Outlander fans and Scots were quick to poke fun at Outlander author Diana Gabaldon after a mix-up regarding Scottish terminology on Twitter.
The American author, best known for writing the series of novels set in Scotland that have sold over 25 million copies worldwide, took to the social media website to respond to a fan who had a question about an episode of the television series based on the books.
In the episode, one of the characters wears a traditional Scottish hat. Seeking further information, the Twitter user wrote: "The hat he’s wearing as he looks up at Claire. To me It looks like something out of Peaky Blinders.
"Could be wrong. I remember Charles 3 wearing one shooting grouse in Scotland. "Not sure whether hat is supposed to be contemporary 1945 or contemporaneous. It happened so quickly."
In response, Gabaldon tweeted: "If you mean the ghost, he's wearing a Scotch bonnet (yes, I do mean Scotch) with a feather in it--very traditional (hence the "Scotch" -- EVERYONE (including all the Scots) used that term until the SNP got into power in the mid-20th c.)."
It wasn't long before fellow Twitter users were quick to correct the author for a number of errors made in the tweet. As many pointed out, a Scotch bonnet is not a hat but in fact a variety of chilli pepper.
One tweeted: "Scotch Bonnet is still a chilli, I thought bunnet, cap or tam would be the name of the hat."
A second agreed: "Nowadays it would be called a Tam O'Shanter, but in Scotland there is no way we would have called it a Scotch bonnet... more likely just a bonnet."
"1. That's a Tam O'Shanter, 2. A scotch bonnet is a chilli," a third posted, while a fourth joked: "Now do one about the other traditional Scottish hat, the jalapeño."
Meanwhile, a fifth user posted a humorous picture of Scottish soldiers with chillis on their heads in reference to the mistake.
Another inaccuracy that fans pointed out is that the Scottish National Party were not in power in the mid-20th century. It was not until 2007 that the party was first elected to government.
Former Glasgow councillor Mhairi Hunter wrote: "The SNP was first elected to government in 2007 and have no strong views on headgear as far as I know (and I'm in the SNP so I think I would)."
"The SNP weren't in power until the early 21st century," another user agreed, while a third echoed: "I’m not at all sure that the change in prevalence from ‘Scotch’ to ‘Scottish’ is anything to do with the SNP, who, in any case did not hold ‘power’ until 2007."
Another element of the tweet that Scottish Twitter users took issue with was Gabaldon's statement that "everyone (including all the Scots)" previously used the term 'Scotch'. As they were quick to point out, the term is more commonly used by people from other countries than Scots themselves.
One user tweeted: "I've never in my puff heard Scots refer to themselves as Scotch and I was born in the 70s, also since the SNP came into power in 2007 how in the name of the weeman would it have anything to do with them?"
A second added: "I feel obliged to inform that, although I find your books a constant delight, it would be negligent of me not to say that it is 'Scots'."
"In my 36 years of being Scottish, no one I know has ever called themselves 'Scotch'," said a third.
In response, Gabaldon issued the following statement: "This was in answer to someone who asked what sort of hat 'he' was wearing in the notorious 'ghost' scene from Season One of the OUTLANDER show. Well, there are two gentlemen in that scene, and they're both wearing headcoverings, but from the general shape of the discussion, I assumed the questioner meant Jamie (the Highlander), rather than Frank (snappily-dressed post-WWII gent). So I said that if it's Jamie, he's wearing a Scotch bonnet with a feather in it.
"However: I know from years of experience of people coming up to me at book-signings and informing me (often while finger-wagging; a dangerous thing to do if you're within biting distance...) that "only tape is Scotch! The word is SCOTS!" I merely smile pleasantly and sign their books.)
"Because: I actually do quite a bit of research when writing these books (and have been doing, for the last thirty-five years). A lot of said research involves reading things written by actual Scottish people--both fiction and non-fiction--and that's why I feel reasonably OK about saying that most things written by Scottish people through the late eighteenth, nineteenth and early 20th centuries used the word "Scotch" without the slightest blush.
"I have (for example) a book written by Sir Harry Lauder: My Best Scotch Stories (London, 1929). And then there’s I Love A Lassie (Or Ma Scotch Bluebell) – Vintage Sheet Music (Francis, Day & Hunter, 1906).
"Granted, Sir Harry was a 'stage Scotchman', and thus perhaps not totally representative of linguistic norms , but he is evidence that no one at the time thought there was anything wrong with the word 'Scotch' as being an adjective implying that whatever it was had something to do with Scotland.
"Today, though, the majority of non-Scottish people I talk to (about Scotland or the books or the show) are Extremely Careful to use only the word "Scot", while sedulously avoiding "Scotch" (even when they really ought to be using "Scots" or "Scottish" as the adjectival form). That's why I inserted the parenthetical remark indicating that "Scotch Bonnet" was historical and as such, in no way offensive.
"Being a thorough-minded person, though (friends and relations are prone to tell people who ask me questions to be careful, because there's a substantial risk that I will actually TELL them...), I thought that I should (within the bounds of a single tweet) indicate something about the use of 'Scot' vs. 'Scotch', as so many people are careful these days to avoid the latter at all times, fearing incorrectness.
"Now, I think that you (or perhaps your readers) may be confusing correlation for causality with regard to my tweet, but the fault is really cultural idiom.By which I mean: there were several shifts in usage that occurred through the middle of the 20th century, and these correlated roughly with the growth of the SNP into visibility. (That's what I mean by "came into power''--not that they were running the government but that they had achieved some political representation.)
"Whereas it's common in the UK to equate 'power' with whomever is actually the party at the top (for the moment...) I don't mean to imply that the SNP dictated a change from "Scotch" to "Scot/Scots/Scottish" (or that they could); merely that I see the linguistic change occurring roughly parallel with the emergence of the party. Chance is that an underlying development of nationalistic feeling is driving both political and linguistic developments.”
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