Outlaw King: What Language Did Robert the Bruce Speak?

[@calamusgladiofortior2814]

10:25 "Soooo... how did he propose?" "Oh, I locked him in a tower. On the fifth day without food or water he got down on his knees and asked for my hand. Well... I think that's what he asked for, he was starting to hallucinate." "So romantic."

[@wheresmyeyebrow1608]

There’s actually a group of linguists trying to recreate Norn again by creating a modernised version of it called Nynorn (New Norn)

[@mikeoxsmal8022]

Wheresmyeyebrow the perfect likes 69

[@lachlanmartin5573]

I'd learn nynorn

[@zoetropo1]

Wheresmyeyebrow: is that like Nynorsk?

[@levitateme]

Im a history lover and I just have to say...NERRRRRDS!!

[@levitateme]

Just kidding. I'm quite interested actually

[@ecurewitz]

Robert the Bruce was clearly fluent in Mandarin, Nahuatl, Sanskrit and Klingon

[@alistairthompson8311]

Some say he was also quite fond of Esperanto, but he only learnt enough to read a menu & order in a restaurant.

[@NikkiMKarLen]

He had a working knowledge of High Valyrian.

[@oyuncu320]

A true intellectual

[@LordDragon1965]

He apparently learned High Gallifreyan from a Master. And Dwarfish from Durin's Folk.

[@robinsinpost]

No. That's totally rediculous. He wasnt fluent in Nahuati.

[@michaelball93]

Mary Queen of Scots often gets depicted with a Scottish accent even though she left Scotland as a baby, grew up in the French court and didn't go back to Scotland until she was eighteen.

[@Dunsapie]

Actually she was 5 when she went to France. Her first language was Scots and when she went to France she was accompanied by a retinue of Scots who spoke to her in Scots, so when she returned to Scotland she would most certainly speak Scots with a Scots accent.

[@jk28416]

@@Dunsapie exactly, I don't think she went to the local comprehensive...

[@andwhat]

A Norn vid would be very interesting!

[@jamesfry8983]

i agree

[@seamasquigley298]

Aye norn iron

[@Catubrannos]

Not really as next to nothing is known of the language. There is no known writing in the language and knowledge is limited to some place names and personal names and some loan words in Scots, much like the lack of knowledge we have for Pictish.

[@palepilgrim1174]

@@Catubrannos It's fairly safe to assume it was likely quite close to Icelandic and particularly Faroese. Faroese is probably the closest living survivor of what Norn would have been like.

[@maxharrop9643]

What the hell is Norn

[@oiseaudubonheur]

Richard the Lionheart spent merely 10 years in England during his whole life, he is reported to have claimed he hated the place. He spent most of his life in his dominions in France, which included parts of Occitania, and of course he used the Occitan ports of the Mediterranean when crusading

[@Wonderkid44]

Can’t blame him, how amazing would it be if there was a british holding in occitania, something like Gibraltar, wonder what that woule have been like

[@irenejohnston6802]

King Richard 1 reigned from 1189-1199. A warrior king. More interested in his continental possessions and crusades. His English possession was like the cash cow to support his endeavours. Spent only about 6 months overall in England I believe.

[@Michael_De_Santa-Unofficial]

@@irenejohnston6802 You are correct. He only spent 6 months in England throughout his entire life, and spoke little to no English. Funny, he's one of the most memorable English kings yet he wasn't one of the best.

[@sethguest781]

Killed by a 10 year old kid with a crossbow, he told his men not to execute the boy for what he did but they ignored it, they were just a**holes.

[@saftsuse866]

I would love a Norn video, there's really not much information out there on the Norn language(s), so I'd absolutely love it!! Thanks.

[@toben83]

LOVE this kind of stuff! Thank you for making it.

[@tamasmarcuis4455]

I learned Scots during the seven years I worked in Scotland. Among the languages I speak is German and to a lesser fluency Dutch. I also have a little knowledge of Danish. Previously I worked as a technical adviser to Lithuanian diplomats in trade negotiations in Eastern Europe and during the EU accession of Lithuania. So I have a lot of experience with related languages. Scots clearly is a lot closer to Dutch and Danish than English presently is. My feeling, with some research, is that Southern English had diverged well beyond mutual intelligibility with Scots. Northumbrian English had already diverged away from the Saxon language even before the Normans. So the linguistic sub grade that Middle English lay on was different leading to a significantly different spoken version. In Scotland it would have been even further since the " Inglis " was laid on Gaelic and Cymric speakers. Since these were agricultural societies, farming and topographical terminology are far more important. Scots uses much more Gaelic origin terms and constructions. Such as in Edinburgh, Edin refering to the rock, is common to Gaelic, Cymric and Scots. The Burgh or "brugh" "broch" replacing the "dun". Burn for stream you find less in England where it is "bourne". With Scots saying "BiRRn" and English saying "Borne" or "beck" being an example of common Scots/English terms. Water features again have " wattir " for river, "linne" for pool or pond, " loch " for lake, "strath" for river side or vale, "brae""braigh" for hill, "benn""bin" for larger hills, "craig" "seat" "tom" "drum" "drumlinn" "law" "gow" "haugh" "sheugh" "howe" "gait/gate" "yett" "port". These are just a small example before you even get to the Dutch and Scandinavian words never present in English. French words that don't appear in English and Old English words that had disappeared.

[@pathfinderfergusfilms6630]

Excellent Linguistical observations my friend. Im no expert but your comment struck a chord with my own thoughts and research as well as a natural gut feeling. The Norse/Danish influence set the course of what we know as Scots today i feel. Coloured later with the Flemish. Many place names in the east of Scotland, Lothian where i was born and brought up still bear their brythonic/ cymric root, later norse with Gaelic mix. I often through my job converse with dutch and Scandinavian people and they are trilled to hear me describe landscape and words in Scots they can understand. Yet i use Gaelic also in the mix. I have no doubt that some of the words i remember and used to use as a boy may even still have their brythonic roots. An example is the area yester East Lothian. Its root is the old (ystrad) there are so many more. That would indicate that the core of the population were and always have been even to this day brythonic/Cymric in root despite who rulled the land. Anyway just my thoughts.

