Reclaiming Scots, the largest minority tongue in Great Britain

In the programme which will be broadcast tonight at 10pm on BBC Scotland and will also be available on BBC iPlayer, writer Alistair Heather sets out on a mission to reclaim the Scots language.

For decades, he said that his fellow-Scots speakers have been mocked, their language oppressed by educators, politicians and broadcasters.

In the native dialect, Alistair said: “Scots has been the language o oor greatest literature, but has had tae thole decades o opposition an neglect.”

Yet Scots was once the tongue of most lowland Scots, of the Royal Court and great poetry.

Alistair claims that the demise of the language is due to the departure to London of Scotland’s King James VI, to the received pronunciation of the BBC, and to generations of teachers insisting their pupils speak “proper English”.

Somehow, the Scots language survived all that. It is now one of Scotland’s three official languages, with English and Gaelic.

The 2011 census indicated that one and a half million people claimed to speak Scots, making it the largest minority language in Britain. But still it is ignored with Scots receiving only a fraction of the government money spent on Gaelic.

Alistair, who is from Angus, travels across Scotland, meeting activists determined to breathe new life into this ancient tongue. He sees Scots taught to enthusiastic pupils in borders schools and hears the poetry of North East Doric recited by the local MSP.

In Glasgow, writer Chris McQueer and comedian Janey Godley take pleasure in reclaiming the Scots dialect of our largest city.

Alistair takes a trip to Linlithgow to test locals on Scots words and goes to a haven for the Scots language for a talk with the Buckie Blethers.

He also goes to the Borders to take an English class in Scots at Hawick High School, where the school librarian Tom Clark updates Alistair on keeping Scots current for young folk with translations of popular books such as Diary of a Wimpy Wean.

In Rebel Tongue, Alistair tells the history of the language and argues that Scots is fighting back after decades of ignorance and oppression.

• Rebel Tongue will be shown tonight on BBC Scotland at 10pm