At the time of James I (VI) was Scottish already anglicized or was it still distinctly Scottish?

by doggyman815

So was something akin to Scottish Gaelic still spoken in Scotland by commoners or nobles or did they speak Scottish in today's terms of English with a thick accent?

talondearg

First, some clarification about languages. At the time of James I and VI, i.e. late 16th and early 17th centuries, we are talking about three distinct languages:

  1. Gaelic - i.e. 'Scottish' Gaelic, a Celtic language. (Gàidhlig)

  2. Scots - a germanic language related to English. In this period we would refer to it as 'Middle Scots'. (It's still contentious whether to call Scots a language or a dialect; I'm on the language side of that debate).

  3. English - English 'as we know it', or at least as they knew it in the period, i.e. 'Modern English', not 'Middle English'. (English as it is spoken today in Scotland should be referred to as 'Scottish English', which distinguishes it regionally from other Englishes, but avoids confusion with the separate language 'Scots')

Back to the question. It's a little contentious how far Gaelic spread in Scotland, with some people arguing that it never was widespread in the Lowlands at all. However, what's not really up for debate is that the Gaelic heartland was the Highlands and Western Isles, and the dominance of Gaelic was much lower in the Lowlands.

In terms of the period of your question, Gaelic had ceased to be used in the Lowlands in the second half of the 14th century, and was all but replaced by Scots as the language of common usage, and in government and law. James IV of Scotland was the last monarch to learn Gaelic. At this time, English language terms for Gaelic and Scots began to change. Gaelic, instead of being called 'Scottis' started to get called 'Erse' (= Irish), essentially foreignising it, and 'Inglis' (=Scots) began to be called 'Scots' (thus identifying it with Scottish identity, which would eventually form part of a English narrative of portraying Scots as rural and uneducated).

The personal union of crowns, and the growing ties to England among the Scottish nobility and elites, coupled with the influence of the reformation and the advent of printing, all increased Anglicisation of Scots, and the growth of Scottish English from the mid-to-late 16th century onwards.