The links between the North of Ireland and the continent of Europe came to the fore in another project that emerged around the same period. Following a press conference held on 1st July 1986 under the auspices of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Belfast, Sammy Wilson and Rhonda Paisley, I proposed a link-up between the twin towers, Helen’s Tower in Clandeboye, Northern Ireland, and the Ulster Tower at Thiepval in northern France with museum complexes near both. This was achieved by the Somme Association which I established in 1990 with the help of my friend, Reverend Dr Ian Paisley. This association was formed to show the part played by Irishmen of all persuasions in the First World War in France, Belgium and the Dardanelles, supported by an international Friends of the Somme organisation. I also initiated through Farset the concept of twinning Londonderry with La Rochelle and promoting the Musée du Désert in the Protestant community in Ireland.
On 13th January 1992 René Fréchet wrote to me to ask if he could translate my book, The Ulster People, into French and have it published by the University Press. He had spoken to Paul Brennan, later to become Professor of Irish Studies at the Sorbonne, who was willing to do so. However, Fréchet’s tragic death on April 24th of that year brought the proposed translation and publication to an abrupt end.
It was at exactly this period that I began to become increasingly involved in the promotion of Ulster-Scots with my establishment of the Ulster-Scots Language Society and the Ulster-Scots or Ullans Academy. Although Fréchet had not lived to see these projects develop, I would like to think that my vision for Ulster-Scots, as an integral part of an inclusive culture that stretches across the sectarian divide, would have met with his interest and approval.
The Academy would fulfil a need for the regulation and standardisation of the language for modern usage. These standards would be initiated on behalf of the Ulster-Scots Community, Protestant and Catholic, Nationalist and Unionist, and would be academically sound. What we didn’t need was the development of an artificial dialect which excluded and alienated traditional speakers. Furthermore, the term “Ullans” was not to be restricted to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, since as a variety of Central or Mid Scots, it is also spoken in south-west Scotland, an area south of the River Nith, including the country of Robert Burns, and in Galloway and Carrick – corresponding roughly to the Old British Kingdoms of Rheged and Aeron – where it is known as “Galloway Irish”. The Ullans Academy was to be based in Belfast, which was at the epicentre of all three jurisdictions. It was also to be used to explore the relationships with East Ulster Gaelic which I have termed “Ulidian”, which was formerly spoken in all three areas, and had been first brought to south-west Scotland by the Kreenies or Cruthin of Dalaradia in Antrim.
In December 1992 I facilitated the formation of the Ulster-Scots Language Society (USLS) in Craigavon House, Belfast and at a meeting of the Society on Friday, 28th May, 1993, I suggested that the Ulster-Scots or Ullans Academy might be required to act as a teaching and resource centre for the newly formed Language Society.
The first formal meeting of the Academy was held at my home on Monday, 10th January, 1994. The following month, I asked Mr Jim Nicholson MEP to raise the issue of an Ullans Academy in the European Parliament at Strasbourg. This was followed up by the Reverend Dr Ian Paisley MP. In December 1995, I asked Dr Paisley to arrange for Members of the USLS, including myself, to meet the Northern Ireland Office Minister, Michael Ancram, to put forward a comprehensive proposal for a core-funded Academy. The costed and itemised proposals included details of a language development programme and an Ulster-Scots Language Resource Centre. Without any funding being awarded, the Academy managed to complete some aspects of its agenda on a purely voluntary basis.
It was clear to me that establishing a standard version of the language, with agreed spelling, was of fundamental importance while at the same time maintaining local variants. To this end, in 1995, I published, under the imprint of the Ulster Scots Academic Press, from my premises in 12 Main Street, Conlig, County Down, a regional dictionary by James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue which was the most important record yet produced of current Ulster-Scots speech and which is now, under the imprint of the Ullans Press, in its third edition.
To be continued