Gaelic in Scotland

Gàidhlig

Contact between what is now Scotland with what is now Ireland had always occurred as the Mull of Kintyre is only about 12 miles across the North Channel from Ireland.  People known to the Romans as Scotii traveled between what are now known as Ulster and Argyll trading and eventually establishing small settlements.  These Scotii were an Irish tribe known as the Dál Riata.  At the time, the population of Scotland was made up of the Pictii (Picts) who many scholars believe were a Brythonic speaking group of Celts.

As noted above numbers of Dál Riata probably emigrated over time.  From around 400 AD, Cairpre Riata led the rest of his people across the water to the land of the Picts to what is now Argyll.  This remained the case until around 497 AD, however, when Fergus Mór mac Eirc, King of Dál Riata, arrived with more of his people bringing his Kingship with him.  As a result the emphasis of Dál Riata shifted from Ireland to Scotland.

The Dál Riata or Scots spoke Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge) which differed from the Celtic language spoken by the Picts.  The Dál Riata spread over the islands of Islay, Jura and Arran the Inner Hebrides and beyond Dunollie (at present-day Oban) in the north.  The heritage of the Scots, particularly the people of the Western Isles and Highlands… the Gaedheal, is set firmly in the history of Dál Riata.

During the 9th century AD, the Gaelic leader Kenneth MacAlpin united the Picts and the Gaels and became the first ruler of Alba, an area comprising most of Scotland north of the rivers Forth and Clyde.  Alba remains the Gaelic name for Scotland as a whole. 

The Gaelic language spread north and eastwards until, by the 11th century, it was the dominant tongue from Caithness to Cumbria.  Only Caithness, the far south-east of the country and the northern Isles remained outside "Gaelic" Scotland.  As a result, Gaelic will have been spoken in most areas of the country at one time or another and it has left an enduring legacy of place names throughout Scotland.  The earliest surviving Gaelic written down in Scotland in the 12th century is in the form of notes in the Book of Deer. 

Gaelic's zenith was reached between the 12th and 13th centuries.  Then it was replaced  as the language of king's court as the Scottish monarchy became more cosmopolitan, through contacts with the Normans, the Flemish and the English.  Around that time it began a gradual retreat northwards and westwards as the Scots and English language pushed in from the south.  
 
By the 14th century, Gaelic culture was settled primarily in the Highlands and Islands.  There, the Lordship of the Isles (although in Gaelic the grander title Rí Innse Gall was used for the ruler) which lasted from 1340 to 1439 provided a haven for those skilled in Gaelic-speaking culture and traditions.

Before 1600 the written language in Highland Scotland and Ireland was a strict standard called Classical Gaelic, although the common daily language (the vernacular) had been gradually diverging.  As a result of the loss of formal support from the crown this classic Gaelic gradually disappeared and a distinct Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) version began to emerge for the first time in writing during the 17th century.

Since the reign of James VI (1567-1625) governments in Edinburgh and London have regarded Gaelic as 'barbarous' and have sought to repress it in various ways.  Despite more than two hundred years of suppression, condemnation and official neglect, however, the Gaelic language is still vibrant in the modern world. 

One of the most distinctive features of the Outer Hebrides is the prevalence of the Gaelic language.  With the exception of the areas around Stornoway in Lewis, the majority of the population is native Gaelic speaking.  More than anywhere else the Outer Hebrides remains the stronghold of this ancient Celtic language and are considered a Gàidhealtachd. 

The existence of Gaelic place-names throughout Scotland is testament that Gaelic was once spoken in Scotland.  Words such as loch, beinn (‘hill’, sometimes anglicized as Ben), glen, cill (‘church’, sometimes anglicized as Kil(l), as in Kilmarnock), achadh , (‘field’, sometimes ‘ach’, as in Achindinny) are Gaelic and are typically Gaelic.

The Gaelic Society An Comunn Gàidhealach was formed in 1899, in order to promote the use of the language and get it accepted for teaching purposes in Gaelic-speaking areas.  An Comunn Gàidhealach founded the Royal National Mod which is an annual event involving Gaelic music.  It is still held every year.  The passage of the 1918 Education Act instructed local authorities to make “adequate provision for teaching Gaelic in Gaelic-speaking areas”. 

Another, more radical, language movement was formed in 1969.  The Comunn na Canain Albannaich (CNCA) carried out a series of campaigns to have Gaelic used in more areas of public life.  Although the movement did not have widespread support, protests were held against the Post Office in the 1970s for refusing to deliver letters addressed in Gaelic.  CNCA managed to get bilingual road signs used in some areas and more hours of radio broadcasting for Gaelic. 

Another important development in the 1970s was the decision by the Western Isles local government (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar) to adopt a bilingual policy in all its official business.  In 1973, the first Gaelic college in Scotland, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig was founded on the Isle of Skye.  Both these institutions promote the use of Gaelic in the Gàidhealtachd areas and beyond. 

In 1998 An Comunn Gàidhealach also launched a new monthly all-Gaelic newspaper An Gàidheal Ur.  In 2001, the United Kingdom officially recognized Gaelic under the terms of Part III of the Council of Europe Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The first local Gaelic music festival, or feis, was held on the Isle of Barra in 1982.  Since then the Feisean nan Gàidheal movement has spread all over the country, with local feisean being held in all areas.  Now there is also a national Gaelic arts agency, Proiseact nan Ealan.  This agency runs courses to train artists working in the Gaelic medium.  Gaelic broadcasting has developed significantly in recent years with documentaries, short films, learners’ programs, children’s’ programs, talk and music shows.  For a time in the early 1990s there was a major soap opera called Machair which was filmed on the Isle of Lewis.  Radio nan Gàidheal broadcasts a national Gaelic FM radio service for several hours every which can be received in most parts of the country.

Gaelic is the longest-standing language used in Scotland, as robust as the Scots themselves, having survived since the 3rd century AD.  The Gaelic language is now spoken by 86,000 of the five million people of Scotland, mostly in the Western Isles.  It is gradually being reincorporated into Scottish public life.  Until recently the naming of official bodies in Gaelic was virtually unknown.  Over a hundred bodies including national organizations, local authorities, banks and commercial organizations have adopted Gaelic names.

Many Gaelic speaking people can be found all over the world, especially in Canada and the USA, where the descendants of the crofters who emigrated from the Highland Clearances keep the tradition alive.