The Gaelic Revival.

 

They used to say that the Gaelic language spoken in parts of Scotland was a dying language because so few people spoke it. It seems to have been spoken mainly in the west of Scotland and among people of the Western Isles.

Some years ago, I used to read copies of the West Highland Free Press, that were given to me by a lady who was from the Isle of Skye. That paper wasn't published in Gaelic but in English. I remember reading an article where a registrar in Scotland had refused to enter a child's name on a birth certificate because it was in Gaelic. It caused a bit of a fuss with some people suggesting that the registrar must've been a dastardly Sassenach, but it's very likely that the registrar was a Scot.

On another occasion, the newspaper posed a question that I found highly amusing. The newspaper asked how do you know when two people are speaking in Gaelic? Answer: They're the ones that are covered in spit. That sounded more like a Scottish joke to me because most English people have never heard the language spoken and are not familiar with the Gaelic language.

I also remember reading how iodine tablets had been given out to people on the Isle of Skye which sounded ominous to me, because this is usually done when there is a danger of exposure to radiation. There is a nuclear submarine base on Skye and it is thought that coolant discharged into the sea from these submarines may be radioactive. The lady from Skye showed me a Bible that was printed in the Gaelic language and reminded me of the similarities between the Irish native language and the Gaelic of the Scots.

Nowadays, there seems to have been a renewed interest in the Gaelic language and one of the fastest growing areas for the Gaelic language, is in Edinburgh. In parts of Wales, it is compulsory for children to be taught the Welsh language even though it's not likely to be of much use to you outside of Wales.

I think it is important to protect native languages and culture because it tells us a lot about the history of a people, even though much of this culture and tradition, might be of recent invention. There's little doubt that what many people think of as quintessentially Scottish, is derived from the imagination and writings of Sir Walter Scott in the 19th century and the romantic influence of Queen Victoria. Old Gaelic was the language of Macbeth even though he probably spoke Latin as well.

At the time of the Jacobite wars between England and the supporters of the young pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie, in the 18th century, the redcoat English soldiers would often refer to the Scots as the people of the Irish tongue. Many Scottish clansmen and Scots fought on both sides. After the Battle of Culloden, the English tried to ban all aspects of Gaelic Scottish culture including the language and dress, but they never succeeded.