iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

A guess thit ye kin mak apps in Scots oan Apple noo an hae them classified as Scots, raither'n English

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Scots noo available on Apple as a preferred language 👍 (Still gies English fir aw, but it's the grunwirk tae mak the fun wirk 😉)

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Ahem... who called it? 10/12/2024 😉

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

It's day therty-wan o #Scotstober 2025! A braw Halla e'en tae yees aw an weil duin tae aw thit's taen pairt! The day's wirds are: Tumshie Neep Baigie

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

It's day therty o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: glabber

022

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 29/10/2025

Dod! – that’s him nou – eik up the byne; afore the hairth, his claen sark hing: pit claes is waffin on the line; merle on a rowan singin fine. —David Purdie, “Merle on a Rowan” #Scotstober #poem #poetry www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/merle-r...

Merle on a Rowan
David Purdie

Pit claes is waffin on the line,
sinlicht’s keekin ower the bing;
merle on a rowan singin fine.

A braw souch’s blawin, aathin’s fine,
an wi the merle I stert tae sing;
pit claes is waffin on the line.

Himsel wull be hame ony time,
frae pit mirk, stour an dunt an ding;
merle on a rowan singin fine.

He’s late the day, that man o mine . . .
Ach! dinna lat ma thochts tak wing,
no wi pit claes on the line!

Bit . . . Da wis late, yon shift lang syne,
o seiren’s gowl and deid bell’s ring,
an merles on rowans singin fine . . .

Dod! – that’s him nou – eik up the byne;
afore the hairth, his claen sark hing:
pit claes is waffin on the line;
merle on a rowan singin fine.

084

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

It's day twinty-nine o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: hing

043

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

It's day twinty-echt o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: ingle

042

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

It's day twinty-seiven o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: rammie

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

It's day twinty-sax o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: ȝammer

041

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

It's day twinty-five o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: brock

052

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

It's day twinty-fower o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: yeuk

041

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

It's day twinty-three o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: puggle

021

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

It's day twinty-twa o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: vance

021

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

It's day twinty-wan o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: zeast

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

It's day twinty o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: vrack

042

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 19/10/2025

Du gies hooseroom tae a swap o scarfs, lodgins ta mallies. A shjalder swanks apo dy shooder… —Christine De Luca, “Growin Auld (Wasterwick)” published in WAST WI DA VALKYRIES, @shetlandlibrary.bsky.social 1997 #Scotstober #poem #poetry #Shetland www.christinedeluca.co.uk/pages/wast_w...

Christine De Luca
Growin Auld

Wasterwick

Wasterwick, auld wife o da sea, worn
tae a beauty only age can bring. Du sits
straight-backed, airms reck oot
bi clett an stack. Dy sang is
da sang o sels an a thoosand shiftin shalls
is dey beach demsels. Da Waarie Gyo
is a secret fowld i dy skurt, whaar
a kittle o tang swills to an fro.

Du gies hooseroom tae a swap o scarfs,
lodgins ta mallies. A shjalder swanks
apo dy shooder, nest safe in a reffel
o trefoil an smora. Banks-flooers
mak a wavy aedge ta dy simmer hap.

We look on dee at’s cradled grown men,
trace lines o kennin on dy wise repose.
Da wasterin sun at faas saaftly lays
a wild rose apo dy granite face.

Vocabulary:
da: the
clett: cliff, rock, crag
stack: column of rock in the sea
dy: your (familiar)
shalls: shells
dey: they
demsels: themselves
gyo: steep, narrow inlet
fowld: fold
i: in
skurt: bosom
kittle: tickle
tang: seaweed
du: you (familiar)
gies: gives
tae, ta: to
swap: a sudden beat or blow
scarfs: shags
mallies: fulmars
shjalder
oyster catcher
apo: on
shooder: shoulder
reffel: tangle
smora: clover
banks flooers: sea pinks
aedge: edge
hap: shawl
dee: you (familiar)
at’s: who has
kennin: knowing
faas: falls
saaftly: softly

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Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Jacob Judah @jacobjudah.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

AI and Wikipedia are sending the most vulnerable languages into a harmful linguistic doom loop. Wikipedia is used to train AI to speak vulnerable languages. But users are now flooding Wikipedia with shoddy AI translations. Latest in @technologyreview.com: www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1...

technologyreview.com

How AI and Wikipedia have sent vulnerable languages into a doom spiral

Machine translators have made it easier than ever to create error-plagued Wikipedia articles in obscure languages. What happens when AI models get trained on junk pages?

