[Political Interest]

I was reading somewhere that in Scotland there used to be Gaelic and Cumbrian spoken in the lowlands during the Middle Ages. Gradually however the Northumbrian dialect of English began to expand until around the 18th century when it became the predominant language of the lowlands.

Questions:

1. Was language shift in Scotland related to changing ethnic demographics, i.e. was the growth in Scots/English in the lowlands the result of migrations of English speakers from England to Scotland? Or were the two unrelated?

2. When you see Scottish people with English surnames does it mean that their ancestors originally came from the south east of Scotland?

[Thompson_NCL]

Was language shift in Scotland related to changing ethnic demographics, i.e. was the growth in Scots/English in the lowlands the result of migrations of English speakers from England to Scotland? Or were the two unrelated?

There was no mass migration into Scotland from England, and the Lowlanders spoke 'Scots' rather than English. But you need to remember that borders are not real physical barriers, they are porous. There were many Scots living south of the border and vice versa. The border reivers were often Scots and English fighting together against other Scots and English for example.

The growth of Scots in Lowland Scotland is comparable to the growth of English throughout the world in the 19th century onwards: it became the language of trade, administration and so forth.

When you see Scottish people with English surnames does it mean that their ancestors originally came from the south east of Scotland?

Not really. Thompson is the English version MacTavish, who hail from Argyll.