[@Tipi_Dan]

"The Barren Rocks Of Aden"--- a great tune for warpipe. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWq0aJWFaJl3m68&frags=pl%2Cwn This song references the British administration of the port in Yemen, which commended in1837. I suspect the Black Watch were stationed there. In Arabic it would be pronounced closer to "Ah-dain". In the title of the song it is pronounced as "Ei-din". Coincidental surely, but the scots stationed there certainly noticed, and played upon, the coincidence. It is a barren, rocky place.

[@monkeymox2544]

Except that despite being born and raised in England, I can understand Scots, but not Dutch or Danish, so clearly the mutual intelligibility between Scots and Standard British English is very high. There are dialectical differences in some words, which you point out, but you'll find that all over Britain. Just within England, for example, you'll find bread rolls referred to as baps, buns, cobs, and barms. Scots English uses the same structure and most of the same words as Standard British English, which is why most people don't consider Scots to be a distinct language. Even 64% of Scots don't think its a language. By the way the suggestion that Scots isn't a language upsets some people, because in their mind the question is bound up with politics and identity. I really don't meant to offend, but I just don't see what could possibly grant it status as a distinct language from English, when I can understand it 99% of the time as an English speaking person. If it quacks like a duck, its a duck. Even if it quacks in a different accent, and uses a few different words (to overextend a metaphor).

[@pathfinderfergusfilms6630]

One thing i forget to add is the king James bible which in its self tought us all the english of the court! In moden times since the 19th century scots was heavily discourage and much of what even remaind of scots from the 17th century after the king James had aready gone. What we know of scots today is heavily influenced from the 17th century onwards. Just my thoughts.

[@pathfinderfergusfilms6630]

@@ole7146 excellent..

[@rogerhesketh5555]

Robert de Bruce was very much an Anglo Norman Lord. He held lands either side of the border and was a member of the court of Edward the first. He fought with Edward during the Welsh campaign. He fled from Edward's court in 1306. I do not know what the Bruce did to upset Edward, but Edward let it slip during a convivial evening with his son in law Ralph Monthermer that he intended to arrest Bruce the following morning. Monthermer sent Bruce a set of spurs and I think 12 pennies to warn him. Bruce fled. He was on the run from Edward when he murdered John Comyn a few weeks later. Bruce's usurpation of the throne of Scotland had little to do with patriotism and everything to do with self preservation. There was nowhere to hide from the wrath of Edward except at the head of a patriotic army whipped up to protect him. Comyn was an obstacle to him seizing the throne, hence his cold blooded murder. The point of all this is Bruce's linguistic skills were very advanced. He had the Gaelic, he spoke Scots, English and Norman French. He I am sure had no problems speaking Welsh given the time he spent there. His second wife Elizabeth was Irish the daughter of Richard de Burgh the 2nd Earl of Ulster. A very advantageous marriage arranged for Bruce by Edward the 1st with his old friend de Burgh.

[@ejd53]

Roger Hesketh His grandfather fought for Edward and his father Henry III against Simon de Montfort.

[@europeanbourgeois8223]

There was no such thing as an "Anglo-Norman" lord at this stage in English history, that concept went out of fashion towards the back end of Henry II's reign...during the reign of Richard I, King John I and Henry III all the nobles simply called themselves English....especially after the Magna Carta, there was such a surge in English patriotism that Henry III named two of his sons after old Anglo-Saxon saints.

[@dnmurphy48]

Elizabeth de Burgh was Norman Irish (or Anglo Irish), not Irish. The De Burgh's were an old Norman family

[@dnmurphy48]

@@Nexus1356 It's been reported for many years. I first came across it in the Nigel Tranter novels about Robert Bruce. The origin of the story seems to be the chronicler Fordun in the late 14th century, but the story is not believed by all historians.

[@dnmurphy48]

@@europeanbourgeois8223 Not sure how true all that is. nationalism as we know it did not really exist and loyalty was to the king not the nation. The nobility `nd monarch still spoke primarily French.

[@gre3nishsinx0Rgold4]

Of course hilbert would put a Dutch thing over in the video.. and that makes it even more awesome.

[@No1YewKnow]

Music is too loud

[@Darkxanderpresents]

2:56 Ping

[@marsoz_]

had me confused for a hot minute

[@0MVR_0]

Opened Discord because of that.

[@kubli365]

These content creators really need to turn of Discord while they record.

[@pekkamakela2566]

One does not end people rightly with an axe! One needs a pommel for that.

[@olakosaurus2233]

The legendary pommelaxe! Who knew he had such a great weapon?

[@jamesmunro8672]

I see you are a man of culture

[@slappy8941]

What if you had an axe made of pommels?

[@trojanette8345]

Great video. Very interesting. Difficult to hear in many places. Volume was down much too low. Outside of that I actually like learning about the history of different languages. Keep producing these types of videos.

[@redman8903]

Top quality as always. Great video.

[@zoetropo1]

Surprised your list of post-Conquest English nobility who went to Scotland didn’t include the Stewarts (fitz Alans).

[@jessicastewart1853]

Stewart line came from Brittany France. King David brought the knights to Scotland and the brothers were set up with prestigious positions. One brother was sheriff of Shropshire in England and of course one line was the Steward of Scotland. Stewart name began with the Steward title and eventually married into the Bruce family and was then the royal family line.

[@zoetropo1]

Jessica Stewart: the ancestors of the Stewarts were hereditary stewards of the Archbishop of Dol, so I imagine they were chosen by the Scottish king for their expertise. David I’s dynasty claimed descent from the Daírine tribe of Ireland. That’s my father’s tribe. :)

[@stuartthompson8056]

@@zoetropo1 Didn't know that. Very interesting.

[@mikem9001]

@@zoetropo1 Interesting. David I's mother was English. The ancestry of his father's house of course came from many sources (as does everyone's) including Brythonic and Pictish, but the Irish roots are usually said to be from the Uí Néill, rather than the Dáirine. Mind you, probably most people in Ireland and many elsewhere have both Uí Néill and Dáirine in their ancestry at some point!

