Sex and Gaelic: How the ‘covert’ sexual history of the language has been uncovered

From the bawdy to the erotic and the properly obscene, the sex talk of the Gael through time is being uncovered.

BBC Alba delved into the ‘covert’ sexual history of the Gaelic language and it’s speakers in a new Trusadh documentary.

Feise ann an Gàidhlig – Sex in Gaelic – explored the way sex has been perceived in Gaelic literature, poetry, music and customs across the centuries and looks at language which has never been discussed on Gaelic TV, the broadcaster said.

Writer Catriona Lexy Campbell explores sex and the Gaelic language in a new show for BBC Alba. PIC: BBC Alba.

Directed and presented by Scottish writer Catriona Lexy Campbell, the documentary discovered the Gaels who helped shape – or dispel - wider societal perceptions of sex including Alexander Macdonald, one of the most renowned Gaelic poets who published ‘In Praise of a Fine Prick’ in the 18th Century.

Ms Campbell said: “For the first time, we are uncovering language that hasn’t been discussed on Gaelic television before. Though there is sometimes the view that the Gaels are particularly reserved people when it comes to discussing emotions or sexuality, when we look closely at this historic literature, that’s not really the case.

“There is clear evidence of people being more expressive about sex than was previously thought. That’s why we’re putting a spotlight on understanding and preserving the explicit, and sometimes downright obscene, language used throughout our history.”

Dr Peter Mackay, co-author of The Light Blue Book, the first collection of ‘obscene and transgressive’ Gaelic poetry, featured in the show discussing some of the oldest erotic verses in the Gaelic language such as that written by Argyll noblewoman Iseabail Ní Mheic Cailéin who penned a song about the size of her priest’s penis.

Dr Mackay, a senior lecturer in English at St Andrews University, who is originally from the Isle of Lewis, earlier wrote in an article for The Conversation: “Even from a cursory glance at old Gaelic verse, things are clearly going on that are missing from our understanding of Highland culture. We need to recognise the bawdy sense of mischief that was common currency in the tradition before it was swept aside by the religious revival in the 19th century.”

Author Sarah Fraser told the story of Alexander Macdonald, whose poetry was heavily censored through time.

Macdonald wrote feverishly about his wife Morag and her fine body such a breasts like ‘geal croistal’ – or white crystal - and lily of the valley, sides like bog cotton and her kisses of cinammon. When the two fell out after Morag learned of his infidelities, she was graceless and ‘full of pus’.

Another of Macdonald’s poems speaks of a gonorrhoea outbreak in Ardnamurchan where sufferers were “stripped, dripping and crippled by clap”.

Singer and folklorist Anne Martin, of Skye, also featured in the show talking about how women dealt with sex and risk through song.

The documentary also looked at changes in attitudes towards individuals’ sexuality with the programme looking at how the past has impacted modern attitudes and uncovered new connections.

Feise ann an Gàidhlig/ Sex in Gaelic is on BBC iPlayer with English subtitles.