It’s a Highland Cow!
But in Scots (which is an actual language and different from Gaelic), they are known as Heilan’ Coo, and that’s what everyone calls them in Scotland.
A little tangent about Scots. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know about Scots. I was expecting Gaelic, but I didn’t know there was also Scots.
There’s some disagreement about whether Scots is a language or a dialect – but essentially it’s an ancient variety of English with it’s own dialects. And people still speak it! All the time. Here’s a few lines I learned:
- “Ah dinnae ken” – I don’t know
- “Yer aff yer heid!” – You’re crazy or more literally you’re off your head. Now why would people say that to me?
- “Yer bum’s oot the windae!” – You’re talking nonsense or more literally your bum’s out the window. Again, why would people say that to me? 🙂 You would think I had some crazy ideas or something.
Anyway …. Back to the Coos…
I was hoping for an opportunity to photograph the Heilan’ Coos on my trip and I was lucky enough to have three occasions when there was both a Coo and a place to pull over.
My first Coo is the one shown above and below.
He was a great model! Standing a short distance away from the fence, I was able to make some close-up portraits using my telephoto lens. I prefer the first photo since I was able to fill the frame and not have any distracting elements. And he was looking right at me!
When I came across my second opportunity, I couldn’t believe my luck! There was a Coo standing right at the fence, even looking over the fence, and he had the best view going.
This is the first image I made of him.
I had no choice but to include the fence in the frame since he was so close to it. And if you think that is a good view, check out what was on the other side of him. A Coo’s view…
Then I got the idea to reach over the fence with my camera so at least the fence wouldn’t appear to be in between me and the Coo.
I have to tell you a story about some dumb tourists. So I was photographing this Coo above when another car stopped and a family got out and they wanted to photograph him too. Since I got my shots, I backed away so there wouldn’t be too many people.
The family went right up to the Coo, and the father touched the Coo’s horn. Well, the Coo didn’t like that and started mooing. Then the father convinces his teenage daughter to touch the Coo’s horn for a photo and as she reached up (exposing the underside of her arm where a major artery is) the Coo whipped his head back and forth – the big horns moving wildly. I was sure her arm was going to come right off! The Coo mooed some more and was obviously unhappy about this. But he still stood there. That didn’t dissuade the family though, after some encouragement the daughter touched his horn again for the photo. Then it’s the father’s turn and he goes up and grabs the Coo’s horn roughly and he’s hanging on to it!!
I mean, at what point do I stop doing my usual “I’m just an observer in this country” and say something to people? I usually wouldn’t tell people they are behaving badly when I’m in another country. But this time … Well, here’s what I said:
“I’m taking a photo of you holding his horn so when he rips your arm off I can prove it was your own fault.”
I don’t know. Maybe Coo’s don’t rip people’s arms off. I sure wouldn’t take that chance!
I should have said “Yer aff yer heid!”
Later that day I got my final opportunity when I noticed three Coos standing way up on top of a cliff. I pulled over, got out my telephoto lens again, and zoomed in as close as I could get for my final shot.
Then I noticed a truck nearby and the driver was calling the Coos (shouting something I totally didn’t understand that was probably Scots) and throwing feed on the ground. I started talking to him and he told me he had been trying to get them to come down for half an hour, but they were standing their ground just looking down at him. Stubborn Coos!
I believe most current linguists are pretty solid on considering Scots its own language these days. In the past there were political elements to considering it merely a “dialect,” with the implication that it was a substandard or somehow fallen form of English. But it’s more dissimilar from English than, say, Norwegian from Danish or Swedish or Turkish from Azeri. Some dialects of Scots, e.g. Doric, are completely incomprehensible to English speakers.
I love those hieland coos! There was a rancher near Santa Fe who bred them, and I must say, besides being very appealing, they’re also delicious.
Hey Jackson! Great info on Scots. I agree that some of it was certainly incomprehensible, but it seems like it would be a fun language to learn. I’ll have to keep my eye out for Heilan Coo on the menu 🙂 Thanks for your comments.
I appreciated your clarification of the Scots language. I am a Scot, although a resident in Canada for many years. Visiting Scotland in 1993, I worked briefly in Aberdeen, and I heard Doric spoken for the first time in my life! It was almost incomprehensible to me as I truly never had never heard of it before. My father’s first language was Gaelic, we originated from Embo, Sutherlandshire. The Heilan Coo is majestic!
Flora M. Forbes
I always enjoy learning things that I didn’t expect to learn! That’s one of the great things about travel. Glad you enjoyed the coo! 🙂 Thanks for your visit and comments, much appreciated.