[@japhfo]

A small point perhaps but your map 13:13 appears to have situated Annandale in the vicinity of the town of Peebles, which, obviously, is in Peeblesdale*; Annan being a town on the Solway coast, some sixty miles to the southwest as the eagle flies (unladen). (* or not)

[@geennaam555]

We're not criminals, we're outlaws! :)

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

We're men! We're men in tights! And we're always looking for somebody to fight!

[@markoforeskin3597]

2:59 Isn't FitzPatrick just an anglicised version of Mac Giolla Phádraig ? I thought they were native Irish who just changed their surname

[@mikem9001]

Patrick itself is a latin name, meaning noble or patrician. It became very popular in Ireland owing to the evangelizing work done there by the northern English missionary, St Patrick. Fitzpatrick is an interesting case, as it appears to be the only surname in Ireland beginning with "Fitz" which may not have a Norman origin, since as you correctly point out, Mac Giolla Padraig predates it. Interestingly, in modern Scottish Gaelic, Mac Giolla would mean "Son of a Bitch"!

[@kkrampus]

Hey, I know I've asked this before but can you lower the levels of the music? The music shouldn't be at the same level at your voice and it makes it very difficult to listen to for people with hearing issues like me (think dyslexia but with sound, I can't concentrate on two sound sources at once). I don't know how much you need to turn it down by but could you try 3 or 6db lower and see what happens

[@stuartthompson8056]

Yeah I fully agree.

[@Beruthiel45]

I also agree. The music is killing me.

[@jkr9594]

No one can here anything with that level of music. Fully agree.

[@westlink-west]

agree

[@dougyohooglefrogtownrovers9017]

What rubbish, moan, nothing wrong with it at all.

[@MTG776]

I always learn something when I watch your videos... Great job...

[@zoetropo1]

Alan Rufus (1040-1093) must have spoken Breton (from his mother Orguen and his nurse Orwen) and Old French (Gallo from Eastern Brittany as well as Norman French from Rouen), but he (uniquely among the post-Conquest barons) surrounded himself with English natives as lieutenants so he probably picked up one or more Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Danish dialects.

[@sanguinesoulful]

My 17 (I think it was 17...could've been even more - I've forgotten) times Great-Grandfather was Robert's lesser known (but very interesting, none the less) baby brother, Edward (so, Bob's my uncle, I guess?? :p). I've always LOVED the story of Marjorie, Countess-of-Carrick and how she met and married Robert. According to legend (as I've heard it), Robert was not her first husband, her first having been killed while on Crusade, along with Robert. Robert came to let Marjorie know that her first husband had died. That's when she decided to change her newly single state by locking the handsome Robert in the tower until he "decided" to propose. :p "Granny, how do you get a boy to like you?" "Oh, just lock him up in a tower for a bit, deary. He'll come round eventually." Sound advise. u.u

[@mikem9001]

The story may or may not be true, but it is a very gaelic one, i.e. how a Gaelic princess would be expected to behave in the old annals. Women like Medb of Connacht were not submissive to men!

[@molecatcher3383]

Norn was also spoken in the Hebrides and it is thought to have survived there (perhaps as a second language) until the sixteenth century before it was replaced by Gaelic. Even today the Gaelic spoken in Lewis is very different from the Gaelic spoken in the rest of Scotland because of the Norn influence.

[@ChristophersMum]

Paul Cormack Most of the place names on Lewis are in Norse........... I was born in a Stead that belonged to a Norseman called Toll Tolastadh bho Dheas

[@thomasmoore5949]

Absolutely not correct. Some ruled out an end to Norse Language in the Western isles. The Gall-Gaidheil spoke Gaelic only. Everything after the 1100s was in Gaelic. No Norse. The place names date from earlier.

[@Raibeart1338]

@@thomasmoore5949 How do you know that?

[@mikem9001]

@@thomasmoore5949 That seems unlikely. Norway did not cede its claim on the Hebrides until 1266. There were still plenty of norse people travelling to Scotland even after that. Yes, those who stayed gradually assimilated to speaking Gaelic, but the idea that Norse had died out by the 1100s is not sustainable.

[@andrewtully3622]

Spectacular video, great job Hilbert.

[@Sourdo1]

Your voice is soft and doesn't cut through music that is mixed too loud by comparison. Your narration is more important than setting the scene with historic music that takes the focus away from the information being imparted.

[@NephRainbows]

I love how you highlight Dutch presence EVERY TIME 💛

[@swepontus]

Oh Hillbert, ofcourse we want to know about the norn language! Keep up the Good work and cheers from Sweden! And could i make Another wish? A video about the Vendel times in Sweden and how far north the their culture spread northwards in scandinavia and retracted troughout the Times?

[@davidpaterson2309]

I find the cross-fertilisation of language and culture in early medieval Scotland very interesting and I think it helps to understand the shifts power as the various groups vied for influence and eventually merged though settlement, conquest and cultural change. It might be very useful to have a graphic map of Scotland showing (at least approximating) how the languages and cultures evolved over time. Just a couple of points: 1. Carrick and Annandale are closer together than you show. Annandale is on the eastern edge of Galloway, It’s seems quite possible that Bruce’s parents’ marriage was a dynastic combination of land and power. 2. Galloway was Gaelic speaking, but they were an offshoot of the “foreign Gaels”, the Norse-Gaels who ruled a shifting area surrounding the Irish Sea and inner Hebrides. 3. Re Wallace mother tongue. I have seen the speculation that it was Strathclyde Brythonic which would make sense given where he came from and that his name has the same root as “Welsh” (meaning non English speaker or foreigner). I have also seen, but can’t now find the source, a reference which says that he was known to Gaelic speaking allies as “William the Briton” which fir them would have meant a speaker of a Brythonic language. Quite a coincidence if true.

[@McShave]

I'd love to watch a video on Norn. Coming from the Northern Isles I know it's a fascinating language similar to Icelandic. It's a dead language now, but in the far north the local dialects are still influenced by it. Going right to the top on the Isle of Whalsay (Shetland) english pronunciation sounds like a foreign language.

