HIGHLANDERS

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland: Celtic Culture and Gaelic Language.

Since the 18^th century, Scottish Gaelic has been driven almost to extinction. It survives on remote islands like Barra in the Outer Hebrides. Outsiders, “people without the island” as they locals say, often think the Highlanders sound Irish. In fact, much of the Highland culture does come from Ireland, the kilt, the bagpipes, even the Irish surname prefix, mac. And on Barra, the Highland game of shinty, very like the Irish sport, hurling is taught by the local priest, Father Colin MacInness: When we here a Gaelic speaker speaking in English, he would more resemble Irish because the source is the same as regards the Irishman as it is for the Highlander/ Islander, that is Gaelic.

And it has the same rhythm and very often similarity of construction and so on.

The English spoken here is a beautiful sweet sounding rolling, soft type of English. It is a very comforting sound compared with the whiskied, fast moving accents you get from the cities and towns.

The people of Barra speak Gaelic as freely as English but their language faces extinction. It is in remote place like Barra that you can see the wounds inflicted by world English on a traditional local culture.

Our spirit in the Highlands and Islands is something superbly, supremely ours. We are, like all minority groups, a small freshwater loch being invaded by a huge ocean and we are authentically Celtic, Gaelic and have a distinct culture which has contributed a lot in the past and I am sure will contribute a lot to our future.

Gaelic is their ancestral tongue but even here when the game gets exciting, they drop into English. “Go on, Tammy, go on!”