James IV’s linguistic experiment

During the reign of James IV of Scotland, Inchkeith was allegedly the site of a language deprivation experiment. Robert Lyndsay of Pitscottie wrote in a chronicle that in 1493, James IV directed that a mute woman and two infants be transported to the island, in order to ascertain which language the infants would grow up to speak isolated from the rest of the world. This speech, in contemporary theory, would be the “original” language, or the “language of God”. Pitscottie’s version of the story, written in Scots language and given here in modern spelling beneath, was;

“And also the king gart tak ane dum woman and pat hir in Inchekeytht and gaif hir tua young bairnes in companie witht hir, and gart furnische them of all necessar thingis pertening to thair nourischment that is to say, meit, drink, fyre and candell, claithis, with all uther kynd of necessaris quhilk (is) requyrit to man or woman, desyrand the effect heirof to come to knaw quhat langage (or, “leid”) thir bairnes wald speik quhene they cam to lauchfull aige. Some sayis they spak goode hebrew bot as to myself I knaw not bot be the authoris reherse.”

In modern English: "The king ordered a mute woman to be put on Inchkeith and gave her two young children in company with her, and provided them with everything they would need for their nourishment, food, drink, fire and candle, clothes, and all other kinds of necessities needed by man or woman. He was desirous to discover what language the children would speak when they came of proper age. Some say they spoke good Hebrew, but I myself know no more than my sources say