While researching for the novel, I asked Twitter users to share their experiences of the Scots language and corporal punishment, and the answers I got were shocking. Entire generations were assaulted for speaking a legitimate language.
One user told me that in 1960s Glasgow, they not only got the belt for speaking Scots but they were even told to wash their mouth out with soap. At the age of eight. This, unfortunately, resulted in a very real internalised bias for many. The logic was that if they had the Scots language drummed out of them, surely it’s only right for future generations to suffer a similar fate.
Emma Grae