The Ulster-Scots Academy

The Ulster-Scots Academy site provides public access to the collections of its sister organisation, the Ulster-Scots Language Society, and to the research and development programmes built upon them by the Academy since the early 1990s. To learn more about the Academy’s history and objectives please see the about page.

Huddleston Manuscript

Manuscript page from an untitled and unpublished song by Robert Huddleston, Bard of Moneyrea (1814-1887). Huddleston wrote in pure Ulster-Scots, Standard English and in a combination of both. Much of his voluminous work is as yet untranscribed, but selections from his published writing will feature on the Ulster-Scots Academy in due course.

“From its beginning the Ulster-Scots Academy has been guided by principled goals. Among these are the following:

  1. To elevate the linguistic study of Ulster-Scots to that of a living European language in its own right, and to accomplish this by undertaking documentation, research and publication programmes of the highest academic standard; and by serving as a bridge between researchers, including academic specialists, and the native-speaking community.
  2. To encourage the use of Ulster-Scots and the confidence of its speakers and writers. To meet this goal the needs and practices of traditional Ulster-Scots native speakers are taken as the guide wherever possible.
  3. To recover the Ulster-Scots literary tradition through its collection and study, and to provide public access to it in electronic and print forms.
  4. To ensure that Academy projects support one another wherever possible, and are also beneficial to native speakers.”

… excerpt from Professor Michael Montgomery’s An Academy established and the task begun (2003).

Distraught pupil

“No need to cry — some day your beloved Ulster-Scots tongue will be properly recognized and encouraged in school.”

NOTICE

The Ulster-Scots Academy has been an integral part of the Ulster-Scots Language Society since 1993. The name "Ulster-Scots Academy" is registered to the USLS with the Intellectual Property Office.

Ulster Scots Academy

LATEST

A new edition of Michael Montgomery’s From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English recounts the lasting impact that at least 150,000 settlers from Ulster in the 18th century made on the development of the English language of the United States. This new edition published by the Ulster-Scots Language Society documents over 500 ‘shared’ vocabulary items which are authenticated by quotations from both sides of the Atlantic. A searchable online version of this dictionary is now also available here.

FORTHCOMING

The Ulster-Scots Academy is currently working on the digitisation of Dr Philip Robinson's seminal Ulster-Scots Grammar and the English/Ulster-Scots part (with circa 10,000 entries) of a two-way historical dictionary of Ulster-Scots. These projects are planned to be completed and available on the site in 2016.

SUPPORT US

DONATE via PAYPAL

This site is being developed on a purely voluntary basis by the Ulster-Scots Language Society at no cost to the taxpayer. USLS volunteers have been involved in preserving and promoting Ulster-Scots for more than 20 years. All donations, however small, will be most gratefully received and contribute towards the expansion of the project. Thank you!

This site is being developed by the Ulster-Scots Language Society (Charity No. XN89678) without external financial assistance. USLS volunteers have been involved in preserving and promoting Ulster-Scots for more than 20 years. All donations, however small, will be most gratefully received and contribute towards the expansion of the project. Thank you!

(Friends of the Ulster-Scots Academy group)