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

It's day nineteen o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: shooder

042

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 18/10/2025

“A man’s a man for a’ that” – how does he know? Traipsing with his plough, the rural hero, Swaggering down the lea-rigs, talking to mice… —“James Macfarlan”, by Edwin Morgan in VIRTUAL & OTHER REALITIES, @carcanet.bsky.social 1997 #Scotstober #poem #poetry www.carcanet.co.uk/978185754347...

James Macfarlan
by Edwin Morgan

“A man’s a man for a’ that” – how does he know?
Traipsing with his plough, the rural hero,
Swaggering down the lea-rigs, talking to mice,
Sweating his sickly verses to entice
Lassies he’d never see again, strutting
Through the salons in his best breeches, rutting
In a cloud of claret, buttonholing
Lord This, sweet-talking Doctor That, bowling
His wit down levees, bosoms, siller quaichs –
D’ye think he’s ever heard the groans and skraighs
Of city gutters, or marked the shapes that wrap
Fog and smoke about them as if they could hap
Homelessness or keep hunger at bay? What,
Not heard or seen, but has he even thought
How some, and many, and more than many, survive,
Or don’t survive, on factory floors, or thrive
Or fail to thrive by foundry fires, or try
To find the words – sparks scatter and bolts fly –
That’s feeble – to show the new age its dark face?
The Carron Ironworks – how he laughed at the place,
Made a joke of our misery, passed on
To window-scratch his diamond-trivia, and swan
Through country-house and customs-post, servile
To the very gods from which he ought to resile!
“Liberty’s a glorious feast,” you said.
Is that right? Wouldn’t the poor rather have bread?
Burns man, I’m hard on you, I’m sorry for it.
I think such poetry is dangerous, that’s all.
Poetry must pierce the filthy wall
With cries that die on country ways. The glow
Of bonhomie will not let the future grow.

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Its day echteen o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: traipsie

021

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Its day seiventeen o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: warp

022

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 16/10/2025

“Shilpit, I am informed, sir, signifies stunted, undergrown. As to ‘wee’, that is, of course, current in English as well as in…” he paused for a second “…the Northern dialects. Nyaff, an insignificant person, a pip-squeak.” —from “McAuslan’s Court-Martial”, by George MacDonald Fraser #Scotstober 💙📚

“What did he say?”
Baxter hesitated. “He called me a shilpit wee nyaff, sir.”
The president stirred. “He called you what?”
Baxter coloured slightly. “A shilpit wee nyaff, sir.”
The president looked at Prosecution. “Perhaps you can translate?”
Prosecution, hand it to him, didn’t even blink. He selected a paper from his table, held it up at arm’s length, and said gravely:
“Shilpit, I am informed, sir, signifies stunted, undergrown. As to ‘wee’, that is, of course, current in English as well as in …” he paused for a second “… the Northern dialects. Nyaff, an insignificant person, a pip-squeak.”
“Remarkable,” said the president. “Nyaff. Ny-ahff.” He tried it round his tongue. “Expressive. Synonymous with the Norse ‘niddering’.”
“Sir?” said Prosecution.
“Niddering,” said the president. “A worthless person, a non-entity. Possibly a connection there. So many of these Norse pejoratives begin with ‘n’.”
Einstein coughed slightly. “Hebrew too, sir. ‘Nebbish’ means much the same thing.”
“Indeed?” The president brightened. “I’m obliged to you. Nyaff,” he repeated with satisfaction. “Remarkable. Do go on.”
Prosecution, looking slightly rattled, turned again to Baxter.
“And after he had called you … these names?”
“He called me a glaikit sumph.”
You could see Prosecution wishing he hadn’t asked. The president was looking hopeful. “Sumph,” said the president with relish. “That’s strong.” He looked inquiring, and Prosecution sighed.
“Sumph, a dullard, an uninspired person, a stick-in-the-mud. Glaikit, loose-jointed, awkward, ill-formed.” He put down his paper with resignation. “There is more, sir, in the dialect and in ordinary speech, but I question whether …”
“What else did he call you?” said the president, taking control. Baxter looked sulky.
“A rotten big bastard,” he said.
“Oh.” The president looked disappointed. He shot a glance at McAuslan, as though he had hoped for better things.

