SCOTTISH GAELIC

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 December 1934, Page 12

SCOTTISH GAELIC

IN THE WEST HIGHLANDS. Australians who have visited the homeland often complain of ’be co ossal ignorance of Australian affa . which (hey seem to find in many places there (writes M. M. Ala cD°na*d in the “Sydney Morning Herald ) THe Scottish ‘people in Australia have much reason to complain ot the equally colossal ignorance of Scottish affairs which seem to prevail hoie, even in high places. The' subject of Scottish Gaelic has, within the last cw weeks, received some prominence in the Press, and such fantastic things have been said about it that an unbiased statement of the case should prove both timely and helpfu • Ii is the consensus of well-intormed opinion, that Gaelic was once spoken universally in Scotland. That yas, o course, in the dim and distant past. Now the Gaelic domain is much more circumscribed. Its stronghold is chieflv the West Highlands of Sc °t’ land. ’ The Outer and Inner Hebrides are almost exclusively Gaelic speaking. On the mainland it is spoken froelv in the shires of Ross, Sutherland, Argyll, Inverness, and in some parts of Perth. The language spoken in all these places is the same, with slight differences in pronunciation it is definitely not a case of each s hue having a dialect of its own. he Skye-born man, for instance, is understood in any Gaelic speaking area outside the “misty isle, but it would be said of him undoubtedly that he speaks with a Skye accent. In some places there are, not a f , but hundreds, who could not pass even the simplest test in English The majority are certainly bi-lingual,, bu English is always regarded by them as a foreign language, which had to be acquired much the same as the English-speaking child acquires French. To equip himself for service in the English-speaking Empire, it is essential for the Gaelic-speaking man to know English, but wherever his lot is cast he never forgets that Gaelic is his mother-tongue.

IRISH AND SCOTTISH. Irish and Scottish Gaelic are intimately related, though in their present forms vastly different. They are essentially the same. Irish Gaelic, with its different formations from Scottish Gaelic, is known only to those who have studied it at some centre of learning. Indeed it is so different that unless one is an authority on it, or at least well, grounded in it, to essay to translate it at sight is to court trouble, if not disaster. The linguistic status of Gaelic has never been questioned. If it is a dialect, it is only such in the sense in which English is a dialect. Etymologically, it is much superior to English in purity. The Scottish universities regard it as much a language as anv on the curriculum. It is quite on a, nar with the best of them, living ci- dead. One can graduate in Gaelic in almost any Scottish university. Many have already done so, and some with honours. It is significant that the number attending the Celtic classes is ever on the increase. Nor do they all come from Gaelic-speak-ing aicas. A case in point, is Mr Moffat-Ponder, a gentleman of varied interests, including politics, and who only a year or two ago visited our shores. He, having studied at. Edinburgh, has so acquired the language that when occasion arises, he delivers a political address in it# Many of the ministers in the Scottish churches have acquired their Gaelic, including the principal of the Free Church College, Edinburgh. In innumerable schools in Scotland. Gaelic is taught to-day as never before. Thus it is far from being a. dead or dying language. Indeed, within the last. ’ few decades, the Gaelic-speaking world seems to have awakened to a race consciousness which has reacted on tire old tongue with all the power ot a renaissance. Competent linguists maintain that I Gaelic, as a language, is unusually expressive. As a medium of expressing religious thoughts and ideals—and the Celt is naturally religious in his instincts —it is said to be unrivalled. It also has a literature of which it may well be proud. If it cannot boast of the quantity of it, it may well rejoice in the quality of it. Many factors, economic and otherwise, conspired to affect unfavourably its literary output. Nevertheless, its literature in quality compares favourably with that of any other language. The true identity of our poet “Ossain ’ is not any more nebulous than that of Shakespeare, Homer, or Virg'il. A perusal of “The Beauties of Gaelic Poetry” or of the “Reliquae Celticae,” convince the unprejudiced of its high Itierary attainments. What is more noteworthy still is the fact that its literature is being continually added to both in prose and verse.

NEVER LOSE THEIR GAELIC. Emigration, in times recent and more i emote, has affected badly the Gaelic-speaking population of Scotland. Not only have many emigrated to the colonies, but great numbers also flock to the cities at home to earn their livelihood. These, however, never lose their Gaelic, or forget their Gaelic citizenship. The Gaelic population in the home cities still worship in Gaelic, and the attendances would put most Australian congregations to shame. Gaelic is preached regularly even in London. How fares it with Gaelic in the colonies? Canada has received most of.the emigrants from Scotland. In Eastern Canada, chiefly in Novia Scotia, there are extensive areas which are as Gaelic in their speech and ways as any part of Scotland. This Gaelic colonisation took place many, many years ago, bu,t the racial characteristics and customs are still maintained. There they publish a weekly newspaper all in excellent Gaelic. The Church has always endeavoured to follow her people in the colonies. The Fiee Church of Scotland lias mission churches in Toronto, Fort William, Winnipeg, and Vancouver, whert? Gaelic is regularly preached to large and appreciative audiences. The emigrants to Australia are not so favourably situated, because of the great distance from the homeland. There is a considerable Gaelic population in the Commonwealth also, and Gaelic has been preached often in Melbourne, Sydney, and elsewhere. Thus, it is quite erroneous to think that the emigrants to the colonies arc lost to the Gaelic. Very often their exile only serves to give it new and enhanced values for them.

Suffer me just to give two moye instances of the present-day vitality of Gaelic in Scotland. A characteristic feature of the Gaelic world there is the Gaelic mods. In some ways they are similar to eisteddfods in Australia. The Gaelic mod is a feast of

music and of song. It is hailed as one of the most attractive events of the season. The mod is not all musical. Brizes are also given for efficiency in Gaelic reading, dictation, and recitation. About twenty years ago, it -was comparatively difficult to get gramophone records in Gaelic. To-day, one is embarrassed by the heap that is presented. Before me lie recent issues of the monthly magazines of the two largest churches in Scotland. Each contains a substantial Gaelic supplement. The extent of it and place given it in each case testify eloquently to the present-day vitality 1 cf the old tongue. At the last assembly of the Free Church in Edinburgh, flic increased claims and demands of the Gaelic-speaking people within her pale, marie the appointment of a special editor for the Gaelic supplement imperative, though the existing editor was most accomplished in the language. Surely no one, in the face of all this, dare say that Gaelic is either dead or dying! We have been told that, in ten years’ time there will be no one speaking it. What have the Gaelic people done to merit such a speedy extermination from tho face of the earth? Alas! what unspeakably terrible judgment is to be meted out to them! Such prophecies leave us quite unmoved. Wo would much rather unite our voices with that of one of our songsters, who sings:— Togaibh i, toga.ihh i, canain ar! Anthelia; Togaibh a suas i gu h-inbhe rochlinitch; Togaibh gu daingeann 1, s’ bithibh nth baigheil, Hi-horo togaibh i, sdas lus a Ghaidhlig! .