A Recap
Older Scots Reading 1
Chapter 10 · A Recap
📜 A Recap
This chapter has no new text. It gathers what the nine texts showed into tables you can use as a checklist, then ends with ten questions that draw on the whole course. Every example below comes from a chapter you have read, and the chapter number is given so you can go back to it. Everything here carries the limits of those chapters: the sources are free web articles, and the glosses and grammar notes are mine and unverified unless I say the source gave them.
The nine texts
| Ch | Text | When (as the sources gave it) | What it taught |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reading Strategy: a charter line and a pamphlet line | 1379; 1581 | The routine and the spelling table |
| 2 | A charter of Alexander Lindsay | 1379 | Legal prose; gif "if"; French law words |
| 3 | The Brus, Barbour | c. 1375 (the Ramsay transcription is 1489) | Verse in couplets; -and |
| 4 | Dunbar, Lament for the Makaris | c. 1505 | Refrain; Latin in a Scots poem |
| 5 | Henryson, Testament of Cresseid | 15th century | Rhyme royal; thy and the ("thee") |
| 6 | Lyndsay, Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis | 1540 and 1552 performances; printed 1602 | Dialogue; thou and ȝe |
| 7 | Four short texts | various | hes with plurals; yi "thy" |
| 8 | The Act of 1560 | 1560 | be "by"; -it / -eit; -is |
| 9 | Burne, Of the praying in Latine | 1581 | v for w; tua, hail |
Spellings
| Older Scots | Reads as | Example from the course |
|---|---|---|
| quh- | wh- | quhilk, quha (Ch 9) |
| sch- | sh- | publischeit (Ch 8) |
| ch | gh | nychtbour (Ch 7) |
| ȝ (yogh) | y-, and a sound I could not name after n | ȝour, Seinȝe (Ch 6) |
| y for thorn | th | yi "thy" (Ch 7) |
| u / v | either u or v, by position | vpoune, beleued (Ch 8) |
| v for w | w (in Burne's text) | vordis, vill (Ch 9) |
| ou for o | o | Henrysoun (Ch 7), Confessioun (Ch 8) |
| ay for ai | ai | fayth (Ch 8) |
Endings
| Ending | Job | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -is / -ys | plural and possessive nouns; also on verbs | prayeris, godis (Ch 8, 9) |
| -(e)s | present verbs, even with plural subjects in my texts | hes written (Ch 7), preistis sayis (Ch 9) |
| -it / -eit | past and participle | groundit, ratifeit (Ch 8) |
| -and | present participle | liftand (Ch 9) |
Small words worth knowing by sight
| Older Scots | Meaning | Older Scots | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ane | one; a | tua | two |
| na | no | nocht | not |
| bot | but | gif | if (also "give") |
| mair | more | auin | own |
| hail | whole | kirk | church |
| scho | she | thame | them |
| sall | shall | fra | from |
The routine, again
- Read the whole line aloud in your head, ignoring spelling.
- Find the verbs. Look for -is, -it and -and.
- Spot the spelling swaps from the first table; say each word as the English one.
- Check the small words against the last table.
- Only then look at the gloss, and note where the source's gloss and yours differ.
Try It Yourself
Ten questions across the course. Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Translate Lufe God abufe al (Chapter 7).
Show answer
"Love God above all."
2. What does quha prayis mean (Chapter 9)?
Show answer
"Who prays."
3. Which three spelling swaps do quhilk, publischeit and nychtbour show?
Show answer
quh- for wh-, sch- for sh-, ch for gh.
4. What is liftand, and what is the ending?
Show answer
"Lifting"; the present participle -and.
5. Why is the in Of the throw wickit langage not the article (Chapter 5)?
Show answer
It is "thee", the object form of "thou".
6. What does be mean in be the estaitis (Chapter 8)?
Show answer
"By".
7. Which pronoun does Diligence use to the Pauper in Chapter 6, and which does the Pauper use to him?
Show answer
thou / thy; ȝe / ȝour.
8. Which Older Scots words mean "two" and "one" in Burne's first line?
Show answer
tua and ane.
9. Put the texts for Chapters 2, 4, 8 and 9 in date order.
Show answer
Chapter 2 (1379), Chapter 4 (c. 1505), Chapter 8 (1560), Chapter 9 (1581).
10. Name one place in the course where the sources gave no translation and the gloss was mine.
Show answer
For example Chapters 2, 3, 5, 6 or 9. Chapter 7's inscription and James VI sentence had article glosses.