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Its day saxteen o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: nyaff

053

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Its day fifteen o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: warlock

163

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Its day fowerteen o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: sleekit

053

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 13/10/2025

We fecht to lowse oursels, we coup and skar and joater menseless in the foazie grun, feart to bide still, and fusionless to rin, we plouter on, forfeuchan, through the haar… —Robert Garioch, “The Bog” in A KIST O SKINKLAN THINGS (ASL, 2017) #Scotstober #poem #poetry asls.org.uk/publications...

Robert Garioch
The Bog

The lyft is lourd abuin the hechs and howes,
peat-bog and mist hae left nae space atween;
the puddock cours doun frae the wecht abuin,
here is nae leevin-space for men or yowes.

We fecht to lowse oursels, we coup and skar
and joater menseless in the foazie grun,
feart to bide still, and fusionless to rin,
we plouter on, forfeuchan, through the haar.

We rax doun, seeking rock, wi feet grown nesh
frae clatchin in thae never-ending clarts,
ettlin to traipse on stanes, to thole their scarts,
and win to some green haugh, kind to the flesh.

Tho weill we ken it's aye the same auld place,
we fuil oursels to pech and plouter on
frae this black oily puddle-hole to thon,
that gies the meisor of our hirple-pace.

Our thochts are aye on skinklan burns, dour rocks,
clean waters we cuid loup frae stane to stane,
bricht in the sun or weet wi dounricht rain,
dazzlit wi licht and stoun'd by solid shocks.

But maist we think of gangin ither airts,
whaur we micht hae faur distances in sicht,
think lang to traivel til a warld of bricht
pure colour in outlandish foreign pairts.

Sae we jalouse some howff juist owre the brae,
some hevin abuin the sterns, juist out of sicht,
whaur we cuid gae the morn, gin we micht
loup owre the muin, as did the famous quey.

Wanting some yirdlie hevin for Almains,
the Fuhrer maks a furore in our lugs;
we bield in ivory touers or Luftwaffe-skugs,
while bummlan boomers threaten broken banes.

Thae men that fetch us boombs frae yont the seas,
heich in their Heinkels, ken the same despair;
they maun skite flat-out on the slidder air,
forever doomed, like us, to future ease.

Nou the impassioned banshees, in F-moll,
screich out wi siren voices, anger-riven,
Beethoven's chord of Opus 57,
the same that skeiched us in the Usher Hall.

The causey street we staund on shaks and shogs,
freestane fore-storey housses flee in air;
real super-realism everywhere
maks grand pianos mate wi clarty bogs.

The bog—I ken the feel o't weill eneuch,
tak its conditions, staund and dinnae fecht
to lowse my feet, and find it tholes my wecht
ablow the haar, gin but my heid be leugh.

And here are colours braw as onie shroud:
broun and dark broun, black and mair black, an aa
the fud or hint-end of the watergaw,
whaur I hae fand my forpit-met of gowd.

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Its day therteen o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: plooter

053

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Its day twal o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: patch

011

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 11/10/2025

“We’re on a mission to revolutionize your underarm health. At Oxters we take a different approach to the wellness and performance of your underarms. We sweat the details so you don’t have to – giving you a new weapon in your fight against body odor” #Scotstober www.oxters.co

oxters.co

The Original In‑Shower Underarm Wash

Oxters: Underarm, Cleaner. Pure, Natural Defense. Removes odor-causing bacteria, impurities & deodorant residue. Fresh start for what's next.

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

Its day eleiven o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: oxter

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Its day ten o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: swick

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

"Traachle" is the new-united-Scots wey o spellin it NE uised tae be happy eneuch fir hunners o years wi the "au" spellin in wirds lik haun trachle haur etc, tae "reformers cam in tae try an "fix" it

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Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 09/10/2025

Daith an’ dule will stab ye surely, Be ye man or wife, Mony trauchles an’ mischances In ilk weird are rife; Bide the storm ye canna hinder, Mindin’ through the strife, Hoo the luntin’ lowe o’ beauty Lichts the grey o’ life. —Helen Cruickshank, “Sea Buckthorn” #Scotstober asls.org.uk/publications...

