" Scots can be understood by English speakers because Scots and modern English share the same "Old English" ancestor. They developed separately but are sister languages in the same way as Danish & Norweigian, Spanish & Portuguese and Czech & Slovak, all of whom can understand one another. They are more or less mutually intelligible but still unquestionably languages in their own right. As the Scottish poet, Norman McCaig (1910-1996) said, "It's as absurd to call Scots a dialect of English as it is to call English a dialect of Scots. "

― , Words Fae Hearth An' Hame