Leading American authority on Ulster-Scots, Professor Michael Montgomery, Emeritus of the University of South Carolina, and President of the Ulster-Scots Language Society, Northern Ireland, gives his definition of the Ulster-Scots, or Ullans language.

In the twelfth century the troops of Henry II brought the English language to Ireland for the first time, to Dublin in 1169 and to Carrickfergus eight years later. For more than eight hundred years the fortunes of English and Irish Gaelic have been intertwined on the island and have affected life in many ways. It's hardly surprising that Ireland is often viewed as having only two languages and cultural traditions.

But this historical picture of Irish competing with English ignores what makes the province of Ulster quite different from the rest of Ireland. In the 1600's tens of thousands of Scots crossed the Irish Sea's narrow north channel to settle in Antrim and other parts of Ulster. With few exceptions they spoke not Gaelic or English, but Scots, a Germanic language that is closely related to English and that was the everyday language of Lowland Scotland at the time. The presence of its descendant, Ulster-Scots, on the province's landscape has given Ulster a unique cultural pluralism ever since.

Rediscovery and Revival

Not long ago Ulster's language situation interested few but revivalists and academics, but in the past decade this has completely changed. Today much of the population of Northern Ireland indeed, of the Republic of Ireland as well  recognizes the term Ulster-Scots and its newer alternative "Ullans".

Rediscovery and revival of Ulster-Scots culture and language are in progress. People are embracing the traditions of their forebears and recognizing that a form of speech once used in the countryside and more often than not labeled "poor English" in the classroom is a part of their heritage. High-profile events such as the launching of the Ulster-Scots Agency indicate a far more positive view. Most important of all is the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998, the first official document to mention Ulster Scots, stating that it represents "part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland". 

Under the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, approved in 1992 and signed recently by the United Kingdom, Ulster-Scots became an officially recognized regional language of Europe, In western Europe spoken languages are routinely disparaged because they lack a standard written form and therefore prestige, and are unjustly dismissed as "dialects" if not worse on this basis alone.

© 2002 Michael Montgomery.  Unauthorised copying, reproduction, reprinting, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this material is not permitted unless the written consent of the author is obtained.