The Other Gaelic

A bheinn is àird’ a th’ anns an tir,’
S ann oirr’ ìs trìc a chithear an ceò.
The highest mountain in the land
Is oftnest covered with mist.

– Gaelic Proverb

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language, closely related to Irish Gaelic, but grew distinct from it over centuries, separated by the Irish Sea. Today, the language has fifty-thousand speakers compared to around two million Irish speakers. It is mostly spoken in the western isles of Scotland and in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in Canada.

All Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish and Manx Gaelic; as well as our Brittonic cousins: Welsh, Breton and Cornish are part of a family of shared trauma.

All have their stories. Scottish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic, or Gàidhlig (pronounced more like GAH-lick, though we’ve heard the jokes, it’s fine) is close to me because of my Scottish heritage. They are ancestral memories, stories through generations, pure DNA tests placing my freckles upon the waves of the Hebrides. 

Scots came to Scotland in the 6th century CE, setting up a kingdom called Dál Riada to [see above], in present day Argyll (Earra-Ghàidheal). They eventually supplanted and intermarried with the native Picts, so that we know Scotland as the land of the Scots (gaels from Ulster), rather than Pictland. The Picts are a Sphinx. Most scholars believe them to have been Celtic, but more related to the modern Welsh. I have an obsession with the Picts, but this isn’t about them, so we’ll leave those painted warriors who repelled Rome aside.

In around 840 CE, Kenneth MacAlpin (Old Irish: Cinéad mac Ailpín) unified the Scots and the Picts and is the legendary founder of the Kingdom of Scotland (Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba) which lasted until the Acts of Union in 1707, creating the United Kingdom (hiss! boo! I’m a supporter of the Scottish National Party or Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba, a left-of-centre party which advocates for an independent Scotland and supports furthering Gaelic education).

Thus, much of Scotland became Gaelic speaking, especially in the Isles and Highlands (a’ Ghàidhealtachd). Lowland Scotland would adopt Scots, a Germanic language closely related to English. The linguistic witticism of “a language is a dialect with an army and navy” applies here. Your more Unionist (Aonachas) and Tory (Tòraidh) will not only not care about Celtic lnguages, but frame Scots as a dialect of English. ‘Auld Lang Syne‘, by our national poet, Robert “Rabbie” Burns an example of more accessible Scots. Over time, especially after the Acts of Union, what was supposed to be the joing of two equal kingdoms under James I (who was King James VI of Scotland – technically, Queen Elizabeth II, was only the first in Scotland, a point that was made in the Pillar Box War of the 1950s)

Scottish Gaelic’s demise began a early as the 11th Century under Malcolm III (Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh), when he married an Anglo-Saxon queen. Anglo-Norman influence would continue, with Old English and Norman French replacing Gaelic at the court until the early 15th century, when its préstige ultimately ceased. Still, it remained the common tongue in the countryside, Highlands, western isles (the islands of Shetland and Orkney to the east and north of the Scottish mainland had their own language which itself died around the 18th century, derived from Old Norse).

And so Gaelic was pushed to the periphery, to the hills, to the insular west and the Hebrides, which to this day [see image above], is the last stronghold of Native speakers (other than maybe Cape Breton in Canada). We’ll revisit both later.

The Disarming Act of 1715 after the first Jacobite (Na Seumasaich) rebellion against the English. Another was passed in 1747 afteer the Rising of ’45, Prince Charlie, which aimed to destroy the Clan system (how Gaelic was the clan system though? Clann is ‘children’ in Gaelic, but this post questions whether Gaelic was still spokeen rather than Scots) and erase Highland culture, including kilts (fèileadh), bagpipes (pìob), weapons (such as the sgian dubh, meaning black or hidden’ knife, dirk, biodag; and claymore, claidheamh-mòr) and, implicitly, Gaelic.

