‘An Eye for an Aye’: linguistic and political backlash and conformity in eighteenth-century Scots

Abstract

This study examines the effect of political change on the use of written Scots during the eighteenth century. In particular, it compares a cross-section of texts from literate Scottish society, with works from certain politically-active authors, who identified strongly as pro- or anti-Union following the creation of the British state in 1707. The proportion of Scots to English lexemes in their writing is explored using conditional inference trees and random forests, in a small, purpose-built corpus. Use of Scots is shown to differ between the two groups, with specific extralinguistic factors encouraging or suppressing the presence of written Scots. Frequency of Scots is also found to be influenced by the political ideology of the politicised authors. These results are linked to the Scottish political scene during the eighteenth century, as well as general processes of change over time.