This is a list of good Scots writers and writing, compiled for school teachers who might never have been exposed to Scots writing, people who might be from other parts of the UK or the EU or merely from households where Scots wasn’t recognised.
It is important that children are exposed to a variety of Scots dialects and writers and can be led to make their own judgements about how similar the different dialects are to each other, which words they have in common and which words are distinct from particular regions.
I intend to add more books and better information at age ranges based on feedback from readers.
**Disclaimer - this is all the personal opinion of an Englishman outwith Scotland and outwith the education sector - others may disagree on the choice of books and age appropriateness - suggestions and corrections are welcome**
Wholly Scots
Books are listed here by dialect region. The Scots language can be broadly split into five Scottish dialects - Central, North East, Orkney, Shetland, Borders. Within each of these regions there can be many accents and finer grain dialects. Additionally newer writers based in the larger cities have developed a cohesive non-traditional orthography which is described here as “urban”.
Central Region
Anne Donavan - Buddha Da (2003)
Novel - Central (Glasgow)
Age 14+
Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting (1993)
Novel - Central (Edinburgh)
Age 14+
Matthew Fitt - But n Ben A-Go-Go (2001)
Novel - Central
Age 13+
Arguably the first Scots science-fiction novel
J K Annand - Bairn Rhymes (1998)
Childrens Poems - Central
Age 4+
Susi Briggs - Yum (2024)
Childrens - Central
Age 4+
Len Pennie - Poyums (2024)
Poetry - Central
Some poems here are in English and some are in Scots. There is a wide range of subject matter that might be of interest to older readers.
Thomas Clark - Animal Fairm (2023)
Translation - Central
Age 11+
Scots Language Award Winner
Emma Grae - The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly (2024)
Childrens - Central
Age 7 - 10
Susan Rennie - Kat an Doug on Planet Fankle (2002)
Childrens - Central
Age 7+
James Robertson - Katie’s Coo (2022)
Childrens - Central
Age 0 to 5
Susan Rennie - Animal ABC (2002)
Childrens - Central
Age 5+
Robert Burns - Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786)
Poetry - Ayrshire
Robert Louis Stevenson - Underwoods (1887)
Poetry - Lothian
The original book is divided into two sections, one of English poetry and one of Scots poetry.
Hugh MacDiarmid - Drunk Man Looks at a Thistle (1926)
Poem - Galloway
William Lorimer - The New Testament in Scots (1983)
Religious - Central (Dundee)
North East Region
Deborah Leslie - Doric : Alive an Kickin (2004)
Short stories - Aberdeenshire
Age 14+
Peter Buchan - Collected Poems and Short Stories (1998)
Poems and short stories - Aberdeenshire
Sheena Blackhall
Aberdeenshire
Gordon M Hay - The Doric New Testament (2012)
Religious - Aberdeenshire
Urban
Ely Percy - Duck Feet (2021)
Novel - Central (urban)
Age 14+
Ross Sayers - Daisy on the Outer Line (2020)
Novel - Central (urban)
Age 12+
Graeme Armstrong - The Young Team (2020)
Novel - Central (urban)
Age 14+
The Times top ten bestseller, Scots Book o the Year 2021, Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award & Betty Trask Award 2021
Emma Grae - The Tongue she Speaks (2022)
Novel - Central (urban)
Age 13+
Scots Language Award Winner
James Kelman - How Late It Was, How Late (1994)
Novel - Central (urban)
Booker Prize Winner
Chris McQueer - HWFG (2018)
Short stories - Central (urban)
Age 14+
Colin Burnett - A Working Class State of Mind (2021)
Novel - Central (urban)
Age 12+
Shetland
Christine De Luca - Grottie-Buckie and Tirli-Wirli (2021)
Childrens - Shetland
Age 4+
Orkney
Christina Costie - The collected Orkney dialect tales of C.M. Costie (1976)
Short stories - Orkney
Josephine Giles - Deep Wheel Orcadia (2021)
Sci-fi poetry - Orkney
Age 13+
English Narrative Scots Dialogue
These books are mostly written in standard English with people’s speech transcribed in Scots of various regional dialects
Alan Bissett - Boyracers (2001)
Novel - Central (Edinburgh)
Douglas Stuart - Shuggie Bain (2020)
Novel - Glasgow
Booker Prize Winner
Ethyl Smith - Changed Times (2016)
Novels - Central
Jessie Kesson - Another Time, Another Place (1983)
Novel - Aberdeenshire
J M Barrie - Auld Licht Idylls (1888)
Novels - Angus
Sir Walter Scott
Novels - Central (Lothian)
J J Bell - Wee MacGregor (1901)
Short stories - Central (Glasgow)
Comics
Bud Neill - Lobey Dosser (1949 to 1959)
Central (Glasgow)
The Broons (1936 to present)
During the ninety year span of this comic, the speech has varied between a Dundee dialect of Scots, a more pan-dialectical Scots and Standard English, or even a blend of the three, depending on the whims of the writer. In some respects this represents a more realist use of the language compared to speaking it in a monoglot manner.
Oor Wullie (1936 to present)
Matthew Fitt - Asterix and the Pechts (2013)
Central
Susan Rennie - The Adventures of Tintin - The Partan wi the Gowden Taes (2015)
Central
Notes
The 2011 census suggested that teachers and people in the education sector are less likely to be Scots speakers than the general population and also those who do speak Scots are less literate and able to write in Scots than the general population of Scots speakers. Additionally a significant proportion of school teachers aren’t from the area in which they teach, in Scotland many teachers might even be from England.
This makes it difficult to rely on the teacher’s own personal judgement of the Scots language when deciding what to teach, what words, idioms and dialect terms might be appropriate and what not.
Often when people ask online (Facebook, Twitter) for Scots books recommendations there are only a couple of suggestions. This list is an attempt to be more comprehensive, with a wide range of high quality books, reputable authors and reader age recommendations.
In the list of books above, I have tried to shy away from Scots translations of books written in English, although there are a couple. Most Scots speakers already speak English, although some children might be delighted to find a popular book written in the same language that they speak, and might be more inclined to read a Scots version than the English version.
Similarly having the Scots and English versions of books side by side can be a fun exercise in linguistics. For this reason, here is a short list of Scots translations of popular children’s books:-
Sheena Blackhall - The Doric Gruffalo
Sheena Blackhall - War o the Warlds
Sheena Blackhall - O Mice an Men
Thomas Clark - Alice's Adventirs in Wunnerlaun
Thomas Clark - Diary o a Wimpy Wean
Thomas Clark - The Boggin Beginnin: A Series of Scunnersome Events
Christine De Luca - Da Trow: The Troll in Shetland Scots
Matthew Fitt - Harry Potter an the Philosopher’s Stane
Matthew Fitt - Geordie's Mingin Medicine
Matthew Fitt - Roald Dahl: The Eejits
James Robertson - The Hoose at Pooh’s Neuk
James Robertson - The Gruffalo in Scots
Please suggest more books in the comments.