I forwarded the info on "Scot free" to my brother who is a history buff. He wrote back: That's an interesting take on it. In fact much of the culture of Scotland, primarily the Western Isles (including Islay) was greatly influenced by the invasions, settlement and later admixture with the Norse tribes following circa the 9th century AD. However, when the Romans ruled England centuries prior to that, they called the tribes to their north the Picti, and those to their west, on Ireland, the Scoti. These Scoti were the founders of Dal Riada, the kingdom in Argyll that was the basis of the Lordship of the Isles, based on Islay, that would eventually come to hold sway over all the Western Isles and much of the "mainland" northern Scotland, including the Inverness area . I'd guess that "scot free" indeed originated as the poster suggests, but Scotland is from the Latin. >>>>>Occasionally the odds are against us, and we get away scot free! Scot free and Scotland, is Swedish did you know that?! Scot, or as we Swedes spell it today "skatt", means tax, so when the Vikings ruled northern England they called it the Land of Tax, as the inhabitants were forced to pay tax to their Viking rulers. So originally scot free, was evading paying the taxes due to us Vikings ;-)! "En skatt", is a treasure, but many collected "skatter" becomes a Treasury :-)! As the Phrase Finder puts it: "Scot as a term for tax has been used since then to mean many different types of tax. Whatever the tax, the phrase 'scot free' just refers to not paying one's taxes. No one likes paying tax and people have been getting off scot free since at least the 16th century. This reference from Vincent Skinner's translation of Reginaldus Gonsalvius Montanus's A discovery and playne declaration of sundry subtill practises of the holy inquisition of Spayne dates from 1598: Escape scotte free." http://www.phrases.org.uk/ <<<<<<<<<<<<<< *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Just happened to see Rick Steves in Scotland yesterday, along with his Scotish guide, and besides beautiful scenary, I heard the same story about Vikings taxing the Scots. Also surprised that Scotish restaurants sometimes are influenced by French cooking style. BRC >I forwarded the info on "Scot free" to my brother who is a history buff. > > He wrote back: > That's an interesting take on it. In fact much of the culture of Scotland, > primarily the Western Isles (including Islay) was greatly influenced by > the > invasions, settlement and later admixture with the Norse tribes following > circa the 9th century AD. However, when the Romans ruled England centuries > prior to that, they called the tribes to their north the Picti, and those > to > their west, on Ireland, the Scoti. These Scoti were the founders of Dal > Riada, > the kingdom in Argyll that was the basis of the Lordship of the Isles, > based > on Islay, that would eventually come to hold sway over all the Western > Isles > and much of the "mainland" northern Scotland, including the Inverness area > . > I'd guess that "scot free" indeed originated as the poster suggests, but > Scotland is from the Latin. > > >>>>>>Occasionally the odds are against us, and we get away scot free! > > Scot free and Scotland, is Swedish did you know that?! > > Scot, or as we Swedes spell it today "skatt", means tax, so when the > Vikings > ruled northern England they called it the Land of Tax, as the > inhabitants were > forced to pay tax to their Viking rulers. So originally scot free, was > evading > paying the taxes due to us Vikings ;-)! > > "En skatt", is a treasure, but many collected "skatter" becomes a > Treasury :-)! > > As the Phrase Finder puts it: > > "Scot as a term for tax has been used since then to mean many different > types of tax. > Whatever the tax, the phrase 'scot free' just refers to not paying > one's taxes. > > No one likes paying tax and people have been getting off scot free > since > at least the 16th century. This reference from Vincent Skinner's > translation of > Reginaldus Gonsalvius Montanus's A discovery and playne declaration of > sundry subtill practises of the holy inquisition of Spayne dates from > 1598: > > Escape scotte free." > > http://www.phrases.org.uk/ <<<<<<<<<<<<<< *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
My ancestors come from the western Highlands, and from the Isles. My father's mob came directly from Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. Although most of us are dark and craggy looking Celts, we have a good number of fair-haired and blue-eyed kinfolk. GaryJ MATT MARINER BROZE wrote: > I forwarded the info on "Scot free" to my brother who is a history buff. > > He wrote back: > That's an interesting take on it. In fact much of the culture of Scotland, > primarily the Western Isles (including Islay) was greatly influenced by the > invasions, settlement and later admixture with the Norse tribes following > circa the 9th century AD. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
MATT MARINER BROZE said: > I forwarded the info on "Scot free" to my brother who is a history buff. I'm a history buff, too, and that is also my understanding of the origins of "scot." Incidentally, I have a series of lectures on the history of the English language from the Teaching Company, and I was intrigued to learn from them that one of the differences between dialects in England was that the "sh" sound in southern English was pronounced "sk" in northern English, going back to Anglo-Saxon. Thus "ship" and "skipper" are variations on the same word, as are "shirt" and "skirt." Chaucer had a lot of fun with these differences in the Canterbury Tales. The Teaching Company also has a 12-lecture course on climate change, which I am currently viewing. Chuck Holst __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4671 (20091208) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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