In November 2014, on the Feast of Columbanus, the Ullans Academy, in accordance with its Memorandum of Association, published two initial volumes of the Bible in Plain Scots or standard Ullans. Until this time the Bible has not been completely translated into Plain Scots. In Scotland, prior to the Reformation Parliament of 1560, church services were usually conducted in Latin. The Vulgate version used was also a Latin translation, because using the vernacular languages was regarded as heresy by the Roman Catholic Church, particularly so after the attack by Martin Luther on the Papacy from 1517. The register chosen was defined by the fact that Ullans, by a process called “colonial shift”, is a purer form of Scots than that spoken in Scotland itself, but readily useable throughout the Scots-speaking world. It is therefore not a dialect, but a unique and precious remnant of the language itself.

Sometime before 1539, Murdoch Nisbet, from the parish of Loudoun in Ayrshire, produced a Scots translation of the New Testament. Nisbet was associated with a group of Lollards and worked from John Purvey’s 1520s revision of the famous John Wycliffe version of the fourteenth century. However, because of initial fears of religious persecution, that work remained an unpublished manuscript known only to his family and Bible scholars until it was edited and printed by the Scottish Texts Society in 1901-5, under the auspices of Lord Amherst of Hackney.

The Scottish Parliament briefly enacted in 1543 that people were permitted to own a Bible in Scots or English, but that dispensation was repealed soon after. Only in 1560, when Scotland became Calvinist, did a vernacular Bible finally become legal. The new Scottish Church adopted the English Geneva Bible because it was the only full translation available which was ideologically acceptable to them, and also since it was in a language so close to the vernacular that it could be commonly read. Nisbet’s Bible would in all probability not have been acceptable to Calvinists, and that is the reason why it remained unknown outside his family. In 1579 the Scottish Parliament passed an Act which said that every householder of substance should own a Bible in the vernacular, and the Bible in English, with a preface in Scots, was reissued.

In 1601 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland met at Burntisland, and discussion took place regarding a new version of the Bible being produced in the vernacular of Lowland Scots. However, that came to nothing because in 1603 King James VI succeeded to the British throne as James I. James was keen to bring about conformity in culture, language and religion across his kingdoms, based on court practice in London. Instead of Scots, therefore, he commissioned the King James (Authorised) Version (KJV), in English. That is not to say, of course, that Scottish sermons and preaching were conducted solely in English from 1560. Indeed, there is evidence that Scottish Presbyterian ministers commonly preached in Scots well into the nineteenth century.

On occasion, there were complaints about the drawbacks of using texts in English. In the 1630s the Church of Scotland wrote to Charles I about his new Prayer Book. Objections were made to many of the terms which were unknown to the ordinary people. Later, after 1703, the Reverend James Kirkwood commented “Does not everybody know that in our English Bibles there are several hundred words and phrases not vulgarly used nor understood by a great many in Scotland, who have no other Translation?” However, because Scottish ministers often paraphrased texts, and because of the increasing impetus towards Anglo-Scottish political union, the idea of a Bible in Scots did not seem an important enough issue, especially among the aristocracy.

Indeed, by the 1750s the so-called Moderate Party, which now dominated the Scottish Church, chose to preach in English. Certainly, by 1800 the idea of a Bible in Scots would have seemed increasingly irrelevant to many among the upper classes. Despite that, academics and others continued to take an interest in Scots translations. For instance, Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte (1813-91), nephew of the former French Emperor, was a keen linguist who commissioned translations of parts of the Bible into various languages, including Scots, during the 1850s and 1860s. However, those translations were made from English rather than Greek, and the largely literary translators would often choose to retain many features which were not Scottish.

It was William Laughton Lorimer (1885-1967), a native of Angus and celebrated classical scholar, who finally translated the New Testament from the original koine Greek (and other sources) into Scots during the 1950s and 1960s (though when Satan speaks, he is quoted in Standard English). Lorimer’s son completed revisions, and the result was finally published in 1983 to instant acclaim. It has justly been recognised as one of the great works of literature in Scots in the modern era, during which time the beautiful language of the KJV has become increasingly archaic.

Most Scots Bible translations have traditionally taken English texts as their source. A translation of Old Testament texts from the original Hebrew would require a substantial investment of money, time and expertise over as long as a generation, probably involving generous state backing and the expertise of one or more university departments. It is a distinct possibility that no such translation will ever be completed, and it was to plug the resulting gap that the present project was conceived.

