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Reference.org
Early Scots
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<p>Early <a href="/facts/Scots_language/0qPof8oC">Scots</a> was the emerging literary language of the <a href="/facts/Early_Middle_English/dj1wHvwd">Early Middle English</a>–speaking parts of <a href="/facts/Scotland/VGwbbxB2">Scotland</a> in the period before 1450. The northern forms of Middle English descended from <a href="/facts/Northumbrian_Old_English/9Wuz9HXF">Northumbrian Old English</a>. During this period, speakers referred to the language as "English" (<i>Inglis</i>, <i>Ynglis</i>, and variants). </p><p>Early examples such as <a href="/facts/John_Barbour_(poet)/FdIevQHy">Barbour</a>’s <i><a href="/facts/The_Brus/ULbBI92Y">The Brus</a></i> and <a href="/facts/Andrew_of_Wyntoun/rcqH45DR">Wyntoun</a>’s <i>Chronicle</i> are better explained as part of Northern Middle English than as isolated forerunners of later Scots, a name first used to describe the <i>language</i> later in the <a href="/facts/Middle_Scots/3BnpBjTJ">Middle Scots</a> period. </p>