[@inregionecaecorum]

I love the fact that William Wallace probably spoke what we could Welsh today and Robert the Bruce spoke French. I have Scottish ancestry on my grandmothers side, although she was actually born in England she still had a Scots accent. Me I speak Shakespeare's English vowel shifts be damned,

[@DidierDidier-kc4nm]

i used to hear william wallace' ancestors came from Wales i dont know if its true !!?

[@palepilgrim1174]

@@DidierDidier-kc4nm It's not, everything I've read suggests he spoke Norman French as his native tongue and likely English. I've seen nothing to suggest he was fluent in Welsh and in fact everything I've read suggests Welsh was extinct in Scotland by this time.

[@DidierDidier-kc4nm]

Pale pilgrim i dont know if hé was able toi speak Welsh i just read his Roots could bé Welsh but apparently hé was quite clever with languages

[@palepilgrim1174]

@@DidierDidier-kc4nm Well, despite the name, there's nothing to suggest that either. Seems more than likely his ancestors were Norman too. Wallace comes from a fairly generic Germanic word for foreigner (or foreign language speaker) and can be found all over Europe wherever Germanic peoples went (for example Wallachia, or Welsh). But it is POSSIBLE, for sure.

[@lukey.s9803]

@@palepilgrim1174 normans would be called "Wallace" which means welsh? no chance. his dads family came from Brittany hundreds of years before he was born and his mum from Scotland.

[@TheXTBoi]

I am so greatful for this video. It was a question I asked myself while watching the movie. It was a class movie. Go raibh míle maith agat!

[@christopherellis2663]

Lachlann means Norge/Noreg... Flemish weavers also settled in SE Ireland, where Yola was spake, a close relative of Pirate. English was much influenced by Òccitan, whence came the Cockney folk. (Aquitaine ) Danes and Scots have a very similar way of speaking, even down to the Tyneside

[@redwaldcuthberting7195]

Yola is regarded as an Anglic tongue an offshoot of Middle English brought by English settlers under Norman lords.

[@stuartjackson8091]

Annandale was still a predominantly Gaelic speaking area at the time of the first wars of independence, though by the end of the 14th early 15th century it was becoming increasingly anglicized.

[@mikem9001]

It may have been Cumbric speaking, as much as Gaelic speaking. The problem is that the evidence comes almost entirely from place names and many of these could be either Gaelic or Cumbric. For example, Cummertrees. In any case, there are few Gaelic/Cumbric place-names east of the River Annan.

[@kevinmalley619]

I think he would have definitely spoke Gaelic aswell as French. I like to imagine that his mother raised him on old Celtic myths and legends which maybe drove this future idea of him and brother ruling Scotland and Ireland in a Celtic alliance. This ultimately failed but maybe his mothers upbringing made him slightly different from the other Norman nobles at the time having this strong Gaelic identity.

[@Insolation1]

There is no evidence that he he spoke Gaelic, furthermore he was lowlander Norman Lord. He held lands either side of the border and was a member of the court of Edward the first. He fought with Edward during the Welsh campaign. He fled from Edward's court in 1306; Wallace would have spoken Norman French at court, and with other noblemen. With commoners, he would have spoken a form of English/Scots/Welsh and Gaelic

[@Raibeart1338]

Many of the Normans married into the old Gaelic-speaking aristocracy of Scotland; and their descendants -- Cummings, Menzies, Frasers, Sinclairs, etc. -- became clan chiefs.

[@mikem9001]

@@Insolation1 "There is no evidence that he he spoke Gaelic" Actually there is quite a lot of evidence that he did. The fact that he called a bilingual parliament for one. The King had to actively engage with it. Then there is the fact that he fled into the Gaelic speaking areas, with no record of anyone translating for him. His early education was in the hands of his mother, whose first language was Gaelic. There is simply no reason to conclude that he did not speak Gaelic.

[@Insolation1]

@@mikem9001 If he spoke Gaelic it wouldn't be as a first language, lowlanders that had to travel or trade with highlanders would have to be able to speak a little of it. But the central belt and the lowlands had a different culture to those above the highland line. The highlands due the geology and the environment never had a large population at anytime, 90% of the land is above 400 feet and poor soil. Scotland as whole is 80% above 400 feet, that combined with it's latitude is why cannot sustain a large population.

[@mikem9001]

@@Insolation1 You appear to be basing your comments on Scotland in the 18th or 19th century. The highland line wasn't as relevant in the 14th century because there wasn't nearly as much population *below* it as there was later (nor in the north of England for that matter). Bruce spoke Gaelic because it was his mother's first language, and she educated him. Bruce was able to recruit 3,000 heavily armed infantry from the Hebrides in the space of a few months, in winter, and get further reinforcements from that area later. Those numbers may not have mattered in 1845, but they were more than enough to give him a decisive advantage in 1307

[@deereeid1290]

I grew up in a small Scottish Village speaking like this, I am going to type out my dialect for you so you can get a feeling what it sounds like: Hwan ah wis ai wee wean, ah leevit in ae wee toon wi aw ma faimilie, ma maw n ma da ir awsae fae ma wee toon, in fech ma hail faimlie ir fae 'ere. Ah hud a guid hoose that alood mae tae gawk et aw th' stairs in th' lift es ma hoose wis in th' mids ae nae whaur. Ah luvit leevin' in the kintrae. Ah widnae gat a headche, ah wid hae ae gowpin' sair heid; ah widnae gat a wee prick fae th' nettles, ah wid gat ae jeg fae th' wee netties; ah widnae "spin around til I felt sick", ah wid "birl roon til ah cuid boak"; ah widnae cry, ah wid greet; ah widnae gat scared, ah'm feart and ah wid flegit; ah ne'er gat dirt, ah hud glaur aw ower mae. Ah kin see how fowk 'hink scots is ae sepairat lenguage es maist fowk ootwi ma family an' regional scotland cannae un'nerstain mae. Tae mae ah ayeweys 'hink it wis ai deealect bit 'ere we ir, onyhwoo! Note: I actually pronounce my "Wh" as "Hw".

