Scotland Languages

Most records used in Scottish research are in English, with some in the closely related Scots language. They may, however, be difficult to read because of unique Scottish words, Latin words, or different handwriting styles.

Occasionally records will also contain Gaelic, often written in English phonetics. In the medieval documents about Orkney and Shetland, you may also encounter Norn, an early form of Norwegian.

Unique Scottish Words
Some words you will see in Scottish records are not used in English.

The English past participle -ed, is usually represented by -it in Scots. Older documents may also form the plural or possessive in -is. The English "wh" is often rendered as "quh" in old Scots.

The following list contains some Scottish words more commonly used in documents:

Scottish Dictionaries
To find definitions for other words that are unfamiliar to you, you can use one of several Scottish dictionaries:

Craigie, Sir William A. A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, from the Twelfth Century to the End of the Seventeenth. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1937-. (Family History Librarybook 403.41 Sco87c.)

Graham, William. The Scots Word Book. 3rd rev. ed. Edinburgh, Scotland: Ramsey Head Press, 1980. (Family History Library book 427.9411 G76s 1980.)

Jamieson, John. A Dictionary of the Scottish Language. Edinburgh, Scotland: William Tait, 1866. (Family History Library book 427.941 J242j.)

Warrack, Alexander. A Scots Dialect Dictionary. London, England: W. &amp; R. Chambers, 1911. (Family History Library book 427.9411 W25s.)

Robinson, Mairi, ed. The Concise Scots Dictionary. Oxford, England: Aberdeen University Press, 1985. (Family Hhistory Library book 427.9411 C748c.)

The Dictionary of the Scots Language can be found online here.

Latin
Some Scottish records may contain Latin. Knowing some Latin will help you read these records. For help with Latin words, see the Latin Genealogical Word List (34077).

Handwriting
Handwriting styles have changed over time. In early records, the handwriting is quite different from what it is today. Visit Scotland Handwriting in Research Topics.

Abbreviations
Abbreviations are common in early handwriting. When recorders left letters out of a word, they indicated the fact by using various marks, such as a period, a colon, a tail on the last letter of the word, a curvy line over the word, or a raised letter at the end of the word. Abbreviations can be indicated in many ways, and it is important to study individual writers to see how they made abbreviations.

In Scottish church records, ministers often used only the first letter of the words, for example:

L.S. = lawful son

L.D. = lawful daughter

N.S. = natural son

N.D. = natural daughter

ch. = child

Ch. N. = child named

N. = named

Instead of writing the words father, mother, witness, son, or daughter, the minister may have used f, m, w, s, or other letters.

Dates
Dates, instead of being numerical, are sometimes referred to by the name of the feast day or by one of the terms listed below: