Windsor’s Scottish Heritage – Culture – Languages and Education: Scottish Gaelic
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Culture > Languages and Education > Languages:Scottish Gaelic
Languages & Education
Scottish Gaelic:
Linguistic Divide in 1400
Not to be confused with the Anglic Scots, Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language descended from Old Irish. The traditional language
of the Gaels (or Scotti, as the Romans called them), it became the historical language of Scotland
after replacing older northern languages such as Cumbric, Pictish, Old Norse, and Old English. Scholars disagree on how long Gaelic
has been spoken in Scotland; some sources suggest that the language was spoken in Argyll before the
Roman period. However, the fourth century consolidation of the kingdom of Dál Riata, which
linked the ancient province of Ulster in northern Ireland with south western Scotland, accelerated the expansion of Gaelic, as did
the success of the Roman Catholic Church, which was introduced to Scotland by Irish missionaries.
Gaelic was the language of the Royal court in the ancient period, but began to decline in mainland Scotland by the beginning of
the thirteenth century. As bards and nobles turned increasingly towards the English-derived Early Scots, Gaelic’s status as the
national language waned until it was eventually displaced in the Lowlands. By the fifteenth century, the cultural divide between
the Highlands and the Lowlands was beginning to emerge, with the former adhering to its ancient Celtic heritage while the latter
merged more closely with its English neighbours.
This pattern continued until Gaelic suffered a crushing blow in the eighteenth century. Following the
Jacobite defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the British government sought to destroy
the ability of the Highlands to rebel by assimilating the region into English custom. Among other types of oppression was the ban
on the Gaelic language. During the last half of the eighteenth century, over a quarter of Scotland’s population spoke only Gaelic.
That total had decreased to 18.5 percent by 1800, and it continued to plummet throughout the nineteenth century. The language
suffered a further devastating setback when Parliament passed the Education (Scotland) Act in 1872, which made no provision in the
new national educational system for Gaelic. When the Act was passed, almost one quarter million Scots were still monoglot
Gaelic-speakers; however, without any Gaelic instruction in the classroom, that figure plummeted fivefold within a generation. By
the Second World War, only 2-3% of Scots still spoke any Gaelic.
Gaelic speakers in Scotland 2001
The 2001 UK Census showed that there remained only 58,652 Gaelic speakers in Scotland (1.2% of population over three years old).
Compared to the 1991 Census, those figures showed a diminution of approximately 7,300 people (or 11% of the total Gaelic-speaking
population), meaning that the language continued to decline in Scotland into the new millennium. No community in the Highlands or
Isles had a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than 75%, and no community in mainland Scotland had a proportion greater than 20%.
The main stronghold of the language is in the Outer Hebrides, where the overall proportion of Gaelic speakers remains at over 50%.
The only other areas with significant proportions of Gaelic speakers are the islands of Tiree, Skye, Ramasay, and Lismore in the
Inner Hebrides. Out of the 900 parishes that make up Scotland, only 9 have a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than 50%; 20 have
a proportion over 25%; and just 39 have a proportion over 10%.
Only after Gaelic was in danger of becoming extinct in Scotland did people begin to make efforts to ensure its survival. Long
suffering from its lack of use in educational and administrative contexts, Gaelic finally achieved a degree of official recognition
in 2005 when Scottish Parliament passed the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act. The first piece of legislation to formally recognize
Scottish Gaelic, the act intended to secure Gaelic as an official language of Scotland that commands “equal respect” with English.
It provided for the establishment of a statutory Gaelic development body, Bord na Gaidhlig (BnG), as a
part of the framework of the Scottish Government, to develop a national plan to provide strategic direction for the development of
the language. The BnG is also responsible for promoting the use and understanding of Gaelic, guiding education authorities on Gaelic
education, and for requiring public devolved bodies to develop Gaelic language plans in relation to the services they offer.
Moreover, the British government pledged to take a range of concrete measures in the fields of education, justice, public
administration, broadcasting and culture in regard to the Gaelic language, by ratifying the European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages in 2007.
Bilingual Roadsign
The first modern Gaelic-medium secondary school, Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu (Glasgow Gaelic
School), opened in 2006. In the 2006-7 school year, a total of 2,092 children were enrolled in Scotland’s sixty-one Gaelic-medium
primary schools. After centuries of suppression in schools, Scottish children are finally receiving access to their nation’s
historical language. In addition to ensuring that students have sufficient opportunity to learn Gaelic, the BnG is also working to
introduce Gaelic media into Scotland. In 2008, BBC Scotland launched a division for Gaelic-languages services called BBC Alba, which
operates a radio station, television channel, and website.
Gaelic Speakers in Scotland
Year
Scottish population
Speakers of Gaelic only
Speakers of Gaelic and English
Speakers of Gaelic and English as % of population
1755
1,265,380
289,798
N/A
N/A (22.9 Monoglot Gaelic)
1800
1,608,420
297,823
N/A
N/A (18.5 Monoglot Gaelic)
1881
3,737,573
231,594
N/A
N/A (6.1 Monoglot Gaelic)
1891
4,025,647
43,738
210,677
5.2
1901
4,472,103
28,106
202,700
4.5
1911
4,760,904
18,400
183,998
3.9
1921
4,573,471
9,829
148,950
3.3
1931
4,588,909
6,716
129,419
2.8
1951
5,096,415
2,178
93,269
1.8
1961
5,179,344
974
80,004
1.5
1971
5,228,965
477
88,415
1.7
1981
5,035,315
N/A
82,620
1.6
1991
5,083,000
N/A
65,978
1.4
2001
5,062,011
N/A
58,652
1.2
Visit BBC Alba onlinePlease note this link will open in a new window or tab
Visit BBC Alba’s Radio Nan Gaidheal onlinePlease note this link will open in a new window or tab
A Gaelic-language edition of The Scotsman can be read onlinePlease note this link will open in a new window or tab
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