Well Anne, at least if that awful man had given you a mouthful of abuse you wouldn’t understand it!!
You’re coos are great – as are all your pics.
Thank you very much Pat! I’m not sure if that man was Scottish, but I don’t think so. They were driving a rental car like mine.
Hi Anne–Great images, as usual! About 10 years ago, I saw a couple of those coos at a farm in Nova Scotia–at first, I didn’t even realize they were coos. Then, a couple of months ago, I discovered a small herd of them near my home, here in Oregon. They seem to like being photographed!
Ha, maybe being a great model is part of their heritage 🙂 Thanks for your comments Nancy.
Love the coos great pics good coo color and detail. Wish I had some of that excess hair. 🙂
Haha, good coo colour 🙂 Hey, maybe that’s why I like them so much, they have too much hair like me! Many thanks for your comments Clarence.
As a Scot, living in Scotland, Anne, I think you’ve been a little mislead! What you are describing is not the ancient ‘Scots’ language but modern dialect of a somewhat dubious nature – possibly more akin to Glaswegian – (ie from Glasgow) and modern at that. If you want an indication of something approaching Scots, have a look at the poetry of Rabbie Burns..
The cattle are not as fierce as they look by the way but as with any animal, its best to treat them with respect.
Hi Clark, Well, that’s interesting! I think I’m going to have to spend more time there until I can tell Gaelic from Glaswegian from Scots. I love to hear it. It makes me wonder how my great grand parents sounded since they were from New Monkland, Lanarkshire, which I think is part of Glasgow now. They came to Canada in the 1880’s. Thanks for your comments.
Love these images, Anne! And your description of the expressions you heard takes me right back to my former in-laws who hailed from the Glasgow area and spoke just like that – I still tend to say “coos” even 35 years later! I’ve heard all the expressions you list, except maybe the one about the windae (though certainly am familiar with each of the words in that phrase, pronounced as you spell them) – the accent you’ve written is just right. What fun! (aside from the very stupid man you ran across, that is).
I think it would be fun to learn all those phrases and start saying them to people. Just imagine the looks you would get here saying “Yer bum’s oot the windae!” Okay, I’m going to challenge myself to practice that phrase and then say it someone when they’re talking nonsense, haha 🙂 I mean, it makes sense to talk nonsense right back doesn’t it? Thanks for your visit and comments Laurie.
This blog reminds me of the works of William McGonagall, Scotland’s worst poet:
“On yonder hill there stood a coo
It’s no there noo, it must have shifted”
Nice pictures, Anne
Hahaha, that’s hysterical. Scotland’s worst poet. I’m going to have to look up some more of his work. Thanks for the comments David.
One branch of my family goes way back in Scotland. I’ve never been there, so it’s great to see your wonderful photos of the country and the Coos. I just love that cool Coo hairdo! (I think Snoopy and Spike would have liked having their picture taken with the Coos.)
You’re right, I bet Snoopy and Spike would have loved that. Alas, they are going to have to wait until next time 🙂 Thanks for your comments Suzy.
Again, Anne, beautiful photos; and your writing is enjoyable as well…much more so than the typical tech talk.
Hi John, I try my best to avoid techno lingo when possible so I’m glad to hear you enjoy the writing 🙂 Thank you very much for your visit and comments!
This is a first for me . . . I now want to hug a cow.
Hahaha, well, I’m not sure this particular cow is the right one to hug, but I guess you have to start somewhere 🙂 Thanks for your comments!
Hi Anne,
I was much amused by your ‘Heilan Coo’ blog and comments on the ‘Scots’ language that appears to have taken you by surprise. Regarding that aspect, I’m afraid that I cannot resist elaborating on the subject UK dialects. I’m no expert in regional dialects but I agree entirely with Clark Graham that what you heard was a Scottish dialect that will have variations between countryside and city, Glasgow particularly, between north and south and across the Scotland England border. I expect industrial Glaswegian is diluted now compared to the hey day of Clyde side shipbuilding, but if you experienced it I believe you’d find it rather incomprehensible, as you would many of the dialects in the UK. I can remember as a youngster finding it impossible to interpret directions being given by a Glaswegian.
On Gaelic, the 2011 census of Scotland, 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) reported as able to speak Gaelic, fewer than in 2001. The highest percentages of Gaelic speakers were in the Outer Hebrides. On the other hand Welsh, a Celtic language, is commonly spoken in Wales, it is taught as a second language and all official signage is in both Welsh and English. The 2011 census, showed 562,000, or 19% of the population of Wales spoke Welsh: a slight reduction. I’ve had the very uncomfortable experience in Wales of being in a site lift containing maybe 30 men all speaking Welsh!