[@ThatGeordieGAMER]

Richard the lion heart never lived in the south of France? He was born in Oxford aye but pretty sure he spent a good chunk of life in Aquitaine

[@DidierDidier-kc4nm]

exactely !!!!!he spent his life in aquitaine and and in his youth, got land in Poitou (located in aquitaine) his language was langue d oc that come from his mother side, alienor of aquitaine !!!! and he was killed over there !!majority of anglos think he was norman!!!and and he wasn tl (although he had very little norman roots) his father came from anjou ( you cannot be more french !!) and his mother come from aquitania !!btw i think Hilbert mentioned Robert

[@lyle977]

!!!!!!!!

[@mikem9001]

@@DidierDidier-kc4nm "you cannot be more french !!" Well, Anjou is no more or less "French" than Normandy or Aquitaine. Anjou gave only nominal fealty to the French crown at that time, and the Angevin rulers had been on a trajectory towards independence. When Richard's father inherited the English throne, Anjou was effectively independent of France.

[@DidierDidier-kc4nm]

@@mikem9001 No mate dont be fussy i mean culturally and ethnologically you cannot be more french contrary to Bretanny ,Alsace, Normandy or pays basque where they have a strong identity and are ''ethnically'' different ! anjjou and touraine even nowaday is considered the land where the French language is the purest ;lot of Anglos saxons think plantagenet were normands what is absolutly wrong .

[@mikem9001]

@@DidierDidier-kc4nm Don't be fussy. They might consider that today in France, but that is re-shaping perceptions after the event. The Angevins in the 12th-14th century didn't consider themselves "French" but independent rulers of an empire comprising what is now southern France as well as Normandy and England. Their first language was not the dialects that eventually became modern French.

[@moragmckay3779]

Is there anything you could do to quieten the inserts? I could barely hear the nteresting information when I had the volume set low enough for these.

[@3ipmoletroll]

Could you normalize your volume or put a volume warning for when you have bits significantly louder, please?

[@tantraman93]

Really enjoyed the music on this one Hilbert.

[@JOSHDL13]

Please do a video on Owain Glyndwr

[@natea6812]

Was the Dutch duke of alba from the alba mentioned in the video?

[@martinmeertens7834]

No, he was the duke of Alba in Spain and a member of the Álvarez de Toledo family.

[@TheJohnblyth]

You make a good case for a polylingual Robert, and from what you’ve presented it’s clear that French and Gaelic were what he was closest to, likely in that order. Your description perhaps minimizes the Norse influence on the Scots of the East Coast. Recently studying Norwegian I was surprised at how many words I recognized from the mixture of Scots and Scottish English spoken by my father when I was growing up in West Fife (Fibh!) in the 1960s, and my mother from Morayshire spoke a form of Doric that had still other Norse influences. Even at that time dialects varied from town to countryside, and you could hear different speech from people only a few miles away: the language of Burns for instance has a different set of influences from the people of the east coast, so that it’s a bit unfortunate for Fifers and Aberdonians that the standard Scots that re-emerged in the mid 19th Century was from the southwest of the country. Burns used words you would likely never have heard in Dunfermline, Perth, Kirkcaldy or Dundee-or Arbroath for that matter. And other more recent language study-Irish-and some travelling in Wester Ross makes clear the strong influence not only of Norse on Gaelic, but on different dialects of Norse on different dialects of Gaelic. And it’s not absurd to suppose that the influence went the other way too, as many Scottish and Irish slaves were taken to Norway and to Iceland, but that’s shakier ground for me to stand on at the moment :) I’m from Dunfermline, where Bruce is buried, and where there were other Bruces alive when I lived there, so it’s not fanciful to suppose I’ve an identification with all of this. And to round off all of this anecdotal and opinionated stuff: I think there were and are political reasons why the linguistic influence of the Angles and Saxons is considered more fundamental than Danish and Norwegian varieties of Norse in the development of northern “Old English” and then Northumbrian/Scottish Middle English, and it’s likely related to William’s very focused conquest and the Harrying of the North effacing the prestige of one influence and set of dialects to the benefit of the others. He didn’t want any more Harolds spoiling his fun, nor that of his heirs.

[@mikem9001]

"it’s clear that French and Gaelic were what he was closest to, likely in that order." True, but likely also northern English (i.e. Scots) as well, since that is what the majority of his feudal subjects spoke, and what the majority of Scots spoke once he became King. He called a bilingual parliament in Gaelic and Scots, which is a pretty strong clue that he was fluent in both - the way Parliaments worked then, a King could not get use out of a parliament where he did not personally speak the language.

[@ericp9479]

My family came from The Orkney Isles. I’d love to hear about their language and culture.

[@jackcapener6310]

A ne'er wuid hae kent thit ma ain mither tongue o Scots wis spakken bi nane ither nor Rabbie the Bruce! Gey braw video :)

[@xelgringoloco2]

Jack Capener It wis ma first thocht fan he speared at the stairt

[@PeJota615]

This is a very fascinating period, if you do more videos on this I'd certainly be interested.

[@bubblesthemonkey6615]

Make a video on Norn.

[@JamesAce]

Was waiting for my Wilhelmus didn't have to wait to long .. thou never fail to deliver Hilbert!

[@izabelmeadow2757]

'Richard the Lionheart never really went to the south of france' he spent the majority of his youth ruling the Duchy of Aquitaine????

[@TsalagiAgvnage]

Interesting video. I do know a lot about the linguistic history of the area, I am American, of mixed heritage, and actually live in Holland and France, speaking all of the languages mentioned therein, except Scots, though I am well-versed in the history. I discussed it Scots, and all still-existing Celtic languages in my master's thesis, along with Gaulish and some varieties of French and continental Germanic languages such as the Frisian languages. The Dutch-Flemish influence on Scots is a great avenue to explore

[@Insolation1]

Well for someone who professes a master's thesis? you haven't clue about grammar or even to how arrange your thoughts coherently.

[@secolerice]

I would love a video on Scots and Doric. I think I caught in this video that there was Flemish and Dutch influences. I was thinking along those lines and would like to go more in depth on this. I have learned Scots and some Doric through novels and went online to hear it spoken. Knowing the history of the area more now, I am still trying to piece the language to it. This video did help but now I want to know more!

