Letter: Our language is very much alive and well

Published on Tuesday 15 February 2011 15:53

I am sure all members of the Gaelic-speaking community will be gratified at Bill Ross's acknowledgement that they are "not unimportant" (Letters, 15 February). And I wonder where he gets the information that "Lowland Scots and Doric" appear among Scotland's indigenous tongues, and why he uses the past tense in speaking of them.

The word "Doric" refers either to Scots in its entirety or to its north-eastern dialect - certainly not to something other than Scots; and Scots is still very much alive. We have two indigenous languages as well as the international English, and it is the government's clear duty to support them both.

This being the case, much as I rejoice at the government's efforts on behalf of Gaelic, I would maintain that if Gaelic is to have a presence of any kind in the National Galleries of Scotland, then so should Scots.

The prominence given to the Scots tongue in the National Trust for Scotland's magnificent new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum is clear evidence of how the language can add interest and distinction to a national showpiece; and the National Galleries might find a due measure of attention to the two indigenous minority languages would work to its advantage.

Derrick McClure

Rosehill Terrace

Aberdeen

Gaelic was the ancient language of the Scottish Kingdom and originally spoken all over Scotland except in East Lothian. Scots, which contains many borrowings from Gaelic, subsequently developed into the state language until the Act of Union in 1707.

The assertion by Bill Ross that 95 per cent of Scots do not understand a single word of Gaelic is unfounded. When I went to school in the Borders at a time when Scots was generally spoken, my primary school teacher was from Mull and taught us Gaelic songs as part of our national cultural heritage.

If Bill Ross's claim were true, it would be a matter of serious concern to the Scottish Government that hardly anybody in Scotland knew a word of Gaelic. Education in Scotland has not yet been restricted to preparing us for the Big Society!

Nobody would deny that English and Chinese are commercially important. The long tradition of Chinese poetry came to an end in the 19th century and nobody would now deny the utilitarian importance of these languages for conveying information.

English is now fantastically important as an international airport language. Whether it is still possible to write fine poetry in English is now open to question.

(Dr) David Purves

Strathalmond Road

Edinburgh

I feel I must challenge Bill Ross's views on Gaidhlig. First, I would suggest the Scottish Government is not forcing Gaidhlig on anyone. It is, in my view, correctly, fostering one of our languages, one that is in serious danger of collapse.

Secondly, I would suggest some East Lothian place names show distinctly Gaidhlig origins.

"Drem" itself comes from the Gaidhlig for a "ridge"; we have also "Garbh Alt", "Garvald" today, a rough stream; there is "Eaglais Carn", now "Eaglescairnie", a stone church; not far from here is "The Latch", "Am Laid", a boggy place. "Dunbar" would also be a prime example from the Gaidhlig "dun", a fort.

There is no doubt that the bulk of the population of East Lothian would be speaking Northumbrian Saxon; the gentry and nobility though were Celtic and spoke Gaidhlig.

R Mill Irving

Station Road

Gifford, East Lothian