Scott Irish

Leprachauns. Saint Patrick. Green. Ireland. These are the words I would normally associate with this country but because of the fourth episode of The Story of English, I must add hard to understand. The way of talking in both Ireland and Scotland can be hard to understand. I had never really notced how different their English is from British English. Then again the most scotish speaking I have ever watched was in the movie Leap Year and now I believe it was all fake. Oh Hollywood you trick me again.

The Scots Irish went to the United States, entering through the old colonies. They played an important part in the spread of English within the United States. Especially in Philadelphia. Here, the Scot Irish came into contact with German and English. So here there was a first point of contact. As they went off into the woods and men like Davy Crocker came to be, they introduced different sayings about hunting. One of these phrases is “Dead as a hammer” which still lives on today.

The Scots Irish also played an important part in the dialect used in the Appalachian mountains. Even though the Germans and the English also lived in this area, it is the way of speaking of the Scot Irish that remains today. To explain how the people that live here speak, I can only say like hill billies. These are after all the people that invented moonshine whiskey.  Even the documentary enjoys making the back track someone playing the banjo, but I guess it adds to the feel that this is one of the last Appalachian accents that remain.

As the Scot Irish moved from the East to the west, they left their mark with their accent. Maybe in the west it was not as marked as it was in the Appalachian mountains but could be tied back. The roots of these people could be traced back because of dialect and I think it really shows how language can travel very clearly.