It’s our bard’s birthday the day. Robert Burns, born 25th January 1759 in Ayrshire, is famed the world oer for his romantic ballads and philosophical works.
For me, he was mair than that. He took me at the age o fifteen fae reading comics tae reading literature and it was literature written in Scots, my ane language.
Before Tod retired he had tae watch aw the schools he worked wie bring out the tartan and the bagpipes and the haggis on the 25th and for ain day only the bairns language was legitimised. Then the next day the Scots language books were put awa and it was back tae the auld Standard English.
Nae wonder many o they bairns struggled wie their literacy. Their hale lives were spelled out in Scots, grammar and aw, but that wisne allowed in school. Tod used tae think they’d hae been as well leaving the bairns at the gate.
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