Violet Jacob was one of the last of a long line of Scottish aristocratic ladies who wrote and understood the Scots language as used by their forebears, she being an Erskine of Dun, descended from the Earls of Mar. She wrote mainly poetry, which if I am not mistaken was first put to music and sung by the late Jim Reid.


Lady Anne Scott a daughter-in-law of the Duke of Buckcleugh the largest landowner in Scotland also retained her use of the Scots language until her dying day at the beginning of the 20th.C., and her song "Durisdeer", a lament written on the death of her husband has long been a favourite with country people. She also wrote a version of "Annie Laurie"

All has changed in my lifetime and the aristocrats in my ken now all speak with what I take to be an Eton accent. The last of them who could not be mistaken for being anything other than a Scotsman was the late Duke of Montrose who died around 1970.