Scottish and Welsh Humor By Don L F

Scottish and Welsh Humor By Don L. F. Nilsen and Alleen Pace Nilsen 1

WARNING ABOUT SCOTTISH HUMOR, TABOOS, AND CENSORSHIP In selecting examples of Scottish humor we have tried to be edgy, but not offensive, but consider the following: CENSORSHIP FROM THE RIGHT: Blasphemy, Obscenity, Profanity, Vulgarity, Body Parts, and Body Functions CENSORSHIP FROM THE LEFT (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS): Age, Disabilities, Gender, Ethnicity, Belief System, and all other marginalizations. Ethnic humor tends to be in the vernacular. It is colloquial, and ungrammatical and unpretentious, but it is also often “vulgar” because it is in the language of the common people (compare “Vulgar Latin”). We’ve tried not to use offensive examples, and we hope we have succeeded, but remember that what is not offensive to one person might be very offensive to another person. We apologize in advance if any of our examples are offensive. 2

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Scots have short arms and long pockets. 4

Some Scottish-Kilt Humor 5

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Frankie Boyle 8

Rob Brydon: A Welsh Comedian Rob Brydon “On Giving Birth”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=comedian+rob+brydon&view=deta il&mid=BD 5450 E 125 F 719 FA 6 D 07&FORM=VIRE 9

Robert Burns (1759 -1796) • Bobbie Burns is the author of “Auld Lang Syne. ” • Bobbie Burns is also the poet of “eating, drinking and wenching. ” • • I hae been blythe wi’ comrades dear; I hae been merry drinking; I hae been joyfu’ gath’rin gear; I hae been happy thinking. 10

• But a’ the pleasures e’er I saw • Tho’ three times double’d fairly • That happy night was worth them a’, • Among the rigs o’ barley. 11

Steve Coogan, A Welsh Comedian Steve Coogan a. k. a. Alan Partridge: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+steve+coogan&view=det ail&mid=C 5 FF 108930765 A 8 D 62 A 3&FORM=VIRE 12

Tommy Cooper: A Welsh Comedian Tommy Cooper: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+tommy+cooper+comedia n&view=detail&mid=6360 DB 6 B 8 CA 28464 DFC 8& FORM=VIRE 13

Christie Davies, A Welsh Author 14

Lee Evans, A Welsh Comedian Lee Evans: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+lee+evans&view=detail& mid=AD 146960081 B 715264 E 5&FORM=VIRE 15

Craig Ferguson on the “Stephen Colbert Show”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+craig+ferguson&view=de tail&mid=95 D 4509 E 1 D 2 C 015 BD 06 B&FORM=VIR E 16

Tina Fey (Her father was half Scottish) Tina Fey on “The David Letterman Show”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+tina+fey&view=detail&mi d=F 803403809 F 733 AD 01 BE&FORM=VIRE 17

Rhod Gilbert, A Welsh Comedian Rhod Gilbert “Luggage Problems”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+rhod+gilbert&view=detail &mid=F 47 AA 6 E 4 CAADD 13 DCA 1 D&FORM=VI RE 18

Tom Hay 19

Ruth Jones, A Welsh Comedian Ruth Jones and James Cordan: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+ruth+jones&&view=detail &mid=4351 CDC 7 D 60626 A 68 AA 3&rvsmid=FA 6 E A 4 B 2 C 8 EA 44338 BF 6 FA 6 EA 4 B 2 C 8 EA 44338 BF 6&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSRV 20

Terry Jones, A Welsh Comedian A Member of the Monte Python Group Terry Jones and His Monte Python Sketches: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+comedian+terry+jones&& view=detail&mid=0 D 86 AB 7616660 A 8382 DA&rvs mid=AF 52 FA 0 EB 76147 B 28 E 4 E&fsscr=0&FORM =VDFSRV 21

Lloyd Langford, A Welsh Comedian Lloyd Langford on the “Ask Rhod Gilbert Show”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+lloyd+langford&view=det ail&mid=69 D 46 D 32 D 504 A 0 EBE 2 DC&FORM=VIR E 22

Jay Leno (His mother was from Scotland) Jay Leno on the “David Letterman Show”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+jay+leno+comedy&&view =detail&mid=86 FFD 2 D 14 CE 2 E 9 AC 6 F 29&rvsmid =1 B 1753419 D 01 A 5 C 3 CBF 1&fsscr=0&FORM=VD FSRV 23

Gladys Morgan “The Welsh Queen of Comedy”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+gladys+morgan&view=de tail&mid=9 A 19797 E 6 D 9 BD 23 B 3 F 1 E&FORM=VIR E 24

Hugh Morrison 25

Desi Northup 26

John C. Reilly (His father was of Scottish and Irish Descent) John C. Reilly and Will Farrell in “Step Brothers”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=john+c. +reilly+youtube+humor&&v iew=detail&mid=0457 D 0 D 31103 FDF 5581 C&rvsmi d=D 30 B 9997 B 4 DDA 86 A 0 E 28&fsscr=0&FORM=V DFSRV 27

Mickey Rooney (His father was Scottish born) Mickey Rooney and Milton Berle “Canned Humor”: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=KVJ-fpl. YJr 8 28

Sir Walter Scott (1771 -1831) • Sir Walter Scott wrote – Ivanhoe – The Heart of Midlothian – Rob Roy and – Quentin Durward 29

