My mother was highlands Scottish from Cape Breton. Her mother spoke Gaelic before English and her father probably did too. (My father's part Scottish.) My mother's maiden name was Nicholson, and I've visited the Nicholson clan monument on Scotland's Isle of Skye. I also have ancestors from the Outer Hebrides, which I've also visited.
I'm really interested in Scottish culture. A few years ago, I read the book How the Scots Invented Canada. I've found the website whole.co.uk which will translate regular English into dialects like Scots. Lately I've started translating some English poems into Scots: free-form blank verse like Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg translates best into dialect because you don't have to worry about rhyme and rhythm. Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology is well-suited, both in format and theme. (I ought to buy Masters' book and translate all his poems.) I guess part of the reason I'm doing this is to get closer to my mother since her death.
As for the Irish, I definitely love Irish music. I used to watch the Irish Rovers' TV show faithfully. I also watched a show with Tommy Makem and the Canadian group Ryan's Fancy. I like Makem's serene version of the song "Will Ye Go, Lassie?" The Irish people have had an often tragic history and it shows, paradoxically, in their humour. (My mother once said that the tragedy of the Scottish people is that too many of them are yes-men.) And I love Irish writers like William Butler Yeats and James Joyce.
As for the Irish, I definitely love Irish music. I used to watch the Irish Rovers' TV show faithfully. I also watched a show with Tommy Makem and the Canadian group Ryan's Fancy. I like Makem's serene version of the song "Will Ye Go, Lassie?" The Irish people have had an often tragic history and it shows, paradoxically, in their humour. (My mother once said that the tragedy of the Scottish people is that too many of them are yes-men.) And I love Irish writers like William Butler Yeats and James Joyce.
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