Sir, How deliciously apt for Magnus Linklater (Commentary, Jan 15 ) to say that “thrawn . . . aptly describes the character and personality of Gordon Brown”. “Almost untranslatable” as the word may be, nonetheless the Concise Scots Dictionary has a go: “Of persons . . . perverse, obstinate, intractable, cross, in a dour, sullen mood.”
Geoffrey Atkinson
Drumoak, Kincardineshire
Sir, I regularly use old Scots language words, such as ae, ee, jo, na, oo, ou, oy, and numerous three-letter words: they are recognised as Scrabble words and very useful, too.
Christopher A. Price
Gillingham, Kent
Sir, The 64 per cent of Scottish people who regard Scots merely as “a way of speaking” (news, Jan 15 ) should get hold of a copy of William Lorimer’s New Testament in Scots, and see if they still feel the same.
Gavin Hodgson,
Mickleton, Glos