrshire were granted charters which allowed them to use the newly created title. Such towns and settlements which were granted Burgh of Barony status included Newmilns in 1491, Auchinleck in 1507, Cumnock in 1509, Kilmarnock in 1592 and Riccarton in 1638. With
12987-659: Was increasingly influenced by the developing Standard English of Southern England due to developments in royal and political interactions with England. When William Flower , an English herald , spoke with Mary of Guise and her councillors in 1560, they first used the "Scottyshe toung" . As he found this hard to understand, they switched into her native French. King James VI , who in 1603 became James I of England , observed in his work Some Reulis and Cautelis to Be Observit and Eschewit in Scottis Poesie that "For albeit sindrie hes written of it in English, quhilk
13104-425: Was installed and as many as 60 wagons a day were transported from Mauchline. Many old building throughout the West of Scotland are built with Mauchline sandstone, and stone was being sent as far away as America. After 1918 the use of sandstone declined (houses were built with bricks instead) and this coupled with increased costs meant that eventually, in the 1950s, the last quarry closed. In the 18th century, Mauchline
13221-516: Was named as the UK Council of the Year. In 2016, East Ayrshire Council was awarded and recognised for its recycling and resource management. Historically the economy of East Ayrshire was dependent on industries such as coal mining , textiles and general manufacturing which largely fell into decline in Scotland during the 1970s and 1980s. Certain parts of East Ayrshire, particularly in the south of
13338-415: Was not enough linguistic self-awareness amongst the Scottish populace, with people still thinking of themselves as speaking badly pronounced, grammatically inferior English rather than Scots, for an accurate census to be taken. The GRO research concluded that "[a] more precise estimate of genuine Scots language ability would require a more in-depth interview survey and may involve asking various questions about
13455-507: Was renowned for clock making – John "Clockie" Brown is buried in the Kirkyard. The industry declined in the 19th century. The production of Scottish white-wood products, or Mauchline ware, was carried out from the 1820s until 1939 by the firm of W & A Smith, among other less long-lived manufacturers. The wood used was sycamore . These boxes were extremely collectable. They ranged from the basic transfer as on small vases, each piece having
13572-432: Was the notion of "Scottishness" itself. Many leading Scots of the period, such as David Hume , defined themselves as Northern British rather than Scottish. They attempted to rid themselves of their Scots in a bid to establish standard English as the official language of the newly formed union. Nevertheless, Scots was still spoken across a wide range of domains until the end of the eighteenth century. Frederick Pottle ,
13689-497: Was translated into Scots by Rab Wilson and published in 2004. Alexander Hutchison has translated the poetry of Catullus into Scots, and in the 1980s, Liz Lochhead produced a Scots translation of Tartuffe by Molière . J. K. Annand translated poetry and fiction from German and Medieval Latin into Scots. The strip cartoons Oor Wullie and The Broons in the Sunday Post use some Scots. In 2018, Harry Potter and
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