Experience the resurgence

Scottish Gaelic is having something of a renaissance as Scots affirm their national identity. So how can you find out more about it?

Never has cultural identity meant more to the Celtic fringe countries than it does now.

As the world becomes more globalised and international brands become more common the world over, scores of people have been motivated to seek out their own heritage and history.

The Celtic communities of Scotland, Cornwall, Isle of Man and Britanny in Northern France have all witnessed revivals in their cultures and language.

For Scotland the changes have been pronounced. Road signs in Gaelic are now common-place, and children's television includes Gaelic language programmes as well as translations of children's favourites such as Bob The Builder. Gaelic courses and classes are becoming much more common.

Scottish Gaelic is derived from Irish Gaelic, and the two languages have much in common. They are both from the Goidelic tradition, distinct from the language spoken in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. It is widely accepted that the language first arrived in Scotland from Ireland in the 4th century AD and rapidly established in the western region of Scotland known as Dalraida. By the 11th century it was spoken across the whole of Scotland, and it flourished in the Lordship of the Isles, a semi-autonomous state of Scotland's west coast, from the 11th to the 15th century.

From that time, though, the language went into serious decline, discouraged by the political seats of London and Edinburgh.

Over the centuries its speakers retreated to the North West Highlands and to the Western isles, ...

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• By : Rob Allanson
• In : Contemporary Scotland
• Issue : 48
• Page : 42
• Words : 767