The idea that "Ulster Scots" is a language rather than a dialect of English is an entertaining one and should be accepted as such. There is little enough to entertain us these days. Unfortunately some of my friends with Unionist sympathies seem to think that the whole think was invented to make them look like idiots. It is very unkind of people to approach them with remarks like these, "You know this language of yours, I'd love to study it. Would there be any great novels written in that language? Would there be any books at all? Has anybody ever translated the Bible into Ulster Scots?"   Jokes like this cause my friends to squirm and frantically disassociate themselves from the whole sorry business.