[@ThebelgiumgamerFTW]

I would love to see a video about the Norn language! I have tried to do some research myself, but had trouble finding information

[@celtcraicrefugee5533]

Thá an físeán so go maith grma - d'athair

[@ailinos]

Tá an físeán seo go maith, grma*

[@JohnnySins-tx9hi]

Si

[@celtcraicrefugee5533]

@@ailinos ní ceart san i nGaelainn na nDéise 😜

[@JohnnySins-tx9hi]

Hipidy dipity

[@frankstein7631]

Johnny Simpleton. .

[@martynhaggerty2294]

We studied burns poetry in school in the 60s. He sometimes reverted to standard English within the same poem. We needed footnotes to understand many old scots words. Have Lived in Australia most of my life so have no idea how much old scots survives ... very little I would guess. Half of Scotland is still owned by a few hundred families. Still feudal really. No wonder most of us leave at the first chance.

[@bskorupk]

For those who only looked at the thumbnail question of "What Language did Robert the Bruce Speak? French? Scots? Gaelic? English?" the answer is "Yes."

[@Khalkara]

2:56 Had me double-checking all my discord servers, damnit Hilbert

[@craigconner1466]

Good, well researched video. It's a shame that the multi-lingual, multi-cultural nature of medieval Scotland is not better known, not least of all by modern Scots.

[@palepilgrim1174]

Yep. It's also a shame Scotland negates its English heritage too. Since we all speak English natively today we would be considered ethnically English by the logic of the time regardless of our political or regional identities. So realistically our ethnolinguistic legacy lies with the Anglo-Saxons and their history as much as England's does. People seem to prioritize Gaels or Celts for some reason even though they would consider us foreign and alien and ENGLISH. Perhaps it's an uncomfortable lens to view our own history through due to modern prejudices.

[@palepilgrim1174]

Yep. It's also a shame Scotland negates its English heritage too. Since we all speak English natively today we would be considered ethnically English by the logic of the time regardless of our political or regional identities. So realistically our ethnolinguistic legacy lies with the Anglo-Saxons and their history as much as England's does. People seem to prioritize Gaels or Celts for some reason even though they would consider us foreign and alien and ENGLISH. Perhaps it's an uncomfortable lens to view our own history through due to modern prejudices.

[@mikem9001]

@@palepilgrim1174 Its not a matter of prioritizing, so much as acknowledging that Scotland today has multiple linguistic and cultural roots. [It would also be apt for the English to acknowledge that the same is true for them!] As King, Bruce summoned a bilingual parliament because he understood, paradoxically, that if Scotland was to be united then differences had to be acknowledged rather than swept under the carpet.

[@palepilgrim1174]

@@mikem9001 Well why not acknowledge Welsh? That was spoken in Scotland long before Gaelic was ever brought to its shores. In fact some of the oldest works of literature were written IN SCOTLAND, in the areas around Glasgow and Edinburgh which were historically parts of 'Yr Hen Ogledd' (the Old North). Why not acknowledge French? That was spoken in Scotland, it was arguably one of the most important languages spoken in the region and served as the mothertongue of your kings for centuries and was also the language of courts, law and diplomacy. Why not acknowledge Old Norse? That was spoken all throughout northern and western Scotland, in an area that today makes up a whopping 1/4 of the entire landmass of the region. In fact Old Norse is only believed to have died out in the Hebrides sometime around the 1500s, and in the Northern Isles it may well have survived until the 1800s or 1900s.

[@palepilgrim1174]

@@mikem9001 I don't think anyone in England is under the impression that other languages were not spoken at one point in their borders. In fact this is the case basically all over Europe, but in England as in Scotland and everywhere else people assimilate and are absorbed into other identities over time, their language then dies out slowly over generations as the more dominant one survives. But there's a difference between acknowledging it was once spoken along with many other tongues, and seeking to 'revive' it selectively over other languages (especially languages which we KNOW were spoken in the region long before Gaelic, such as Welsh) due to some misguided notion that it is an 'ancestral tongue' to the majority of the inhabitants of Scotland, which as we both know Gaelic absolutely is not. People in what we now call Scotland overwhelmingly do NOT descend from Gaels. They descend from Picts, Celtic Britons, Anglo-Saxons, Norsemen, Flemings and Normans. There is obviously some Gaelic descent there (otherwise the language would never have spread), but it's a fairly small percentage of the entire population.

[@nyctiphaes]

Bruce, having wounded Comyn with his dagger, rushed from the church and encountered his attendants outside. Bruce told them what had happened and said, "I must be off, for I doubt I have slain the Red Comyn,"[2] "Doubt?" Kirkpatrick of Closeburn answered, "I mak sikker," ("I'll make sure," or "I make sure") and rushing into the church, finishing Comyn.[2] [wikipedia]

[@silbannacusofoxyrhynchus6096]

Sounds like a good effort to cover up for the future king.

[@Raibeart1338]

History is written by the winners, so this story is told as if everybody was speaking Scots at the time. In fact, it could have been French or Gaelic.

[@mikem9001]

@@Raibeart1338 True, but it could just as easily have been Scots. Roger de Kirkpatrick was one of the justiciars of Scotland - he would have been fluent in Scots as well as Norman-French. Possibly Gaelic as well although its not entirely clear how far Gaelic was regularly spoken even in Dumfries and Galloway.

[@Raibeart1338]

@@mikem9001 If you look into it, you will find that Gaelic was the dominant language in Galloway and Dumfries at the time. The bulk of the population were Gallgaels of mixed Norse and Gaelic descent (including my McLean ancestors from Dumfries). The abundance of Gaelic place names is the area is evidence of this. The Norman nobility were all intermarried with the old Gaelic nobility, and many of them even took Gaelic forenames. The kings of Scotland were all Gaelic speakers until James V, so one would presume that their justiciars and other officers spoke it as well. English, or Scots, become more widely spoken in the south because of the ordinary soldiers and tradesmen brought in by the Normans lords from their estates in England. Latin was the language of administrative and it was not replaced by Scots until after Robert Bruce's time.

