Insular Scots
Insular Scots
Orkney and
Shetland were colonised from
Norway under Danish control in the ninth century. The
colonists spoke a Scandinavian language which came to
be known as Norn. The Islands were governed under proxy
between 1321 and 1468 by the Scottish Earls of Angus,
Strathearn and St. Clair. In 1468 the Islands were offered
as a dowry security for the marriage of the Danish princess
Margaret to James III. The dowry was never paid and the
Islands became part of Scotland. Eventually through Scots
government and settlement the Islands became Scots speaking
although the dialect is heavily influenced by Norn. Not
only in vocabulary but also in verb construction.
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