It was, in essence cultural genocide. England (Sasainn, meaning ‘Saxon’) had already done it with the Welsh (Supression of Welsh Culture is older than the wars against Scotland (the ‘Braveheart” ones) and Welsh Not, where Engish teachers would beat children who spoke Welsh in classs is as infafamous as drowning Welsh-speaking towns for English electricity in Liverpool), tried to do it to the Irish starting with the 1537 Act for English Order of Henry VIII when he wasn’t killiing wives; Elizabeth I, Cromwell, the Pale, Ulster Plantation, famine, you know, 800 years of the English (and in bitter irony Scottish transplants, the Scots-Irish, of which I am also descended, and the Ulster dialect of Scots spoken in Northern Ireland, Ulster Scots:Norlin Airlann) being dicks.

Tha tapadh air teanga an Eirionnaich,
Ach ’s ann ad dèidh làimh th’an Gaidheal glic.
The Irishman’s with is on (the tip of) his tongue,
The Gael is wise after the event.

– Gaelic Proverb

Ireland’s woes are well know, especially the Hibernian diaspora in America and Commonwealth countries like Canada (Newfies) and Australia in the 19th century. This is what inspired me to write this. I love my Irish brothers, but feel like Scottish culture and history is confused for Irish. I’d rather be called Irish than English (in this context, I have English heritage, as well), but I identify and feel Scottish.

But in Scotland, the English boot was also brutally effective, and it’s still not forgotton. To this day it is still illegal to carry a bagpipe into the Westminster Parliament. In 1654 a highway and fort for Cromwell’s New Model Army were built to subdue the clans in Fort William (An Gearsdainn),which has an unusually high 7% rate of Gaelic fluency, compared with the nationwide average of 1-2% (Scotland being devolved with its own parliament (Pàrlamaid na h-Alba), since 1998). Where the Romans failed to subdue the Pictii, the Caledonii, et cetera; the English trod over the ancient ruins of the Hadrian and Antonine walls and subsued the barbarous, rebellious Scots.

The Highland Clearances (Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal), which raged from 1750-1860, was the death knell. This destroyed for good the Clan system of feudalism and ancient rite, took crofters from their homes, and subdued the “Scottish problem” forever (or so they had hoped in light of Scots polling 50-50 for independence from 2024-6, significant, though I wish they would Irish up and kick the English out like our Celtic brothers did). This was to Scotland what the Trail of Tears of the Native Americans was, what the Naqba was to Palestinians, what the Potato Famine was to Ireland.

Scottish Highlanders and crofters mostly went to Canada, notably, Nova Scotia (Alba Nuadh, New Scotland), rather than Boston or New England, like the Irish. Nova Scotia had been set up by King James VI of Scotland I (James I of England), as a Scottish colony in 1623. Many settled on an island north of the Nova Scotian peninsula, the isle of Cape Breton (Eilean Cheap Bhreatainn).

Others from the expusion went to the Carolinas in the Colonies. Apart from Scotch-Irish in the Appalachains, there were Gaelic speakers in North Carolina, which had been a curiious refuge for Jacobites before them after both failed attempts to restore King Charles VII to the throne (Bonnie King Charlie). Gaelic was spoken in and published in North Carolna until the mid-19th century. Gaelic was also brought to the South Island of New Zealand, but faded in the second generation.

In Scotland, The Education (Scotland) Act of 1872, which taught only English in school, effectively killed Gaelic in most of Scotland.

Here is my story, and how I came to love this endangered language.

I was very insistent I was only there because there was no Scottish Gaelic available, they rolled their eyes a little. —The Gaelics are similar, much as Portuguese and Spanish are. It helped in the same way, with shared vocabulary and some grammar. I do miss that worn blue Irish dictionary though, wouldn’t mind Irish again. But only after Scottish Gaelic. Ireland requires Irish taught in primary school with English. It’s safe. It’s even an official language of the European Union.

I have not made it there, but a couple years back i made it to Halifax in winter, hoping to attend an immersive, live-in weekend at the Colaisde na Gàidhlig (Gaelic College). It was cancelled, but I had.great time in Halifax, and Canada is great (sidebar, I’m trying to get a work visa and emigrate to Canada, though prolly British Columbia). I can see why the Scots found Nova Scotia familar, it really is New Scotland, but with blue noses!

