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Just googled this and only one per cent of Scottish people can speak Gaelic.
Not sure why I was surprised about that - thought that it would have been a tad higher when taking into account all those remote areas as well as the islands. But guess the population there isn’t that high. I’m just blabbing on now.
[Post edited 12 Jul 2024 18:54]
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Did realise MP's could do this on 18:56 - Jul 12 with 1520 views
Did realise MP's could do this on 18:52 - Jul 12 by MattinLondon
Just googled this and only one per cent of Scottish people can speak Gaelic.
Not sure why I was surprised about that - thought that it would have been a tad higher when taking into account all those remote areas as well as the islands. But guess the population there isn’t that high. I’m just blabbing on now.
[Post edited 12 Jul 2024 18:54]
It still exceeds the percentage who can speak intelligible English though.
Did realise MP's could do this on 18:52 - Jul 12 by MattinLondon
Just googled this and only one per cent of Scottish people can speak Gaelic.
Not sure why I was surprised about that - thought that it would have been a tad higher when taking into account all those remote areas as well as the islands. But guess the population there isn’t that high. I’m just blabbing on now.
[Post edited 12 Jul 2024 18:54]
Gaelic was actively discouraged in Scotland, especially after the failed Jacobite rebellion, and there was also emigration of Gaelic speakers to places like Canada and Glasgow where English was the main language of communication. The language was also seen as backwards.
By the end of the 19th century, the language was largely confined to the Highlands and Islands, and these days it is largely confined to the Western Isles.
According to Scottish census records, ancestors of mine on both my father's and mother's side spoke Gaelic but in the areas where they lived in Argyll (Mull and the Cowal Peninsula) there are very few Gaelic speakers these day.
My understanding is that the Irish language has similarly declined with the language confined to the Gaeltacht, small areas on the west coast of Ireland.
[Post edited 12 Jul 2024 20:08]
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Did realise MP's could do this on 21:32 - Jul 12 with 1352 views
Did realise MP's could do this on 19:58 - Jul 12 by DJR
Gaelic was actively discouraged in Scotland, especially after the failed Jacobite rebellion, and there was also emigration of Gaelic speakers to places like Canada and Glasgow where English was the main language of communication. The language was also seen as backwards.
By the end of the 19th century, the language was largely confined to the Highlands and Islands, and these days it is largely confined to the Western Isles.
According to Scottish census records, ancestors of mine on both my father's and mother's side spoke Gaelic but in the areas where they lived in Argyll (Mull and the Cowal Peninsula) there are very few Gaelic speakers these day.
My understanding is that the Irish language has similarly declined with the language confined to the Gaeltacht, small areas on the west coast of Ireland.
[Post edited 12 Jul 2024 20:08]
My grandfather grew up speaking guernaisse the Guernsey norman/french patios
Since the occupation when so many kids were evacuated to the mainline English ha# been the dominant language and there are only a few native tongue speakers left. There is now a real effort being made to save and revive the language before it’s lost
Did realise MP's could do this on 22:32 - Jul 12 by Keno
My grandfather grew up speaking guernaisse the Guernsey norman/french patios
Since the occupation when so many kids were evacuated to the mainline English ha# been the dominant language and there are only a few native tongue speakers left. There is now a real effort being made to save and revive the language before it’s lost
To add, the Guernsey law exams require expertise in Norman French, and a spell at Caen University, as the Guernsey legal system is still based on the ancient Norman practices.
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Did realise MP's could do this on 23:36 - Jul 12 with 1208 views
Did realise MP's could do this on 18:52 - Jul 12 by MattinLondon
Just googled this and only one per cent of Scottish people can speak Gaelic.
Not sure why I was surprised about that - thought that it would have been a tad higher when taking into account all those remote areas as well as the islands. But guess the population there isn’t that high. I’m just blabbing on now.
[Post edited 12 Jul 2024 18:54]
I've done a couple of courses in Scots Gaelic at Sabhal Mór Ostaig, the specialist college on Skye. It is a truly difficult language; pronunciation, word order, grammar are all totally different from English and not even knowing some French, German and Spanish helps.
Did realise MP's could do this on 23:36 - Jul 12 by WeWereZombies
I've done a couple of courses in Scots Gaelic at Sabhal Mór Ostaig, the specialist college on Skye. It is a truly difficult language; pronunciation, word order, grammar are all totally different from English and not even knowing some French, German and Spanish helps.
I second that. I tried to learn it with a book and accompanying audio files, but found it just too difficult.
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Did realise MP's could do this on 09:02 - Jul 13 with 1032 views
Did realise MP's could do this on 22:32 - Jul 12 by Keno
My grandfather grew up speaking guernaisse the Guernsey norman/french patios
Since the occupation when so many kids were evacuated to the mainline English ha# been the dominant language and there are only a few native tongue speakers left. There is now a real effort being made to save and revive the language before it’s lost
That's fascinating. And here for anyone interested is an 1863 translation of Gospel of Mathew.
The MP for Orkney and Shetland, Alastair Carmichael, should have taken the oath in Norn, the now extinct language there very closely related to Norse.
My grandmother and her ancestors hailed from Shetland, and the language survived into the 19th century.
One of my ancestors, Grizel Mansdaughter, would surely have spoken it because she was born in 1620 and her name conforms to the Nordic naming system, which now only exists in Iceland.
EDIT: I subsequently came across this from Wikipedia.
"Most natives of Shetland probably spoke Norn as a first language until the early-to-mid 17th centuries."
[Post edited 13 Jul 2024 9:22]
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Did realise MP's could do this on 09:23 - Jul 13 with 968 views
Did realise MP's could do this on 09:17 - Jul 13 by DJR
The MP for Orkney and Shetland, Alastair Carmichael, should have taken the oath in Norn, the now extinct language there very closely related to Norse.
My grandmother and her ancestors hailed from Shetland, and the language survived into the 19th century.
One of my ancestors, Grizel Mansdaughter, would surely have spoken it because she was born in 1620 and her name conforms to the Nordic naming system, which now only exists in Iceland.
EDIT: I subsequently came across this from Wikipedia.
"Most natives of Shetland probably spoke Norn as a first language until the early-to-mid 17th centuries."
[Post edited 13 Jul 2024 9:22]
Ah, ssons and dottirs. I misread your post at first and, probably thinking of the Orkney Brewery's Skullsplitter, thought you had an ancestor called Grizzly Manslaughter...
Did realise MP's could do this on 08:59 - Jul 13 by DJR
I second that. I tried to learn it with a book and accompanying audio files, but found it just too difficult.
As Irish gaelic is basically the same as Scottish gaelic you might try using the greater resources provided by the Irish government who actively promote the language.
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