Sawney
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'''Sandie/y''' or '''Sawney''' was an [[England|English]] nickname for a [[Scotland|Scotsman]], now obsolete, and playing much the same linguistic role that "[[Jock]]" does now. Variations included '''Sanders''' and '''Sannock'''. The name is a [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]] [[diminutive]] of the favourite Scottish first name Alexander (also current as Alasdair, Alistair in a [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelicised]] form) from the last two syllables. The English commonly abbreviate the first two syllables into "Alec". In the days after the accession of [[James I of England|James VI]] to the English throne, under the title of James I, to the time of [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]], and the [[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute|Bute]] administration, when Scotsmen were exceedingly unpopular, and when Dr. [[Samuel Johnson]] - the great Scotophobe [http://www.samueljohnson.com/scotland.html], and son of a Scottish bookseller at [[Lichfield]] - thought it prudent to disguise his origin, and overdid his prudence by maligning his father's countrymen, it was customary to designate a Scotsman a "Sawney". This vulgar epithet, however, was dying out fast by the 1880s, and was obsolete by the 20th century.
Sawney was a common figure of fun in English cartoons, and one particularly [[racist]] example was called ''Sawney at the bog house'' showing a stereotypical Scotsman using a communal toilet by sticking one of his legs down each of the pans. It has also been suggested that the south western cannibal [[Alexander "Sawney" Bean|Sawney Bean]] may have been a fabrication to emphasise the alleged savagery of the Scots.
"Jock" is the term commonly used today, and fulfils much the same role. "Porridge wog" [http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Porridge_Wog][http://www.motorcycleforumz.com/ftopic-129536-30.html][http://www.rsdb.org/search?q=wog&sort=slur] and "Sweaty (Sock)" ([[rhyming slang]] for "Jock") may also be heard sometimes.
==See also==
*[[Alexander "Sawney" Bean|Sawney Bean]]
* [[John Bull]]
* [[Jock Tamson's Bairns]]
==References==
The main text of this article is derived from -
* MacKay, Charles – ''A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch'' (1888)
With additions from -
* Pittock, Murray - ''Inventing and Resisting Britain: Cultural Identities in Britain and Ireland, 1685-1789''
[[Category:National personifications]]
[[Category:Prejudice and discrimination]]
[[Category:Politics and race]]
[[Category:Stereotypes]]
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