The forgotten and third Gaelic is Manx Gaelic, or Gaelg. It’s last native speaker died in 1974, but it has seen a revival around the Isle of Man.


Revival

In Wales; Welsh (Cymraeg, kum-RA-ig), is spoken by nearly one fifth of the population. Much of this is connected with politics and policies today enacted by the Sennedd in Cardiff. As mentioned before, Irish is widely promoted.

Other than Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, the Colaisde na Gàidhlig are the only two centres of learning devoted exclusiively Gaelic in the world. Univerities in the United Kingdom, mostly in Scotland, offer Gaelic courses, but Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is unique in that it teaches in Gaelic, and offers postgraduate courses.

Bòrd na Gàidhlig, was set up in 2005 as an act of parliament in Westminster according to the Gaelic Language Act. This was less than a decade after Scotland won devolution to have its own parliament for domestic Scottish issues. in 2016, there was the Education (Scotland) Act, which established Gaelic Medium Education (GME), allowing primary education to be taught in Gaelic.

The Scottish Languages Bill of 2025 in the Scottish Parliament, formally reconised both Gaelic and Scots as national languages alongside English. In addition, more street signage is bilingual. BBC Alba (Alba is Scotland in Gaelic) offers limited radio and television content in Gaelic; Radio nan Gàidheal also broadcasts. Many signs are bilingual, especially in the Highlands and western isles. 

Only recently are we seeing the same push as Ireland made (An Caighdeán Oifigiúil) after it became the Irish Republic in 1919 (and later incarnations with the current Republic of Ireland, or Poblacht na hÉireann), and reformed its spelling in the 1950’s, or in Wales, where it is the last scrap of an identity they’ve fiercely defended and promoted since being conquered centuries before Scotland. But, it is faring better than other Celtic languages like Cornish (being revived), Manx (being revived), and Breton which has hung on, even after continuing suppression since the French Revolution.

There is no country without a language is a common saying across world cultures. You snuff out a language, you destroy a culture. They did that where I live in Arizona at the Indian Schools. Soviets discouraged Ukrainian and other languages. Going back to the Celts, the Romans extinguished Gaulish after Jullius Caesar’s conquest of Gaul.

The Language

Gaelic is a Celtic language deriving from Old Irish and closely related to Irish (Gaeilge) and Manx (Gaelg). These are called Goidelic, or Q-Celtic. It is less closely related to Welsh (Cymraeg), Cornish (Kernowek), and Breton (Brezhoneg), which are classified as Brittonic, or P-Celtic. Q and P refer to a consont shift where Goidelic uses k-sounds, such as in Gaelic mac (son), and Brittonic use p-sounds, as in mab (son).

The Gaelic alphabet uses only eighteen letters:a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u. Many are combined h, which is never used by itself. The spelling itself is more conservative than modern Irish, ironically keeping in more line with Middle Irish. Vowels have several diphtongs like ao, and they affect the pronuciation of consonants whether surrounded by broad vowels (caol: a, o, u) or slender vowels (leathann: e, i). The saying for this is “caol ri caol agus leathann ri leathann” (broad to broad and slender to slender. Other than this is softening of a initial consonant, lenition. by adding an h. So unique is this to Celtic languages, there an aphorism: Celts of the World, lenite!

In addition, Gaelic has two genders, masculine and feminine; and four cases: nominative, vocative, genitive, and dative. It also an accent mark (stràch) which looks like a backwards accent mark as in the French déjà vous, or Italian (which also exclusively uses the grave accent) chè. An easy way to tell Gaelic from Irish is that Irish uses an acute, or forward accent, called a fáda. In both it lengthens a vowel. Other features are that there are eight ways to say the definitive article (the), there are no words for ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘to have’.

