| Some 2,500 years ago, the Celts were the masters of a vast pan-European Celtic commonwealth which was eventually to stretch from Anatolia (Turkey) to Portugal and from Italy to Scotland. The importance of their place in the European cultural, linguistic and artistic development is only now being rediscovered. The old European Celtic dialects were, of course, ancestors of modern Welsh and Gaelic.
These Celts enjoyed life. Food and feasting were important. Lavish hospitality was a sign of nobility. The tradition of hospitality still survives in Scotland today. Celtic culture, history and facts were not written down but transmitted by speech and memorised in verse and song. Yet these Celts had an advanced culture. They were skilled in law, metalwork and philosophy - and especially fighting. Celtic women were also able warriors, merchants and rulers because women had the same rights as men.
Despite their advanced culture, they lacked unity. Eventually, the growing Roman military machine began to overrun their lands. Gaul (France) fell, then the south of Britain. But Scotland remained unconquered, the Romans being stopped by the Picts, a Celtic people. Neither were the Celts in Ireland conquered, and it was from Ireland that the Gaels were to come to Scotland.
A tribe of Irish Gaels called Scotti probably first settled in what is now Scotland some time before 450 AD. They gradually expanded their territory and introduced a Celtic form of monastic Christianity. From their monasteries they sent missionaries all over Europe and developed a kingdom which was eventually merged with the kingdom of the Picts. By the 11th century, the united kingdom of the Scots covered most of what is present-day Scotland. The language of King, court and most of the people was Gaelic. That was the high point of the Gaelic language in Scotland.
In the 11th century, English became the language of the court and gradually Gaelic lost prestige and influence. By the Union of the English and Scottish Crowns in 1601, the English language had become dominant throughout southern, central and eastern Scotland. Gaelic remained the language of the Highlands and Islands.
Disaster came in 1746 when many of the influential Gaelic clans (tribes) found themselves on the losing side of the struggle between the houses of Stuart and Hanover for the British crown. A process of disarming the clans, confiscation of land and starvation or forced migration resulted in the "clearance" of Gaelic speaking people to North America or the growing Scottish cities. The heart was torn out of Gaelic economic, social and cultural life.
Decline continued into the 20th century. The school system systematically worked to beat - or worse, to ridicule - the language out of the mouths of its young clients. By about 1980, the transmission of the language to the next generation had almost broken down.
In the 1980s, a small group of influential Gaels was brought together by HIE's predecessor, the Highlands and Islands Development Board, to look at the state of the language and to consider what might be done to encourage its development. The result was a report Cor na Gàidhlig which recommended the creation of a new Gaelic development body - Comunn na Gàidhlig (CNAG) to promote and organise the development of the language.
The successful turnaround of Gaelic profile, confidence, educational provision, business usage and arts development is summarised in the following links:
Strategy for Gaelic
Gaelic Medium Education
Economic Development
Cultural/Arts Development
Promoting the Value of Gaelic Development |