So long as “our language” – as the BBC in Scotland was once proud to describe it – was seen as a quaint fossil of a defeated nation; a Scotland wholly absorbed into Great Britain qua Greater England, it was ignored or treated with a benign touristic or voyeuristic passing interest. Now that Scotland is well on its way to independence, that patronising benevolence has been replaced by an open hostility fast approaching that displayed by the British nationalists in the north of Ireland towards Gaeilge.
As Auld as Hogmanay
In all likelihood the Ho’din’ O’ Hogmanay predates the celebration of Christmas in Scotland. Believe it or not, Christmas is quite a new holiday in Scotland. It was only made a public holiday in 1958 and many places of work in the industrial south were still operational on the day well into the late 60s.
Back to Scotland in Search of Some Gàidhlig
Follow @UrFhasaidh Learning Gàidhlig (Scots Gaelic) was never going to be easy, and sooner or later I knew that I would have to escape the books and the YouTube videos and return to Scotland in search of somewhere where I might experience it as a spoken language. Instead of heading straight for one of the … Continue reading Back to Scotland in Search of Some Gàidhlig
