Gaelic was originally the Irish language of Irish monks, missionaries, and kings who colonised Scotland around the fifth century AD. Their Irish language which later became known as Gaelic expanded across much of Scotland from the medieval kingdom of D´al Riata in Argyll (MacKinnon 1974, 14). This view is challenged by, for example, Campbell (2001) and Dumville (2002) who argue that instead of a mass migration from Ireland, the early medieval period was characterised by greater movement of peoples in both directions between modern Scotland and Ireland. Originally Gaelic-speaking people were known as the Scotti, and their language was the ‘Scottish’ language. When Gaelic speakers first arrived in Scotland, there were many other languages in the area: Pictish in the north, Cumbric in the south, Norn - a dialect of Norse - in the north and westerly islands, and the Anglian language of the northern English in the far south. From the fourth to eleventh centuries Gaelic-speaking people achieved political, religious and cultural supremacy over Scotland, and it is thought that at this time the majority of the people living north of what is now Scotland’s central belt (between Glasgow and Edinburgh) were Gaelic-speaking (MacKinnon 1974, 15). Exactly when Scottish Gaelic became linguistically distinct is a matter of some debate. While Jackson (1951) argues that this process happened perhaps in the 1400s, ´O Maolalaigh (2008b, 187) instead argues that in the twelfth century text, The Book of Deer, there is evidence which suggest a distinct Scottish variety existed at this time. When Scottish Gaelic came to be recognised as a socially distinct language is again, debatable, although Horsburgh (2002, 239) argues this occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries, through the translation of religious texts into the Scottish language, and the cultural revival movements discussed below in this Section.
From the eleventh century onwards, the story of Gaelic in Scotland is largely one of decline. There is little consensus over why Gaelic began to decline in medieval Scotland, though Withers (1984, 19) suggests several reasons: firstly, the Scottish court was moved from the Highlands to English-speaking Lothian, secondly during this period the Roman church began to exert more influence than the Celtic version of Christianity and religious practices were increasingly oriented southwards. Also, in 1071 the Scottish king Malcolm married an English-speaking wife who knew no Gaelic. Finally, the medieval period was marked by a cultural change from tribalism to feudalism as well as increasing trade with the English-speaking south. All of these subtle cultural changes of alignment may have together sparked a tendency towards decline. Around the time of this movement away from the cultural supremacy of Gaelic in Scotland, the division of the country into Highlands and Lowlands begins to appear in texts from the 1300s onwards (MacInnes 1989, 90). This ideological and geographical distinction was created around the fourteenth century largely around a ‘them and us’ linguistic division. Interestingly, the corresponding Gaelic terms, G`aidhealtachd and
Galldachdrespectively, appear to have emerged much later than their English counterparts (McLeod 1999). Significantly during the fifteenth - sixteenth centuries, Gaelic gradually stopped being referred to as the ‘Scottish’ language, and started being called ‘Irish’ (Withers 1984, 22). This marked a weakening association between Gaelic and Scottish national identity which has never been reversed.
In the eighteenth century two other large political events had significant consequences for Gaelic: firstly the Act of Union in 1707 linked Scotland and England under one parliament. This again aligned the Scottish court with the English-speaking south and created more political distance from the Gaelic-speaking areas ( ´O N´eill 2005c, 341). Secondly, the Battle of Culloden in 1746 had substantial repercussions for Gaelic: the Jacobite army attempted to take the English/Scottish throne, and was supported by many Highland clans. The battle was a catastrophic loss for the Jacobites, and drew attention to the Highlands as never before (Withers 1984, 104). After Culloden wearing Highland tartan and playing the pipes was forbidden, and the confidence of the Highlanders was sapped. The increased attention northwards also led to the arrival of ‘improvers’ who sought to educate and civilise the Highlands, largely by imposing English culture and language (Withers 1984, 104). At this time the Highlands and Islands were carved up into large private estates; the effects on local economies are discussed in Section 3.3.1.
When schools were first built in an organised way in Gaelic-speaking areas, the education provided was largely in English. The aim of such schools, mostly run by Christian charities, was to educate the local people in English. Private landowners and religious organisations attempted to educate Highland boys in English ways, and as well as providing basic literacy, they also sent them to Lowland Scotland to learn skilled trades. Charity schooling through English was seen as a way of making the Highlands and Islands a civilised part of the British Empire (MacKinnon 1991, 74). These measures were extremely effective in anglicising the southern Highlands, but seem to have had little effect on the community language of more remote and northerly areas (Withers 1984, 252). The educational policy of providing education in English continued until the 1980s, although the Society in Scotland for Propogating Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) had been providing some instruction, mainly religious in Gaelic since the eighteenth century (MacKinnon 1974, 40). The lasting legacy of the policy of English-dominant education, as well as the emotional difficulty of having to learn English on arrival at school and being forbidden to speak your native language, was a general downgrading of Gaelic and a constant reminder that the language was not considered suitable for education or public life.
While educational policy in Gaelic-speaking areas has, until recently, sought to reduce the use of the language, Gaelic has traditionally retained a much stronger presence in religious life. Those trying to ‘civilise’ the Highlands in the eighteenth century saw worship in Gaelic as a necessary step to evangelising the people and keeping them away from the ‘dangers’ of Catholicism. The only problem in the way of this policy was a shortage of ministers able to speak Gaelic and able to cover vast areas of remote and inaccessible land. Despite
numerous schemes and bursaries aimed at recruitment, the Church in Scotland has always suffered from a lack of ministers with appropriate linguistic background. In 1843 the Church of Scotland split in two over theological disputes and the Free Church of Scotland was created. 470 ministers out of 1200 joined the new church; 101 out of 201 Gaelic-speaking ministers (Withers 1984, 136). Despite these difficulties in Gaelic ministry, the Church continued to be a bastion of Gaelic long after language shift in areas of the southern Highlands, and the Gaelic translation of the Bible provided a basis for literacy in Gaelic for many people educated only in English (Meek 1990).
As well as official policies, perhaps the most effective measure for anglicising Gaelic- speakers was a general cultural downgrading of their language and way of life, referred to by McIntyre (2009, 144) as ‘a nearly 400-year pogrom of cultural genocide’. During the nineteenth century in Lowland Scotland works of literature, particularly works in English, were of high cultural value. A culture such as that of Gaelic-speaking Scotland, which was traditionally and simplistically viewed as an oral song and story-telling culture, was seen as inferior and impoverished (MacKinnon 1974, 43). Interestingly in the eighteenth century a Celtic cultural revival movement arose centered around the poetry of Ossian published by Macpherson. Macpherson claimed to have discovered some third century Scottish-Irish poetry from the Highlands, written by the bard Ossian. It was later demonstrated that the poems were adaptations of Gaelic oral poems that had recently been transcribed, but nevertheless readers across the world were fascinated by the idea of an ancient tartan-clad romantic Gaelic hero. Ironically public opinion simultaneously considered the contemporary Gael as culturally backward, and carried on eroding the Gaelic language (Withers 1984, 112).
The previous paragraphs have set the backdrop to the social and political situation which have led to the decline of Gaelic in Scotland as a community language. The events of the medieval period and subsequent centuries led to a gradual decline in Gaelic usage across much of Scotland. In the twentieth century this decline became more rapid: widespread social and economic change opened up travel and employment opportunities as never before. Increased mobility and changing economic circumstances, coupled with the cultural persecution of previous centuries and gradual erosion of Gaelic’s prestige have led to some of the most severe linguistic attrition happening very recently: in 1881 the census recorded 231,594 Gaelic speakers, which dropped to 58,552 in 2001 ( ´O N´eill 2005c, 347).