Don't get me wrong, toadfrog, I do like a lot of the material that Harry Lauder and others of that ilk produced. Some of it was, and is, excruciatingly funny. Trouble is, those caricatures were accepted as gospel truth to support denigratory attitudes about everything that was north of the border. Not H. Lauder & Co's fault as such, but definitely as a result of their deliberate lampooning of the subject. There were a lot of comics around who played on local dialects, welsh, irish and english, but it's the caricatures presented by the scots that seem to have stuck. I don't know what they could have done to stop it, but they certainly made the most of the popularity it brought them, and didn't do too much to set matters right.

While I don't, unfortunately, "have" the gaelic, I like to hear it spoken - and sung. I also like the scots dialects in all variants being spoken (and written too - if it serves to make a point, or if it is written and can be accepted purely out of good natured humour rather than as a vicious attack). There is a connection between the gaelic and the doric, by the way. They are both spoken by scots. As ever, where we scots tend to fall down is in finding ways to divide ourselves - this time over the native tongues. Most scots are natural "folkies" in that they must all have their minority opinions! (That was intended to be a joke, but thinking about it, I'm not so sure....) The majority of ordinary folk just keep using the language they grew up with, and enjoy using and playing with it. Meanwhile the activistic among us jump up down to bring everyone's attention to the "correct" way to use and preserve the old language as if this sacred heritage was too valuable for everyday use.

Now, I like using the version of broad scots that I grew up with, and I also like being able to subtly alter intonations, along with their verbal - and visual -attitudes so that the statements being made are emphasised or lightened. It's a great wordplay tool in story-telling for an audience prepared to actually listen, and in everyday conversation as well. And, perhaps most importantly, the scots dialects work best in performing songs that are built around them. Try doing almost any of the rowdier scots songs in BBC english and see where it gets you.... or some of the love songs come to that.....

Enough.... doon aff ra soap-box.