Month: May 2024

Ulster Scots can be a contentious issue. Many linguists consider it a dialect of Scots, some a dialect of English, while others even a language. Everyone agrees that Scots arrived in Ulster in the early 1600s as the spoken language of the planters from lowland Scotland, and that it gradually became distinctively Ulster in nature over the years that followed. Today, about 2% of the population of Northern Ireland claims to speak Ulster Scots and the British government is legally required to facilitate those who speak it. 

The Malagasy people of Madagascar practice a tradition that involves removing the bodies of their deceased loved ones from family crypts every seven years, wrapping them in fresh shrouds, and writing their names on their shrouds to ensure that they will not be forgotten. They dance carrying the freshly wrapped remains before returning them to their resting place. Malagasy people often look forward to these events, which are not just sombre, but also an occasion for extended families to come together to spend some quality time. 

The island of Guernsey is closer to France than to Great Britain, but it is actually a British Crown Dependency, which means that it is not technically part of the United Kingdom, even though the government of Britain handles its defence and foreign affairs. The name “Guernsey” comes from Old Norse, but the island has been settled since the Neolithic period. When a peace treaty was signed between Britain and France in 1483, Pope Sixtus IV issued a Papal Bull stating that anyone who bothered the Guernsey islanders would be automatically excommunicated.

Qatar has a population of over 2.5 million, but only about 12% are actually Qatari citizens, with the remainder expatriates from a large number of backgrounds, including South Asians, Filipinos, Egyptians and Europeans, drawn to the service and finance industries. While Arabic is the official language, English is the most common second language, and is often used as the language of commerce. Since the late twentieth century, Qatar has had a lively literature movement and, unusually for the region, a large number of published women authors.