The source text for the current translation was the Bible in Basic English (BBE), which first became available in the 1940s. Published without any copyright notice, it immediately and irretrievably fell into the public domain and is today available to download freely from the Internet.

In this translation, the word order has in many cases been changed, and the core 1,000-word vocabulary used in the BBE greatly expanded. Circumlocutions used to reduce the number of distinct lexemes (for example, using phrasal verbs or combinations of verb and noun) have been replaced with fewer words but employing a larger vocabulary (for example, a single less common or higher-register verb). For those reasons, the text now being published bears only limited relation to the BBE and may stylistically be regarded as a translation in its own right.

The Ullans Academy was formed prior to the Ulster-Scots Language Society in July 1992, following a meeting between the linguist Professor Robert J. Gregg and myself in Vancouver, British Columbia. One of its prime objects was the undertaking of a Bible translation into Scots supportive of and appropriate to the other language development work of the Ullans Academy. I have outlined the history of this movement in three articles, viz.: “The Ullans Academy” in Legislation, Literature and Sociolinguistics: Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Scotland, edited by John Kirk and Dónall P. Ó Baoill (Belfast: Cló Ollscoil na Banríona 2005); “The Ulster-Scots Movement. A Personal Account” in Language Issues: Ireland, France, Spain, edited by Wesley Hutchinson and Clíona Ní Ríordáin ( Brussels: P.I.E. Peter Lang 2010); and “Common Identity” in Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland Today: Language, Culture Community / L’Ulster-Scots en Irelande du Nord aujourd’hui: langue, culture, communauté, by Wesley Hutchinson (Rennes, Presses Universitaires 2014).

We were highly honoured that Gavin Falconer and Ross G. Arthur had chosen us to act as sponsors of their superlative and historic translation of the Bible in Plain Scots. There could be none better than they for the task of bringing to the Scottish people such an inspirational work during this time of renewed interest in cultural expression. We are grateful to the former Ministerial Advisory Group on the Ulster-Scots Academy of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure for their financial support for these Volumes I and III, to my friends and colleagues in the Ullans Academy, to Professor Wesley Hutchinson of the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3 and to Helen Brooker of Pretani Associates Ltd. , Consultants in Common Identity, and to Wordzworth printing services for their invaluable assistance in producing the Old Testament in Scots, which we distributed free throughout the community.

Concluded

Dr Ian Adamson OBE

It remains difficult to see how the damage done to the Ulster Scots movement and the establishment of a statutory Academy can be rectified at this stage. But the blame must surely lie with those who were embued with narrow sectarian and political attitudes, often bizarrely so, particularly though British Israelite theories, who achieved high status in government and stifled any attempt to promote the true ideals of the movement.

As for the original Ulster Scots (Ullans) Academy which we established in 1992, it has continued to promote aspects of shared heritage, common identity and community relations between the nationalist and unionist sections of our community in Northern Ireland, with particular reference to Belfast. The group was established with the idea that bringing people together through their shared cultural heritage would raise awareness of those things that bind us together rather than divide us and thus foster a sense of mutual tolerance and respect, and this it has achieved.

The management committee of the Ullans Academy consists of a core of hardworking and dedicated volunteers who meet on a weekly basis and this committee is completely inter-community in its nature. Members of the management committee have significant experience working in the sphere of community development, education and researching the history, heritage and common identity of Northern Ireland. Indeed the make-up of the committee has a number of politicians, professional personnel and community development workers within its ranks.

We feel that having an experienced and proactive committee is key to our future success and ultimately the ability of the Ullans Academy to have an impact upon a greater awareness of the shared cultural heritage, both of Ulster Scots and Ulster Gaelic. Furthermore the promotion of awareness of those aspects in our heritage and culture which bind rather than divide our communities will lead to the development of stronger inter-community relationships in future years.

Thus the key objectives of the group are:To encourage and promote the shared Ulster Gaelic/Ulster Scots heritage and to raise awareness throughout Northern Ireland for our shared cultural heritage through delivery of high quality and engaging events and activities particularly our Saint Patrick’s Breakfast and the Feast of Columbanus. To go into the community and encourage inter-community activity and exploration of the diversity of community learning as an extension of education.

As Northern Ireland moves further into the post conflict period there are still a large number of people who are struggling to develop and are still experiencing minimal inter-community contact. These “hard to reach” areas, both nationalist and unionist, Protestant and Roman Catholic, are some of the key areas that the Ullans Academy has sought to engage and will continue to do over the next number of years to facilitate the ongoing development of a more prosperous and peaceful society in the local community across Northern Ireland.