I’ve always thought it remarkable that in the relatively small island embracing England, Scotland and Wales there are so many very localised dialects that can be difficult for outsiders to understand. The old dialects are very much derived from ancient languages and the movements of invaders prior to and including the Norman conquest in 1066. I’m a native of Cumbria, one of the two English counties bordering Scotland, the other being Northumbria. Both have distinct dialects of their own, especially in the Cumbrian Lake District and the Northumbria River Tyne Valley (Geordie), with words and place names originating from an ancient Welsh language and Old Norse following Viking settlement. Some words are common throughout the border counties and Scotland, such as ‘bairn’ for a child. Within living memory distinct dialects have, for example, been spoken in Lancashire and Yorkshire cotton mill working areas, in rural East Anglia, Kent, Suffolk, Cornwall and elsewhere. A survey of English dialects about 50 years ago identified 287. Add to that mix the influence of influxes of West Indians, Pakistanis and Indians in the last 60 years to mainly urban areas creating new dialects with little connection to what has preceded them.
Please forgive me, what I’ve only touched on is such a fascinating subject. If it interests you at all there’s a huge amount of information and spoken samples on the web.
Hi Donald, that is fascinating info, thanks for sharing it as I’m sure there are lots of readers who are interested in this too. Well across the pond here in Canada we pretty much all speak the same dialect with the exception of Newfoundland. Over there you wouldn’t understand a thing!! But it’s a beautiful province and the people are friendly and quite accommodating to those of us who don’t speak newfie.
Loving these comments!
I am an Anglo-Scot who has lived in England for over fifty year and was born and raised in Scotland hence the title.
I now live in West Yorkshire in England and to the locals I am definitely a Scotsman, but when I go home and meet up with my family they call me “The Englishman” so you see, you are not the only one who gets confused on the subject.
This can be put down (I guess) to the fact that I have developed a dialect of my own, perhaps like that man that was warning the ” Toorists” to move away.
Locally I am sometimes taken for a “Tynesider” i.e. “A Geordie” which is not surprising as this is sometimes said to be a cross between a Scotsman and an Englishman (although I would disagree) but that is another story!
Then when I go down to London and speak to them they haven’t a clue as to what I am saying but I have the same problem in reverse when they speak to me in ” Cockney” when they say things like ” up the apples and Pears” which means…Up the stairs’
Historically many many years ago the river Tyne was the border between Scotland and England so that also might have had an influence on dialect/s. ( BTW-The River Tweed is now the NE border)
Back to ‘ yer coos’ that variety of cow (using my English vernacular) was a ” Muckle Coo” or in other words a “Big Cow” can’t remember the word for Baby Cow perhaps it was just called ” a we-in ” another name for ” a bairn” (child)
Yes the British Isles is a very cosmopolitan place but the Scots have a term that covers them all!
We are all “Jock Tamson’s bairns’ where I think the translation is something like ” We are all God’s children”
So I will leave it at that!
Hi Alex, thanks for contributing to this most interesting discussion! Who would have thought there would be all this information about various dialects of the english language on a photography blog? I’m going to try my best to remember “Jock Tamson’s bairns” because that would probably be a funny thing for me to say to a Scot being that I am foreigner who doesn’t understand what is being said. Many thanks for your visit and comments.
Hi Anne,
When you started talking with the owner of the three coos, did you ask him then if it was ok to take pictures, or just not even bring it up? So often, I’ve wanted to pull over and take a picture of a bull that I see when traveling to my mom’s house, but I’m afraid of being yelled at by the owner if he catches me. I know I shouldn’t let fear hold me back, but I just don’t know how to handle those situations, especially when it’s someone else’s private property.
Thanks for sharing all your travels and beautiful pictures.
Hi Kim, Yes, I asked him. I probably would have made photos if he didn’t happen to be there, but since he was I asked him. You do have a point about private property, but I think you’re okay if you are on a public road. I mean, the google car photographs everything from the road so it must be okay 🙂
Thanks for your reply and reminder about google cars. I’ll keep that in mind if I’m ever confronted 🙂
Hello Anne, your photos remind me of last year’s visit to the Isle of Skye and I got an interesting shot of a coo facing my husband in an amusingly confrontational scene…they were both staring at each other intently! The variety of dialects and accents in the UK is quite remarkable – even in a relatively short distance (to us Canadians – I’m from Ottawa originally but live near London now) they can differ quite strongly!
Hi Anne, I loved those coos!! They have such a unique look and quite the intense stare. I sure wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of one. Glad to hear you enjoyed Skye too. I hope I get a chance to go back one day, it was such a dramatic landscape. Thanks for your visit and comments!