[@mikem9001]

@@Raibeart1338 I must disagree. Most of our evidence for language in this period comes from place-names, and most of the "Gaelic" names could also be of Cumbric origin. They give little evidence of what people actually spoke in Bruce's time. No, the Norman nobility were not all intermarried with the Gaelic nobility (who were no more "old" than anyone else). His father, Robert Bruce VI was unusual in this regard. Bruce''s Gaelic parentage gave him a significant advantage later on which many other Norman lords lacked, even if they had Gaelic nobility somewhere in their ancestry. "The kings of Scotland were all Gaelic speakers until James V" No, they were not. Robert Bruce may have been the only one. They were all Pictish or Cumbric speakers, then Norman-French speakers, and later Inglis speakers. Inglis (i.e. the language of the Angles) was spoken throughout south-eastern Scotland by the 6th Century AD, and it spread widely into central Scotland by the time of Robert the Bruce.

[@hopatease1]

He spoke English ,I know this cussss I saw hem speaking it in a movie .

[@Raibeart1338]

Must be true if you saw in a movie!

[@beachbum8602]

Thank you for this!! Would you also do a video on Nornr!?

[@antseanbheanbocht4993]

He may well have told the story of Dairmuid and the Earl Hilbert, after all he was a descendant of both men. Strongbow married Aiofe, Diarmuids daughter and they had two children I think, but after Strongbow died she had to leave Ireland for Britain taking the children with her and helps form part of the Bruce line.

[@guccideltaco]

Crimhthan Mor Strongbow makes a pretty decent bottled cider. 😏

[@mikem9001]

Aoife!

[@mrmoist9753]

Can you do a video about places of English settlement in Europe during the middle ages? I was reading some stuff about Norman England and I was reminded about the harrowing of the north and how many displaced Anglo-Saxons left northern England and settled somewhere in the Black sea where they were recruited into the Varangian Guard . This made me wonder where Anglo-Saxons/English settled, I know about places in Wales and Ireland too but not very well. Not sure if you've done a video about it already but it seems like a interesting topic considering you cover a lot of English history on your channel.

[@palepilgrim1174]

Tons came to Scotland, one (Margaret of Wessex) even married the king of Scotland, Malcolm III, and birthed a future king who would change the face of Scotland forever, David I of Scotland. Scotland of course already had an established powerful English minority in Lothian and the southeast since the 500s which had already begun to spread throughout the rest of the Lowlands. But you are right the Anglo-Saxons (or should we just call them English?) did serve in the Varangian Guard prolifically.

[@adymode]

The joke bits are funny but too LOUD

[@danielimmortuos666]

IKR I reached for the volume rocker desperately 😂😂😂 Damn you Hilbert

[@karlhans8304]

Being loud is part of the joke

[@B100inCP]

I disagree. WILHELMUS VAN NASSAUWE

[@adymode]

Yeh but when you do the quiet voice and THEN A MEGAPHONE joke at actual computer enabled megaphone DECIBELS, it aint so much funny as its PAINFUL. ₗᵢₛₜₑₙ 𝒸ₐᵣₑ𝒻ₗᵧ ᵢₜₛ ᵥₑᵣᵧ TADDAAA! TADDAAA! WAKEY HOOHAA! ᵦᵤₜ ₛᵣₛₗᵧ ₜₕₑ 𝓌ₐᵧ ᵢₜ 𝓌ₐₛ ᵢₙₜᵣₛₜᵢₙ𝓰 ₛ𝒸ₒₜᵢ ᵦᵣᵧₜₕₒₙ 𝒻ₐ𝒸ₜ ₚᵢ𝒸ₜᵤᵣₑ ₚₑₑₚₗₑ ᵣᵢₜₑ ᵣᵢₜₑ ... .... ₐₙ𝒹 ₜₕₑ ₐₙₒₜₕₑᵣ ₜₕᵢₙ𝓰 ₜₕₑ ᵢₙ𝒻ₗᵤₑₙ𝒸ₑ 𝒸ₒₘₑ 𝒻ᵣₒₘ WOOHOO! KARRAYZEEE!! BOOBOOLALLALAAAA!!! ₛₒ ᵢₜ 𝓌ₐₛ ₜₕₐ𝓌ₜ ₜₕₜ 𝒹ₑ ᵥᵢₛ𝒸ₒₙ 𝓌ₛ 𝒸ₒₘₚₜₑ𝒹 ᵦᵧ ₛₖᵤₗ𝒹ᵣₛ ₐₙ𝒹ₒₚₚₛ𝒹 ₙ ₛₜᵢₜᵤₗₑₛ... .. ₐₜₐₙᵧ ₜᵢₘₑ ᵢ 𝒸ₐₙ ᵦᵣₑₐₖ ᵧₒᵤᵣ ₑₐᵣₛₛᵤ𝒸ₕ ₐ ⱼₐₚₑ ... .. ok bye

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

I'd love to have had this video a month or so ago. I argued with a guy online that he'd have spoken exactly what you've outlined - I think I said, "French, though an old & probably (Northern) regional French, Latin, some Gaelic and some Scots." This was roundly pooh-poohed by this guy who assured me that it could only have been Gaelic....for reasons. Not that I was 100% correct, as I was quite certain that the French 'connection' 😉 was much stronger than you've outlined. Great video as always.

[@mikem9001]

True. He would have spoken Norman French to his equals on both sides of the border, Scots to his eastern mainland Scottish subjects and Gaelic to his western isles allies and western mainland subjects.

[@LYNCH8867]

Norn language please!

[@heroindog]

Hilbert, get an EQ on your background music and take out 1 or 2db between 300Hz and 600Hz, that should make your commentary a bit more clearer to hear.

[@EdinProfa]

Summarize for me a 16 minute video and just tell me which language it was?

[@calamusgladiofortior2814]

Probably French, as well as Middle English and Scots.

[@Artur_M.]

Definitely French (the form that the Normans spoke), probably Gaelic (it might even be his first language, due to his mother), and also probably the Scots, which would enable him to also understand the Middle English, because Scots was basically a dialect of it at that time.

[@Motofanable]

@@Artur_M. still is dialect of english

[@nugzarmikeladze]

French and Gaelic, and also very likely Scots/English. his father spoke French and mother Gaelic.

