Another Passing

   You've probably never heard of Bobby Hogg, let alone the Black Isle in Scotland where he died recently at age 92. You've also probably never heard of Cromarty, a little fishing village on the island where Bobby was born and likely spent almost all of his entire life. And with his passing, the world will never hear the Cromarty dialect of the English language again. At least not first hand. Bobby Hogg was the last person fluent in that dialect, which was influenced by the bible, complete with "Thee" and "Thou".
   Why care? Well, it's simply because of the global influence of the machine you're sitting at (hopefully) reading this post, which is directly responsible, along with T.V, for the decline and fall of so many different regional languages and dialects.
   With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can access things like You Tube which, along with T.V, I feel is responsible for the North Americanization of language. Another culprit is the global reach of (and I hate to say it, but it's true) American programs and networks like MTV. Let alone Facebook and Twitter and all the other social networks.
   We were in Scandinavia a few years ago, and the only people with what we would call an accent were those over 30. All the rest of the youth spoke impeccable North American English. In fact, the TV shows we saw were in English, with subtitles in the local language.
   English has very much become the Lingua Franca of the world, especially when it comes to economic matters.
   And while that's fine as far as it goes, it also at times goes too far. I feel that regional dialects and accents are what set us apart, in a loose way of putting it, and can help draw communities together.
   So, RIP Bobby Hogg, and RIP the Cromarty dialect.
   'Nuff said.