Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch | Page 2

years will have to be
examined before anything like completeness can be arrived at.
I have adopted certain tests of form, meaning, and distribution. With
regard to the test of the form of a word great care must be exercised.
Old Norse and Old Northumbrian have a great many characteristics in
common, and some of these are the very ones in which Old
Northumbrian differs from West Saxon. It has, consequently, in not a
few cases, been difficult to decide whether a word is a loanword or not.
Tests that apply in the South prove nothing for the North. Brate rightly
regarded _le[*g][*g]kenn_ in the Ormulum as a Scandinavian
loanword, but in Middle Scotch laiken or laken would be the form of
the word whether Norse or genuine English. Certain well-known tests
of form, however, first formulated by Brate, such as ou for O.E. ea, or
the assimilation of certain consonants apply as well to Scotch as to
Early Middle English. The distribution of a word in English dialects
frequently helps to ascertain its real history, and may become a final
test where those of form and meaning leave us in doubt. In the study of
Norse or Scandinavian influence on Lowland Scotch the question of
Gaelic influence cannot be overlooked. The extent of Norse influence
on Celtic in Caithness, Sutherland and the Western Highlands, has
never been ascertained, nor the influence of Celtic on Lowland Scotch.
A large number of Scandinavian loanwords are common to Gaelic,
Irish, and Lowland Scotch. It is possible that some of these have come
into Scotch through Gaelic and not directly from Norse. Perhaps faid,
"a company of hunters," is such a word.
There are no works bearing directly on the subject of Scandinavian
elements in Lowland Scotch proper. J. Jakobsen's work, "Det norrøne

Sprog på Shetland," has sometimes given me valuable hints. From
Brate's well-known work on the Ormulum I have derived a great deal
of help. Steenstrup's "Danelag" has been of assistance to me, as also
Kluge's "Geschichte der englischen Sprache" in Paul's Grundriss, the
latter especially with regard to characteristics of Northern English.
Wall's work on "Scandinavian Elements in English Dialects" has been
especially helpful because of the excellent list of loanwords given. In
many cases, however, my own investigations have led me to different
conclusions, principally with regard to certain tests and the dialectal
provenience of loanwords. Finally, the excellent editions of Scottish
texts published by the S.T.S. and the E.E.T.S. have made the work less
difficult than it otherwise would have been. I may mention particularly
"The Bruce," Dunbar, and Montgomery, where Scandinavian elements
are very prominent.
ABBREVIATIONS REFERRING TO TEXTS INCLUDED IN THIS
INVESTIGATION.
[*Footnote: The publications of the Scottish Text Society and those of
the Early English Text Society are given first. The others follow, as
nearly as may be, in chronological order.]
K.Q. = The "Kingis Quair" of James I., ed. W.W. Skeat. S.T.S. 1.
Dunbar = Bishop Dunbar's Works, ed. by John Small, R.J.G. Mackay
and W. Gregor. S.T.S. 2, 4, 16, 21, 29.
Rolland = "The Court of Venus" by John Rolland, ed. W. Gregor. S.T.S.
3.
Dalr. = Leslie's History of Scotland, translated by Dalrymple, ed. E.G.
Cody. S.T.S. 5, 14, 19, 34.
Wallace = Henry the Minstrel's "Wallace," ed. James Moir. S.T.S. 6, 7,
17.
Montg. = Alexander Montgomery's Poems, ed. James Cranstoun. S.T.S.
9, 10, 11.

Gau = "Richt way to the hevinlie Kingdom," by John Gau, ed. A.F.
Mitchell. S.T.S. 12.
Winyet = "Certain Tractates," by Ninian Winyet, ed. J.K. Hewison.
S.T.S. 15, 52.
Sat. P. = Satirical Poems of the Time of the Reformation, ed. J.
Cranstoun. S.T.S. 20, 24, 28, 30.
Buchanan = Vernacular Writings of George Buchanan, ed. P. H. Brown.
S.T.S. 26.
Bruce = Barbour's "Bruce," ed. W. W. Skeat. E.E.T.S. Extra Series II,
21, 29.
Lyndsay = Sir David Lyndsay's Works, containing "The Monarchie,"
"Squire Meldrum," "The Dream," and "Ane Satire of the Three
Estates," ed. F. Hall. E.E.T.S. 11, 19, 35, 37.
C.S.= "The Complaynt of Scotland," ed. J.A.H. Murray. E.E.T.S. 17.
L.L.= "Lancelot of the Laik," ed. W. W. Skeat. E.E.T.S. 6.
R.R. = "Ratis Raving" and other Moral and Religious Pieces in Prose
and Verse, ed. J. Rawson Lumby. E.E.T.S. 43.
Douglas = The Poetical Works of Gawain Douglas in 4 vols., ed. John
Small. Edinburgh. 1874.
Wyntoun = "The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland," by Andrew of
Wyntoun, ed. David McPherson. 2 vols. London. 1795.
R. and L. = "Roswell and Lillian," ed. O. Lengert. Englische Studien
16.
Gol. and Gaw. = "Golagros and Gawain," ed. Moritz Trautmann.
Anglia II.
Scott = The Poems of Alexander Scott, ed. Andrew Laing. Edinburgh.

1821.
Philotus = "Philotus, A Comedy imprinted at Edinburgh by Robert
Charters, 1603." Published by the Bannatyne Club. Edinburgh. 1835.
Anc. Pro. = Collection