The Doric

[gilmore]

I'd actually say that Doric and Scots are either

1) Dialects of English

or

2) Pidgin languages derived from English, Gaelic, Norse languages, etc.

The definition I'd always been given was that dialects are mutually intelligible (i.e. an American can go to Scotland and understand what Scots are saying)... I think it's pretty convincingly a seperate language with Doric... I know there are Doric words I wouldn't get at all if I hadn't been told what they mean.

Some say that English is a dialect of Scots....and they are as correct as those who hold vice versa.

Both Lallans and the language called English derive from one brought to those shores by the same peoples at the same time. For a good if brief summary or the development of Scots, see http://www.scots-online.org/grammar/