Paul Whitehouse, A Welsh Comedian Paul Whitehouse, “Smile”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+paul+whitehouse&view= detail&mid=D 0045751 B 49 AC 996 EF 47&FORM=VI RE 30

Robert Louis Stevenson (18501894) • Robert Louis Stevenson wrote – Treasure Island – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 31

Scots Go To Ireland 32

Scottish Highlands & Lowlands 33

Scottish Words in America Place Names Aberdeen Edinburgh Glasgow Mc… Nova Scotia (Canada) bonnie gang haggas laddie lass loch wee whisky (fr. Uisce beatha: “water of life”) 34

Scottish Pronunciations No Great English Vowel Shift: about the house bone, stone how now brown cow. light, night, right Retention of OE /x/: loch, night, right, fought 35

Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary • Because England does not have a language academy (like the “acadamie française”) we use dictionaries to settle language issues. • The rise of dictionaries correlates with the rise of the Middle Class. • Up through Webster’s II with labels like “vulgar, ” “colloquial, ” “slang, ” “argot, ” “jargon, ” “Southern” etc. • But now there’s Webster’s III with no labels 36

Johnson’s Dictionary & The Battle of Culloden • Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary determined spellings, analogies, structures, meanings and significances. • 1746 was the year that Johnson’s dictionary was published. • 1746 was the year that the Jakobean Duke of Cumberland defeated Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden. 37

After the Battle of Culloden (1746) Highland Scottish Culture was Outlawed: Carrying of firearms Hurling of Tabors Playing of bag pipes Speaking of Scots Gaelic Wearing of kilts & tartans So the teuchters fled to: Ireland America Australia New Zealand Africa 38

Scots Migrate to Northern Ireland • 200, 000 Scots migrated to Northern Ireland. • In turn, some two million of their descendants migrated to America during the 18 th, 19 th and the early part of the 20 th Centuries. 39

Scots-Irish Go to America 40

The Guid Scots Tongue • The Scottish language in Scotland, in Ulster (Ireland), in Nova Scotia (Canada) and Boston and Philadelphia (United States) was distinct: • “Bone” and “stone” were pronounced “bane” and “stane. ” • “Soft” “leave, ” “bath, ” “top” and “sick” were pronounced “saft, ” “lea’, ” “tap, ” and “seek. ” • “How now brown cow” would be pronounced “Hoo noo broon coo. ” 41

Many Scots-Irish Migrate to America • By 1776 (the year of America’s independence) almost half of Ulster had crossed the Atlantic. • In the United States, one out every seven colonists was Scots-Irish. 42

Scots-Irish in America • The Scots-Irish immigrants in Boston tended to be intolerant, violent, unruly and poverty stricken, so they weren’t too welcome. • They moved South to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. • In 1760, Benjamin Franklin estimated that 1/3 of Philadelphia was English, 1/3 was German, and 1/3 was Scots-Irish. 43

Scots-Irish Move West Through the Cumberland Gap 44

Scots-Irish Further Migration • Most of the Scots-Irish kept going South towards the Appalachian Mountains and on through the Cumberland Gap. • They were on the American frontier and bore the brunt of Indian hostilities. • They settled in the Southwestern frontier. • They tended to be fierce, clannish and unruly. • They wore coonskin caps, carried Kentucky rifles, and were really fond of whiskey. 45

• The Scots-Irish were ferocious Indian fighters, great boasters, and compulsive storytellers. They had a keen ear for a striking phrase. • Some of them made it all of the way west to Texas. Probably the most famous of them was Davy Crockett at the Alamo, who was part real, and part legend. Crockett described himself as… 46

• “…fresh from the backwoods, halfhorse, half-alligator, a little touched with snapping turtle, can wade the Mississippi, leap the Ohio, ride a streak of lightning, slide down a honey locust and not get scratched. ” 47

The Hillbillies • The Scotch-Irish Hillbillies made stills and brewed “moonshine. ” They used words like “afeared, ” “damnedest, ” “chaw u’ tabacker, ” “hex, ” “plum right” or “plum crazy. ” And they’re great story tellers. • They ate “bonny-clabber” (curdled sour milk) and “flannel-cake (a thin wheat cake). They provided English with the expression “youall. ” And when they called the cows home at night they used the Old-English “sūcan” meaning “suck. ” 48

• The Hillbillies said “tharr, ” “barr, ” and Herr” for “there, ” “bear, ” and “here. ” • They dropped their final –g, and used the Old -English “on” in front of –ing words, like “ahuntin, and a-fishin. ” They also used the Old -English form of “it, ” which was “hit. ” • These features are throughout the Southwest, but are most prominent in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Ozarks. 49

Hillbilly Culture Becomes Mainstream • Today about twenty million people (10 % of Americans) claim Scots-Irish ancestry. • The Scots-Irish ballads are currently imitated and reproduced throughout the United States. • Dolly Parton, Pat Boone, Kenny Rogers and Willie Nelson are four of these ballad singers. • Blue-Collar TV (Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy, etc. ) also are great “Hillbilly” story tellers • It is possible to see reruns of a sitcom called “The Beverly Hillbillies. ” It is about some hillbillies who struck oil and moved to Beverly Hills in California. 50

Don Nilsen as a Scottsman in a Ferguson Kilt 51