Sea Buckthorn
by Helen Cruickshank

Saut an’ cruel winds tae shear it,
Nichts o’ haar an’ rain –
Ye micht think the sallow buckthorn
Ne’er a hairst could hain;
But amang the sea-bleached branches
Ashen-grey as pain,
Thornset orange berries cluster
Flamin’, beauty-fain.

Daith an’ dule will stab ye surely,
Be ye man or wife,
Mony trauchles an’ mischances
In ilk weird are rife;
Bide the storm ye canna hinder,
Mindin’ through the strife,
Hoo the luntin’ lowe o’ beauty
Lichts the grey o’ life.

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Its day nine o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: trauchle

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Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Its day echt o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: doo

142

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 08/10/2025

And by the halie tree In the leaman licht o the wuid, Squired by a houlet, a hawk and a doo, Wes his Euridikee… —“Orpheus”, by Tom Scott (1918–1995) from A KIST O SKINKLAN THINGS #Scotstober #poem #poetry asls.org.uk/publications...

Tom Scott
Orpheus

Ye think thon wes the end?
Yon meetin in the wuids
When Thracian Orpheus heard the drum, the cries,
The whud o the bacchantes’ thrangan feet
And, seik in saul,
Mad to be jyned for aye to his Eurydikee,
Strung his harp
And gaed to meet them wi a sang.
Ye think thon wes the end?

Na. Eftir the thrang breeled on, red
Fingert, bluidie-mawed, the riven limbs
Quiveran aye amang the mairtyred gress,
There wes a lull
And throu it syne a roun
And syne as muckle’s a moan
And syne a voice,
Yon voice o his
That quietit the forest and its fowk,
That reconcilit lion and lamb,
Ordert the rain,
Spoke frae the grund
And threept in the greitan tree
‘Euridikee! Euridikee!’

And at the name
A ferlie thing wes duin.
Thir broken bits o bodie, bits o bane,
Brisket, gash, airm and droukit hair
Cam thegither as gin some will
Mair nor the merely real
Had wrocht on them.
And on yon slauchtert grund was formed
Orpheus anew,
Orpheus the singer, Orpheus the makar,
Orpheus cleansed o the auld despair.
And by the halie tree
In the leaman licht o the wuid,
Squired by a houlet, a hawk and a doo,
Wes his Euridikee.

They say he made a new sang,
A nobler nor the auld,
And sings it aye in the great haa o the warld.

They say it will nevir end.

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Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 08/10/2025

…in ma dreams, ma dou, I’m staunin here upricht, wi’ you the lang sheld that I grue ahind. —Don Paterson, “The Human Sheld” published in RAIN (Faber, 2010) #Scotstober #poem #poetry www.faber.co.uk/product/9780...

The Human Sheld
by Don Paterson

The reason, gin ye waant the truth,
I sleep like this – ma gairdie stieve
upon yer breist, its steekit nieve
laid on yer sma’ hert like an aith –

is no’ for waarmth or peace o’ mind
but that in ma dreams, ma dou,
I’m staunin here upricht, wi’ you
the lang sheld that I grue ahind.

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Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Its day seiven o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: kinnen

022

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 07/10/2025

Noo Maunsie’s wis as guid a tongue As ever psalm o’ Dauvid sung. It fittit weel a godly mooth, And said few wirds ’at wirna truth, An’ never swöre by Guid or Deil Excep’ whan kyunnens ate his kail… —from “Auld Maunsie’s Crü”, by Shetland poet Basil Ramsay Anderson (1861–1888) #Scotstober #poem

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Dr Michael Dempster @drmdempster.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Its day seiven o #Scotstober 2025! The day's wird is: kinnen

022

Reposted by Dr Michael Dempster

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 06/10/2025

Love is all you need: Remembering The Kingis Quair Alan Riach discusses The Kingis Quair – a poem attributed to King James I of Scots (1394–1437), & described by C.S. Lewis as “the first modern book of love” #Scotstober #medievalsky #poetry www.thenational.scot/news/1737200...