Furthermore the educational and capacity building programmes which the Ullans Academy have delivered within and between some of the most affected areas as a result of the Troubles, will improve the confidence, self esteem and personal development of participants. Additionally the programmes help to build upon skills that are paramount to other aspects of life such as employment and education. We wish the MAGUS group well but doubt that it will eventually deliver us a statutory Ulster- Scots or Ullans Academy.

To be concluded

The Academy’s research would also extend beyond language and literature to historical, cultural and philosophical themes such as the life and works of Francis Hutcheson and CS Lewis, and to studies of the history of Ulidia in general, especially Dalriada, Dalaradia, Dal Fiatach, Galloway and Carrick, not forgetting Ellan Vannin, the Isle of Man. Lewis’s magisterial work Poetry and Prose in the Sixteenth Century Volume IV in the Oxford History of English Literature (1954) was particulary important, illustrating as it does language and literature at the close of the Middle Ages in Scotland. Characteristically Lewis writes Scotch not Scottish,claiming the freedom of “my ain vulgaire”, which has historical precedence.

The Scotch-Irish would also provide a particular focus on the American dimension, but emigration studies would also be necessary for the countries of the Commonwealth and other countries. Closely associated were the Heirschipe Villages projects, which were proposals to construct living history and traditional craft centres based on eighteenth century Ulster-Scots villages and towns at the time of the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. This would have many parallels with the leading American attraction at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and would be a centre of cultural tourism development.

In 2003 I was instrumental in ensuring that the Joint Declaration of the British and Irish Governments would indicate that the British Government would take steps to encourage support to be made available for an Ulster-Scots Academy. However, differences in philosophy continued. The original Ullans Academy wished to be associated with An Culturlann McAdam/O Fiaich and the Gaeltacht quarter of West Belfast. It was envisaged that the Heirschipe Village concept, initiated by the Ullans Academy, with its focus on cultural tourism, should also be developed under the remit of the Ulster-Scots Agency.

The Ullans Speakers Association of Ballymoney, County Antrim, the United Ulster History Forum and Portavogie Culture and Heritage Society of the Ards Peninsula, County Down and the Monreagh Project, County Donegal, would be encouraged as Friends of the Academy and an Ullans Centre of Academic Excellence would be established between the University of Glasgow, Queen’s University, Belfast, and the University of Ulster. Dr Paisley and I first travelled to see Professor John Corbett at Glasgow University on Saturday, 21st June, 2008 to facilitate this. Relations with the Sorbonne were maintained through Professor Wesley Hutchinson. Ideally, however, a prestigious location in Belfast was still required for the Ullans Academy but that is a continuing story.

Patrick of Lecale

In 398 AD St Ninian is said to have established the first Christian Church in the British kingdom of Rheged, part of what is now known as Scotland, at Candida Casa (now Whithorn) in Galloway. Although little is known about this great Christian Saint of the Novantes, or the earliest history of his foundation, it is clear that in the fifth and sixth centuries Candida Casa was an important centre of evangelism to both Britain and the northern part of Ireland.To the Irish, however, the main credit for the introduction of Christianity to Ireland belongs to St Patrick. He, St. Patrick that is, was born in northern Roman Great Britain. Calpurnius, his father, was a decurion and deacon, his grandfather Potitus a priest, from Banna Venta Berniae .

Yet, despite Patrick’s pre-eminent place in the history of the Irish Church, we do not know just how much of his story is historically accurate. Ironically, the only first-hand accounts of Patrick come from two works which he reputedly wrote himself, the Confession and the Epistle to Coroticus (Ceretic Guletic of Alt Clut, modern Dumbarton). Further, the reference to his arrival in the Annals cannot be taken as necessarily factual either, as it is now believed that the Annals only became contemporary in the latter part of the sixth century, and fifth century entries were therefore ‘backdated’. The question of Palladius and his mission from Rome leads to still more uncertainty, with some scholars even proposing the idea that there could have been ‘two’ Patricks. Francis Byrne suggested that “we may suspect that some of the seventh-century traditions originally referred to Palladius and have been transferred, whether deliberately or as a result of genuine confusion, to the figure of Patrick.”

This uncertainty must be borne in mind when we come to look at his story. Patrick was first brought to Ireland as a slave from Romanised Great Britain, or Albion, and sold to a Cruthinic or Pretani chieftain called Milchu , who used him to tend livestock around Mount Slemish in County Antrim. Milchu’s territory was in what was to become known as the Kingdom of Dalaradia. After six years of servitude Patrick managed to escape from Ireland, first going by boat to the Continent, then two years later returning to his parents in Great Britain. Despite his parents being anxious that he would now remain at home, Patrick had a vision of an angel who had come from Ireland with letters, in one of which was relayed the message: “We beg you, Holy youth, to come and walk amongst us once again.” To Patrick, the letters “completely broke my heart and I could read no more and woke up.”

