ABSTRACT
The traditional speech of Scotland is subject to the same distorting influences, and the average Scotsman is deprived of his traditional standards without acquiring any others. The Scottish speech is a form of English or Anglish: it has nothing to do with Gaelic or any Keltic language. The distinctive speech of Scotland has a centuries-old tradition and history of its own which has nothing to do with Southern English. It is derived from the speech of the invading Angles who occupied the Lothians as well as what is now Northumberland. The alleged reasons for ignoring Scottish standards are all the more startling when it is remembered what vast quantities of the most vulgar English speech are imposed daily on the Scots in their own country. Scottish English has many uncouth varieties and needs standards at least as badly. Many Englishmen seem unable to distinguish good Scottish English from its most degenerate forms, and British broadcasting appears to share this disability.
