british english is spoken in the present day across the island, and developed from the old english brought to the island by anglo-saxon settlers from the mid 5th century. some 1.5 million people speak scots—an indigenous language of scotland. an estimated 700,000 people speak welsh, an official language in wales. in parts of north west scotland, scottish gaelic remains widely spoken. there are various regional dialects of english, and numerous languages spoken by some immigrant populations.