Tradition tells that Patrick eventually made the journey back to Ireland, finally landing in County Down in the territory of Dichu (of the Ulaid) who became his first convert. Dichu’s barn (sabhall or Saul) near Downpatrick was the first of his churches. Among Patrick’s first converts were Bronagh, daughter of Milchu, and her son Mochaoi (Mahee). St Mochaoi was to found the great monastery of Nendrum on Mahee Island in Loch Cuan (Strangford Lough), and is associated with the saint in the legends which grew around Patrick’s name. These legends firmly place Down as the cradle of Christianity in Ireland. The most enduring of such fictions however was that of Patrick and Tara, making him a national entity. At Nendrum were first educated Colman, who was of the Cruthin, and Finnian, who was of the Ulaid. Colman founded in the early sixth century the famous See of Dromore in Iveagh, while Finnian, British Uinnian, following a visit to Candida Casa, founded the great school of Movilla (Newtownards) in Down. Finnian is also notable for bringing the first copy of the Scriptures to Ireland.

Patrick himself is said to have founded Armagh around 444, and the selection of a site so close to Emain Macha would strongly suggest that the Ulster capital was still the most powerful over-kingdom in Ireland at that time. But while some modern historians accept the earlier date of c. 460 for Patrick’s death, scholars of early Irish history tend to prefer a later date, c. 493. As far as Nendrum is concerned, the picture of its development is much clearer in the 7th century, for no excavated finds have been found earlier than this. But from 639 onwards the Annals record the deaths of Nendrum clergy, including bishops, abbots and a scribe..This would suggest an active, populous monastery, and an early litany says ”nine times fifty monks laboured under the authority of Mochaoi of Noendruim”.   From Down the Cult of Patrick spread to Connor in Dalaradia, Antrim and then to Armagh, which became the ecclesiastical centre of Ireland.

At least as far back as the Iron Age, Dumbarton Rock, which the Dalaradia Historical group have visited with Pretani Associates, has been the site of a strategically important settlement. Its early residents were known to have traded with the Romans. The presence of a settlement is first recorded in a letter  Patrick wrote to King Ceretic of Alt Clut in the late 5th century. Dumbarton was the Cair Brithon (“Fort of the Britons”) listed by the British monk Nennius among the 28 cities of Sub-Roman Britain. From the fifth century until the ninth, the castle was the centre of the independent British Kingdom of Strathclyde. Alt Clut or Alcluith (Gaelic: Alt Chluaidh, lit. “Rock of the Clyde”), the Brittonic name for Dumbarton Rock, became a metonym for the kingdom. The king of the Britons of Dumbarton in about AD 570 was Riderich Hoel, who features in Welsh and Latin works.

During his reign Merlin was said to have stayed at Alt Clut. The medieval Scalaccronica of Sir Thomas Grey records the legend that “Arhur left Hoël of Little Britain his nephew sick at Alcluit in Scotland.” Hoël made a full recovery, but was besieged in the castle by the Scots and Picts (Caledonian Pretani). The story first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae. Amongst lists of three things, in the triads of the Red Book of Hergest, the third “Unrestrained Ravaging” was Aeddan Fradog (the Wily, perhaps Áedán mac Gabráin), coming to the court of Rhydderch the Generous at Alclud, who left neither food nor drink nor beast alive. This battle also appears in stories of Myrddin Wylit, the Merlin of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini, perhaps conflated with the battle of Arfderydd, located as Arthuret by some authors.

In 756, the first (and second) losses of Dumbarton Rock were recorded. A joint force of Picts and Northumbrians captured Alcluith after a siege, only to lose it again a few days later. By 870, Dumbarton Rock was home to a tightly packed Brittonic settlement, which served as a fortress and as the capital of Alt Clut. The Vikings laid siege to Dumbarton for four months, eventually defeating the inhabitants when they cut off their water supply. The Norse king Olaf returned to the Viking city of Dublin in 871, with two hundred ships full of slaves and looted treasures. Olaf came to an agreement with Constantine I of Scotland, and Artgal of Alt Clut. Strathclyde’s independence may have come to an end with the death of Owen the Bald, when the dynasty of Kenneth mac Alpin began to rule the region.