A NEW Scottish thesaurus contains almost half a million insulting racial epithets for the country’s southern neighbours.

The Historical Thesaurus of Scots is published in two volumes, one a collection of invective, derogatory terms and crude sexual phrases used to describe the English, and one with all the other words.

Professor Bill McKay said: “These insults range back to Roman times, where we find ‘Caesar’s catamites’ carved repeatedly into Hadrian’s Wall.

“In the middle ages the English were ‘horse botherers’ or ‘shiteymen’, whereas during the Enlightenment they were called ‘fancywanks’.

“In the first half of the 20th Century the English became known as ‘Churchill’s bawbag’ and by the late 1970s the phrase ‘fuck-faced Jimmy Hill bastards’ was common parlance.”

He added: “The only reason the Picts developed language in the first place was to better insult the English. This is also, as far as we can tell, the reason for Welsh.”