[@Simon-tc1mc]

Video doesn't start until 7:45

[@poundlandbandit6124]

Didn't Robert the Bruce Campaign in Ireland, surely he mustve been able to speak Irish to communicate?

[@benjamintalbot201]

wouldn't be impossible, still that's what translators are for

[@seamusogdonn-gaidhligarain2745]

Irish and Gaelic were largely mutually intelligible at the time.

[@phippen100]

Cáca Milis sa Seomra Spraoi I have basic Ulster Irish and I can understand my friend from the Western Isles in Scotland much easier than people from Cork speaking Irish. Gàidhlig and Gaeilge from north to south seems to be a great spectrum with over lap between neighbouring regions. :)

[@alexreid-wh9gq]

Killy. Yes he did. He took the Isle of Man then onto Ireland. He wanted a Celtic Federation formed between an independent Scotland & an independent Ireland against interference & subjugation form England. He left an Army in Ireland, under the command of his brother to help out. However, after a few years of campaigning they lost a battle to the Norman English & this put them on the back foot & their efforts failed.

[@dannyboy5517]

Iam an Irish speaker and can understand Scots Gaelic quite easily

[@Nabium]

Haven't used a laptop in years, but I still paused the video automatically so I could find a charger.

[@_robustus_]

So Chris Pine lacking a Scottish accent was somewhat ok

[@mikespearwood3914]

Well, an American accent was ok for Kevin Costner in Robin Hood, so why not?

[@_robustus_]

Mike Spearwood Other than Alan Rickman that flick was awful. Russel Crowe, now there’s a Robinhood.

[@alistairthompson8311]

What was wrong with his accent? He sounded not unlike a few middle class Scots I know & the real Bruce was one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland and a landowner in England before he became king, so it wouldn't make much sense if he sounded like a ned in the film...

[@alistairthompson8311]

@@_robustus_ Prince of Thieves was pretty much a fantasy film. Russel Crowe's contribution made more of an attempt at historical accuracy, but was still almost entirely fictional. Both enjoyable films IMO.

[@_robustus_]

Alistair Thompson That was my point. Not knowing the history, I wrongly assumed he was an ethnic scot rather than the product of a norman family that was imposed on Scotland. Relying on Mel Gibson I thought he was native resistance and this was the beginning of a process of “breeding out the scots”. Anywho it’s always nice gettin acquaintanced with me scottish cousins. Haggis and ale for all!

[@trisgilmour]

I think he spoke as many as needed

[@jackedwards8379]

Hey Hilbert, I think a Norn video would be awesome! Maybe even a video on the Norwegian settlers and vikings in the Hebrides and northern Scotland.

[@ezitisarm]

What about danish influence?

[@johngamba4823]

Great video!

[@jamesfletcher5906]

Top video mate, very good.

[@Nastyswimmer]

8:20 - Which Robert (the) Bruce are we talking of here? Robert de Brus, the first Bruce contender for the crown and grandfather of king Robert I (the Bruce) did indeed hold lands in both Scotland and England, but that made him a vassal of King Edward of England. To avoid his grandson being similarly shackled he passed on only his Scottish lands to his grandson Robert the Bruce.

[@mrmoth26]

Can you make a video on how to be a gigachad like you?

[@vladpaduroiu2072]

you should surely make a video on Norn, it s a language you don t usually find about easily. talking about that, would you be kind enough and bestow upon me some titles of books or links from where I can read about this period of England plus the anglo saxon religion invasion and development? thanks a lot

[@AlexanderCruz-py9bb]

Discord notification sound at 2:57 made me check for pings.

[@Dunsapie]

The background music makes it difficult to hear what is being said.

[@chrisinnes2128]

Carrick was one of the last parts of the lowlands of Scotland that was Gaelic speaking

[@DarthSanguine]

Kenneth Mac Alpin neither founded the Kingdom of Alba, nor was he alive in 900AD. It was his grandson Donald II that was recorded as the first King of Alba upon his death in 900AD. The Scottish regnal numbering just starts at the beginning of the Mac Alpin dynasty for some reason.

[@danielburton1585]

Could you do something on Owain Glyndwr please

[@16voyeur]

I'd like to learn more about Norn.

[@forexalised9053]

Woah, crazy. I'm from Alexandria, I could cycle to Dumbarton as a kid. Had no idea it had that much importance.

[@isaiahkerstetter3142]

Norn sounds neat. Does the name have anything to do with the three norns of Norse Mythology?

[@nickfinan6031]

Richard the Lionheart grew up in the south of France with his mother

[@russelldouglas8746]

Norn would be fascinating to hear you speak on

[@petergrossett6763]

Without watching, ALL FOUR!

[@jk28416]

Of course he spoke French and was introduced all over Europe as a tournament winner (jousting etc, a superstar of the time, with an amazing tournament record) and there is evidence that he agreed the battle times of Bannockburn with Edward 2nd in Latin, which indicates all his communication with Edward would be in Latin, so he and Edward where probably the last kings of Europe properly communicating in Latin.

[@Raibeart1338]

Robert and Edward would both have spoken French, but Latin was the language of record. So I expect they would spoken to each other in French, and it would have been written down in Latin. I believe that was common procedure at the time.

[@jk28416]

@@Raibeart1338 edward was incapable of speaking English or Gaelic, so I assume you are right

[@thomasbarca9297]

I feel he was a polyglot fluent in Anglo Norman, Gaelic, Middle English, Scots and Latin

[@modmaker7617]

Robert the Bruce should probably be called "Robert DeBruce".

[@Raibeart1338]

That is what he was called at the time.

[@litomontecinos7567]

Do Normas plzzzz! Great video btw

[@talknight2]

The second you said your battery was beginning to die, I got a low battery alert on my laptop. Coincidence? I think not!

[@MrSeerV]

This was fantastically interesting. Anything about the boarders 5th to 12th would be awesome

[@drmasroberts]

The music is too loud relative to the voice.

[@MrLedeberg]

as a flemish person i would love to see a video about the flemish in scotland

[@pyropatrick242]

Discord notifications in videos freak me the hell out lol. Good video :)