Billy Kay

Few can claim to have championed their tongue to such an extent as Billy Kay. One of the foremost researchers on Scots, as well as the producer of the critically acclaimed 'Odyssey' series of documentaries, Kay has been instrumental in recording the oral history of his language in all its various guises. In his most recent published work, The Scottish World: A Journey into the Scottish Diaspora (2008), Kay extensively researches the influence that Scottish communities have had across the world on almost every continent. A book with a truly global perspective, Kay visited various countries, including Thailand, Poland, France, Hawaii, Russia, India – as well as numerous others in Northern Europe and Latin America. The eighth chapter, 'To Smile in Ka´iulani´s Eye: Hawaii, the American West' is a charming account of tracing these connections, through, in this instance, the work of Robert Louis Stevenson:

The most remarkable Scottish Hawaiian connection though is one with which Stevenson became involved during his time on the islands, and later on in his life in Samoa. Stevenson was intensely aware of the threat to indigenous cultures posed by imperialism, be it German and British in Samoa or American in Hawaii. As a Scot, this was brought into sharp relief in Hawaii when he realised that the heiress apparent to the Hawaiian throne was  an engaging 13-year-old girl called Princess Ka´iulani. He admired the beautiful Scots–Hawaiian princess, and at one point when she was due to travel to Scotland for her education, he dedicated a lovely poem to her which ends:

'But our Scots islands far away

Shall glitter with unwonted day,

And cast for once their tempests by,

To smile in Ka´iulani´s eye.'

Stevenson told the lassie tales of Scotland under the Banyan tree planted by her father in Waikiki, probably stories of Bruce and Bannockburn, stories of royal heroism and commitment to the people he served, models of behaviour for a future monarch who faced a similar struggle to preserve her own and her people´s independence.

Among the various other fascinating facts that pepper the book, Kay also reveals the previously under-documented Scottish roots of various renowned international figures. Who would have thought, some would say, that astronaut Neil Armstrong, Romantic poet Mikhail Lermontov and composer Edvard Grieg were of Alban descent? Bringing together wildly different perspectives – including history, literature, music and even wine-making – Kay's book proves an invaluable resource to those wishing to research the ongoing multiculturalism that has shaped our modern world. Intriguingly, Kay also makes extensive use of the transcripts of conversations held with the people he met, which stands as further testament to his skills as a researcher. Launched at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August 2006, Kay created a multi-media presentation which wove together music, anecdotes, verse and song to better represent the impact of these diasporas. He was accompanied in this by folk singer Rod Paterson. Praised in the highest of terms by reviewers, The Scottish World is as close to a complete cultural geography of the Scottish people as can be found and was a Sunday Herald 'Book of the Year'.

A certified polyglot, Kay speaks fluent German, French, Portuguese, and English as well as of course, his native Scots and English. Having studied languages while an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh, his passion for both the French language and vinology later led to Knee Deep in Claret: A Celebration of Wine and Scotland (1983), which Kay co-authored with Cailean McLean. Written in Kay's characteristically loquacious style, the book explores how the historical Franco-Scottish relationship was solidified by their mutual passion for the drink. A radio version, Fresche Fragrant Clairettis, was later awarded the Wine Guild Houghton Award for 'Best British Programme to Promote Wine' in 1994. On the purely linguistic front, Kay's Scots: The Mither Tongue (1986), accomplishes the task of rebuking the charges of Scots' classification as 'debased English' and traces its 800-year history in a thorough and well foot-noted manner. Part of the current trend of revitalising and championing the UK's 'regional languages' such as Welsh and Cornish, The Mither Tongue has quickly established itself as essential reading for any one interested in Scots. Finding its influences in the unlikeliest of places – 'In the English spoken all over the Southern United States, many Scots words are in every day use and I myself have recorded people who used words like "galluses" for "braces" "pokes" for "bags", "redd up" for "clear out", and expressions like "no worth a haet" for "not worth a whit"! So Scots survives!' – Kay lends the work his global perspective, comparing Scots with other underrated if important languages on the European Continent. As James Robertson put in his Scotland On Sunday review, 'This was a life–affirming, emotionally and intellectually liberating message, and it took courage and conviction to be the messenger.'

Stemming from his work as a researcher for the BBC in 1979, Kay proceeded to set up his own broadcasting company, Odyssey, which, in the past couple of decades, has worked extensively for BBC Radio Scotland, among other networks. Primarily concerned with Scottish social history, these documentaries have a varied and lively range; while They Fairly Mak Ye Work discusses Dundee's jute mills and the lives of its weavers. Glengarnock Steel, takes a look at the impact of the metal industries on the communities of Ayrshire. A prolific freelance writer and broadcaster, Kay has in addition written two plays for radio as well as one for the stage. His work has further been anthologized in several anthologies – including Made in Scotland (1974), The New Makars (1991), A Tongue in Yer Heid (1994), Scotland and Ulster (1994) and Mak it New (1995). A recipient of many awards, including an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Western Scotland (2009), Kay was the recipient of the Oliver Award in June 2010 as part of his efforts to 'promote Scottish identity and self-confidence.'

André Naffis-Sahely, 2010