The Norse took over much of England until 1066, when Norsemen from France, the Normans, many of whose ancestors had invaded England in previous centuries, took over the whole of England, under William the Conqueror. William was ruthless in putting down any resistance to Norman rule and tens of thousands were slain, especially during the ‘harrowing of the north’, resulting in many English seeking shelter or bondage in the land of the Scots.

Malcolm Canmore, had strong family connections with the Norse, apart from marrying one, Ingiborg, widow of Thorfinn, Viking Earl of Orkney and other parts, who probably was the person we know as MacBeth. The number of Norse place names in the south of Scotland, as well as every other part, will testify to their presence. Dorothy Dunnett’s compelling novel, ‘King Hereafter’, is a meticulously researched historical work, which is highly recommended for anyone wishing to understand the history of the time and make the Scots Norse connection plain. It will also help to explain how the Scots tongue was based on Norse, not Anglo-Saxon as some would say, and so could never be a ‘dialect of Old English’.

The later introduction by David 1, king of Scots, of Norman families, added to a heady mixture of competing Celtic and Norse tongues already there—never mind the Saxon speech (with a Hungarian accent) of Malcolm’s latest wife, Margaret, and all her friends and refugee relatives that accompanied her to the Scots court.

This is a very brief outline, and I am aware of many contending opinions as to the origins of the Scots, and I leave readers to investigate other claims. However, etymology and history point decisively to the Scots non-Gaelic tongue coming from the Norse from Norway.