Gordon McKenzie Hay MBE (born 1952 or 1953) is a Scottish author, translator and former solicitor who has translated a range of works into the Doric dialect of the Scots language. He is best known for writing the first complete translation of the Bible into Scots.
Gordon McKenzie Hay [1] was born in 1952 or 1953 and raised in Inverkeithny [2] in the historic county of Banffshire. [3] He attended Inverkeithny Parish Church which was then part of the Church of Scotland [4] and his passion for Doric was inspired by Charles Murray's poem "It wisna his Wyte", which he performed at a school concert. [5]
Hay was a solicitor when he started working on a Doric translation of the New Testament in 2006, finishing and publishing it in 2012. [6] He then began working on a translation of the Old Testament, retiring as a solicitor during this time and publishing it in 2023. While parts of the Bible had previously been translated into Scots, Hay's translation is the first to cover it completely. [7] He was invited by Jackie Dunbar, the MSP for Aberdeen Donside, to appear at the Scottish Parliament's Time for Reflection to read parts of the translation. [8] [9]
In 2021, Hay published a compilation of nursery rhymes titled Doric Nursery Rhymes for Loons & Quines [10] which subsequently won the 2022 Bairns' Beuk o the Year from the Scots Language Awards . [11] Other works he has translated include Peter and the Wolf [12] and parts of The Pickwick Papers [13] and George Frederic Handel's Messiah . [14]
Hay was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire as part of the 2025 New Year Honours. [15] [16]
Hay has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. He is an elder of the Church of Scotland, [17] a church organist [14] and the choirmaster at Longside Parish Church. [18]