Sir, - Further to Nelson McCausland's letter on behalf of the Ulster Scots Heritage Council (February 23rd), I remain unconvinced of the appropriateness of the term "the Ulster-Scots language". I would be equally sceptical in the unlikely event of anyone materialising to speak of "the Donegal Irish language". Precision would require one to speak of the Donegal dialect of the Irish language, while the shorthand reference to Donegal Irish is also acceptable since it does not presume to credit Donegal with having a language all of its own. Since Nelson McCausland himself cites the fact that Ulster-Scots has been described as a "variant" of the Scots language, that "variant" is surely a dialect rather than a language in its own right distinct from Scots.
None of these observations seeks to detract from the cultural contribution of Ulster-Scots, a terminology which I accept when used without the appendage of "language" to suggest provincial linguistic uniqueness. I have also observed that the most significant public figure in Northern Ireland to have highlighted the Scots heritage of his own childhood, has written of it no less lovingly while referring to the Ulster variant as a dialect. He recalls with great warmth how he and the neighbouring children spoke Scots or Lallans when at play in their Co Antrim schoolyard, before being required to conform to English as soon as they crossed the classroom threshold. He also brings to life an uncle reciting verse after verse of the world-renowned Scots poet Rabbie Burns and points out that neither he himself nor any other listener needed recourse to a dictionary, as they understood every word of the Scots that they themselves spoke.
I am referring to the recently-published memoirs of the retired Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Cahal Daly, who goes on to lament the loss of such a rich cultural diversity in the succeeding Co Antrim generations. Indeed, if the Ulster-Scots Heritage Council wishes to dispel suspicions that it is operating to some narrow political or confessional agenda, it should cross the sectarian divide and invite Cardinal Daly to speak on some mutually convenient occasion on Ulster-Scots as a common heritage of both Protestants and Catholics in Co Antrim. Such an invitation would be a positive contribution to improving community relations.
Finally, since Nelson McCausland also refers to the Ulster-Scots poet James Orr, I have found that the best way to recall the eye-witness account of 1798 by that one-time United Irishman is to sing the poem Donegore Hill. But what tune to use? Appropriately enough, the same tune used by Rabbie Burns for A Man's A Man for A' That. - Yours, etc., Manus O'Riordan,
Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11.