Some key phrases:

Ceud mìle fàilte – kayd meeluh fawl-chuh – a hundred thousand welcomes
Ciamar a tha thu? – kimmer uh hah oo – how are you
Tha gu math, tapadh leat – hah gu mah, tah-puh laht – I am good, thank yoou
Dè an t-ainm th’ort? – jay uhn tay-nuhm hort – what’s your name?
‘S mise […] – ish mishuh – I am […]
Madainn mhath – mahdin vah – good morning
Feasgar math – fees-gar mah – good afternoon/evening
Oidhche mhath – eye-kuuh-uh vah – good night
Slàn leat – suh-lawn laht – goodbye
Slàinte mhath! – slawn-chuh vah – good health! (cheers!)

Examples:

É Horò, by Mary Jane Lamond, is a song about leaaving the Highlands and emigrating to Canada

É ho rò ‘s ‘na bheil air m’aire,
‘S mór an nochd a tha mi ‘caoidh
ill i gur mór mo luaidh ort,
Ged nach d’fhuair mi thu dhomh fhìn.

Nuair a sheasas mi ‘s an dorust
Chì mi ‘choille bhos mo chinn
Sìnidh mo shùilean air sileadh
Tha mo mhisneachd air a claoidh

‘Sann agam fhìn a bha na bràithrean
Bi mi ‘ga àireamh a chaoidh
‘S truagh nach robh mi aig a’ charraig
Nuair a dh’éibh iad soraidh leibh

Nuair a ràna’ sinn ‘n “Table”
Mo chuideachd gu léir ann cruinn
Mo phiuthar ‘s mo bhràthair-céile
‘S gun stiall eudaich air an druim

Seiche na bà air a cairteadh
‘S air a càradh air mo dhruim
Mi air stàbhradh leis an acaras
Col’as a’ bhàis a’ tighinn air m’aghaidh

Nam biodh agam cliabh ‘s corran
Feamain iseal ‘s m’eathar fhìn
Cha bhiodh mo chlann air a’ bhrochan
‘S an tìr mhosach ‘gamo chlaoidh

Translation here

Hallaig, by Sorley MacLean (Somhairle MacGill-Eain), is about the Higland Clearances:

‘Tha tìm, am fiadh, an coille Hallaig’

Tha bùird is tàirnean air an uinneig
trom faca mi an Àird an Iar
’s tha mo ghaol aig Allt Hallaig
’na craoibh bheithe, ’s bha i riamh

‘Time, the deer, is in the wood of Hallaig’

The window is nailed and boarded
through which I saw the West
and my love is at the Burn of Hallaig,
a birch tree, and she has always been

Full poem here

And a final traditional saying;

“Ma chailleas mi thu càit’ an am faigh mi thu?” 
A ghaoth — “Air mullach na’n earn.” 
Dh’fheòirich i  de’n cheò — “Ma chailleas mi thu, càit’ am faigh mi thu ?”
A cheò — “Air mullach nam beann.” 
Dh’ fheòirich mi bho Chi — “Ma chailleas mi thu, càit’ am faigh mi thu ?” 
‘Cliù — “Caill mise aon uair,  ‘s cha’n fhaigh thu gu brath tuilleadh mi.” 
She asked of the wind — “I lost you, where could I find you?” 
The wind — “On the top of the cairns.” 
She asked of the mist — “I lost you, where could I find you?” 
The Mist — “On the top of the mountains.” 
She  asked  of  Fame — “I lost you, where could I find you?” 
Fame — “Lose me once, and you will never find me  again.” 

Hopefully, we never lose Gaelic. I am among those trying to keep it alive.

Bibliography

• Complete Gaelic Beginner to Intermediate Course, by Boyd Robertson & Iain Taylor
• Teach Yourself Essential Gaelic Dictionary, by Boyd Robertson & Ian Macdonald
• Scottish Gaelic – English / English – Scottish Gaelic Dictionary, by R. W. Renton
• Nua-Bhardachd Ghaidhlig / Modern Scottish Poems, Donald MacAuley
• Gaelic Proverbs, by Thomas MacDonald (free online version)
• Gaelic Bible – Am Bìoball Iomraidh Gàidhlig, 1880 (free online version)

Online Resources

Learn Gaelic
Speak Gaelic
Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic Grammar Wiki
Love Gaelic
Sgoil Gàidhlig
Scottish Bible Society