Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!caip!rutgers!seismo!mcvax!ukc!its63b!csrdi
From: csrdi@its63b.ed.ac.uk (ECTU68 R Innis CS)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.celtic
Subject: A bit more about Picts
Message-ID: <78@its63b.ed.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 10-Oct-86 09:40:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: its63b.78
Posted: Fri Oct 10 09:40:45 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 12-Oct-86 04:24:32 EDT
Reply-To: csrdi@its63b.ed.ac.uk (ECTU68 R Innis CS)
Organization: I.T. School, Univ. of Edinburgh, U.K.
Lines: 38


Floyd Offord says (in response to Chris Jone's query) :

>A pict or Pict is a Scottish soldier.

The Picts (or picts) were actually the inhabitants of much of what is now 
Scotland in the first millenia AD (and some time before that). They became 
incorporated into the Scottish nation after Kenneth MacAlpine became king of 
both the Picts and the Scots (who came over from Ireland in about the fifth
century AD), and subsequently seem to have been assimilated by the Scots and 
the Saxons from the lowlands. At least, that's what I remember from my history
books.

He goes on to say:

>It is possible that the accent might be some garbled Scotch.

Firstly, Scotch is a *drink*. (The best in the world). The language, people 
accent and culture are *Scots* or *Scottish*. Remember that the next time you 
visit this country (or meet someone from it).

Secondly, yes, the accent is Scots.  I've got a transcript of most of the
second part of the monologue (starting "And then, great Marion took up 
wi' a claymore...") and will send them to anyone who's that desperate to
know. 

Thirdly, although the song may mention picts in the title and have a crazed
monologue in a Scots accent, is Soc.culture.celtic really the place to discuss
Pink Floyd lyrics? Apart from the fact that they were Sassenachs anyway, I'd
have thought this would be a better forum for questions about seriously Celtic
matters, if anyone can believe in such in this day and age. :-)

As for the discussions about whether insisting on Scots (or Scottish) is 
preferable to Scotch, surely that belongs under net.poloitics.scotnat? And as
for those who do call us English - anyone ever wondered why full highland
dress includes a sgean dhu?

	--Rick Innis