18th June 2025

Yesterday, the Scottish Parliament passed the landmark Scottish Languages Bill, a moment that turns a new page in our national story. For the first time, backed by the power of the law, the Scots language has been granted official status in the land it has helped to shape for nearly a thousand years. For the 2.4 million people in Scotland who, according to the 2022 census, have some skills in Scots, this is the culmination of a long journey—a reclamation of a status long held but long interrupted.

That journey began in the multicultural ferment of the 12th century. The Davidian Revolution forged a new kind of kingdom, fusing the existing Gaelic society with a Norman-French aristocracy and, crucially, with the Germanic-speaking traders and craftspeople who settled the new royal burghs. In these towns, their common tongue became Scots—the pragmatic language of commerce, craft, and local governance. As early as 1399, Aberdeen’s town council was writing its legal contracts in clear and confident Scots. By the 15th century, it was the undisputed language of the Scottish Parliament and the law of the land.

Yet, history provides a fascinating echo for today’s events. Just as the English language was once pushed to the margins of official life by Norman French, the centuries following the Union of the Parliaments saw Scots similarly hindered by the ascendancy of Standard English in law and administration. The language of a kingdom became viewed as a domestic dialect.

Yesterday’s legislation powerfully reverses that long interruption. As Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes stated, the Bill will “accelerate the growth of Gaelic and Scots” and formally “establish them as official languages.” This is more than a symbolic gesture; the Act now gives legal effect to this status.

Under its terms, the Scots language has “official status within Scotland.” This is underpinned by a legal duty on Scottish Ministers to prepare a national Scots Language Strategy, which will set clear objectives for promoting the language and its many dialects. Public bodies across the country will be required to “have regard” to this strategy in their work. The Act also introduces vital support for education, compelling authorities to “promote, facilitate and support Scots language education” and allowing for new standards and resources to be created. This is backed by provisions for financial assistance to support projects promoting Scots language and culture.

In supporting both Gaelic and Scots, the Act reflects the multilingual reality of the kingdom that first took shape in the Davidian era. This is not about looking backward, but about building a confident future where both of Scotland’s historic languages can flourish side-by-side, finally backed by the full strength of the law.