Scottish Gaelic (Part 3, The Celtic Languages)

The most well-known Gaelic-speaking communities outside Scotland were in Canada, although there were other well-known Gaelic-speaking immigrant communities in Dunedin, New Zealand and Patagonia, Argentina, where vestiges of the culture still survive. In Canada, Cape Breton and Newfoundland had several strong Gaelic-speaking communities. Although Gaelic is not spoken widely there now, it did not go entirely extinct, and there is a strong cultural revival. Many Gaelic traditions have remained strong, including Gaelic songs.

Current Status of Scottish Gaelic

Gaelic is seriously endangered right now. It is spoken almost exclusively in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, with a few locations on Skye and the other islands and the northwestern mainland (3: “Scottish Gaelic”). There are also many speakers spread around the country, with a high proportion in Glasgow. In 1971, the Census indicated that there were about 88,500 native Gaelic speakers in Scotland (2), but the numbers have dropped rapidly. 20 years later, the Census showed about 66,000 speakers with just over 24,000 living in the Western Isles (1: “Geographical and language background”). Most of the others lived in the Highlands, or in or around the cities that have university programs in Celtic languages: Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

One of the big problems facing Gaelic is the movement of people away from the Gaeltacht (the strong Gaelic areas, such as the Outer Hebrides) to the cities and other areas of the mainland, for economic reasons (1: “Geographical and language background”). Consequently, these fluent speakers often stop using the language, particularly if they elect to stay permanently, and their children grow up outside the Gaeltacht and may or may not learn Gaelic.

This last point is also very important, because it is necessary for young people to learn the language if it is going to continue to exist. And in Gaeltacht itself, there are some problems, because many young people grow up not speaking Gaelic, even if their parents or grandparents speak it. There was a serious decline in the number of young people learning Gaelic during the 1980’s but since then more interest in Gaelic-medium education has helped to improve that (1: “Geographical and language background”).

Legally, Scottish Gaelic has little status. Because Gaelic was never attacked by legal acts the way Welsh was, the Scottish Office does not feel the need to pass symbolic legislation giving it legal status, as was done in Wales (1: “Legal status and official policies”). However, there are some

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