WBobby Hogg took the Cromarty fisherfolk dialect out of existence with him when he died, at least as a fluently spoken mother tongue, and the media took notice. An actual Scots dialect dies with the passing of the last native speaker. Just as a local county councillor and historian said of it, "part of a way of life which is now gone."

Music and language are our two most powerful and complex communication systems. What is their relationship as mental systems? This question has fascinated thinkers for centuries, but only in the past decade has it become a focus of empirical research.