Canadian Gaelic Totally Explained

Everything about Canadian Gaelic totally explained

Canadian Gaelic (Gaelic:, locally just Gaelic or The Gaelic) is the dialect of Scots Gaelic that has been spoken continuously for more than 200 years on Cape Breton Island and in isolated enclaves on the Nova Scotia mainland. To a lesser extent the language is also spoken on nearby Prince Edward Island, and by emigrant Gaels living in major Canadian cities such as Toronto. At its peak in the mid-19th century Gaelic was the third most spoken language in Canada after English and French. The language has sharply declined since that period, however, and is now nearly extinct. Recently efforts have been made to revitalise the language.

History

Early speakers

In 1621 King James VI of Scotland allowed privateer William Alexander to establish the first Scottish colony overseas. The group of Highlanders — all of whom were Gaelic-speaking — settled at Port Royal, on the western shore of Nova Scotia, but within a year the colony had failed. Subsequent attempts to relaunch it were cancelled when in 1631 the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye returned Nova Scotia to French rule.
A half-century later in 1670 the Hudson's Bay Company was given exclusive trading rights to all North American lands draining into Hudson Bay — about 3.9 million km² (an area larger than India). Many of the traders were Orcadians and Scottish Highlanders, the latter of whom brought Gaelic to the interior. Those who intermarried with the local First Nations people passed on their language, with the effect that by the mid-1700s there existed a sizeable population of Métis (mixed-race) traders with Scottish and aboriginal ancestry, and command of spoken Gaelic.

Settlement

Cape Breton remained the property of France until 1758 (although mainland Nova Scotia had belonged to Britain since 1711) when Fortress Louisbourg fell to the British, followed by the rest of New France in the ensuing Battle at the Plaines d’Abraham. As a result of the conflict Highland regiments who fought for the British secured a reputation for tenacity and combat prowess.
They would remember Canada when in 1762 the earliest of the Fuadaich nan Gàidheal (Scottish Highland Clearances) forced many Gaelic families off their ancestral lands. The first ship loaded with Hebridean colonists arrived on “St.-John’s Island” (Prince Edward Island) in 1770, with later ships following in 1772, and 1774. In 1784 the last barrier to Scottish settlement — a law restricting land-ownership on Cape Breton Island — was repealed, and soon both PEI and Nova Scotia were predominantly Gaelic-speaking. It is estimated more than 50 000 Gaelic settlers immigrated to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island between 1815 and 1870.
In the 1840s Toronto Reverend Dr John Black was sent to preach to the settlement, but "his lack of the Gaelic was at first a grievous disappointment" to parishioners. With continuing immigration the population of Scots colonists grew to more than 300, but by the 1860s the French-Métis outnumbered the Scots, and tensions between the two groups would prove a major factor in the ensuing Red River Rebellion. In 1890, Tòmas Raibeart Mac Aonghais, an independent Senator from British Columbia (born Lake Ainslie, Cape Breton Island) tabled a bill entitled “An Act to Provide for the Use of Gaelic in Official Proceedings.” Gaelic terms unique to Canada exist, though research on the exact number is deficient. The language has also had a considerable and well-known effect on Cape Breton English.

Phonology

/ ʟ / → / w / ť The most common Canadian Gaelic shibboleth, where broad “ l ” is pronounced as “ w.” This form was well-known in Western Scotland where it was called the “glug Eigeach” (“Eigg cluck”), for its putative use among speakers from the Isle of Eigg.

lodan noun a velvet offering pouch for church.

pàirc-coillidh (or pàirce-choilleadh) noun a wooded clearing burnt for planting crops, literally "forest park".

seant (pl. seantaichean) noun a cent.

Faoilleach & Gearran proper nouns February & March.
   Many English-speaking artists of Canadian Gaelic heritage have featured Canadian Gaelic in their works, among them Alistair MacLeod (No Great Mischief ), Ann-Marie MacDonald (Fall on your Knees ), and D.R. MacDonald (Cape Breton Road ). Gaelic singer Mary Jane Lamond has released several albums in the language, including the 1997 hit “Horo Ghoid thu Nighean”, (“Jenny Dang the Weaver”). Cape Breton fiddling is a unique tradition of gaelic and acadian styles, known in fiddling circles worldwide.
   The school cheer of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario is “Oilthigh na Banrighinn a' Bhanrighinn gu bràth!” (“The College of the Queen forever!”), and is traditionally sung after scoring a touchdown in football matches. The university’s team is nicknamed the Golden Gaels.
   The Gaelic character of Nova Scotia has influenced that province’s industry and traditions. “Glen Breton Rare” is the world’s only single malt whisky made outside of Scotland, in Cape Breton. Gaelic settlers in Windsor, Nova Scotia adapted the popular Gaelic sport shinty (shinny) to be played on ice wearing skates, the precursor to modern ice hockey.
   The first Gaelic language film to be made in North America, Faire Chaluim Mhic Leòid

(“The Wake of Calum MacLeod”) is a six-minute short filmed in Cape Breton.
Several Canadian schools use the 'Gael' as a mascot, the most prominent being Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

Reasons for decline

Despite the long history of Gaelic in Canada, the fluent population started to decline after 1850. This drop was a result of prejudice (both from outside, and from within the Gaelic community itself), aggressive dissuasion in school and government, and the perceived prestige of English.
Gaelic has faced widespread prejudice in Great Britain for generations, and those feelings were easily transposed to British North America. In 1868 the Scottish-American Journal mockingly reported that "...the preliminary indispensables for acquiring Gaelic are: swallowing a neat assortment of nutmeal-graters, catching a chronic bronchitis, having one nostril hermetically sealed up, and submitting to a dislocation of the jaw."

Chuir mi fàilte orr’ gu càirdeil:
“Dé mar a tha thu, seann leannan?”
Gun do shìn mi mo làmh dhith,
‘s thug mi dha dhe na crathadh.
...
Fhreagar ise gu nàimdheil:
“You're a Scotchman I reckon.
I don't know your Gaelic,
Perhaps you're from Cape Breton”.

I greeted her with affection:
”How are you old sweetheart?”
I held out my hand,
But she ignored it.
...
She answered haughtily:
“You’re a Scotchman I reckon.
I don't know your Gaelic,
Perhaps you're from Cape Breton”.

World War II the Canadian government attempted to prevent the use of Gaelic on public telecommunications systems. The government believed Gaelic was used by subversives affiliated with Ireland, a neutral country perceived by some to be tacit supporters of the Nazis.
   In 2006 the second annual Halifax Celtic Fèis was cancelled due to the organisers’ inability to “provide the attending public with a first rate festival,” though plans are underway for future events. In 2005 the homepage for the popular Canadian Gaelic magazine "Am Braighe" went offline, and the magazine itself has ceased publication.
   The oft-quoted statistic that "Scots Gaelic is spoken by more people in Cape Breton than in Scotland" is a fallacy. As of 2001 the official UK estimation is 58,652 Gaelic speakers; a figure possibly fifty times larger than the most optimistic Canadian statistic. Despite this, in the past fifteen years interest in the language has grown considerably, in parallel to a similar build on the opposite side of the Atlantic. Although not on the scale of the Scotland revival (for example there are no Canadian Gaelic-language immersion schools), several government initiatives have been undertaken to assess the current state of the language and language-community.
   A Gaelic Economic-impact Study, completed in 2002, estimates that Gaelic generates over $23.5 million annually in direct revenue in the Province with nearly 380,000 people attending, an estimated 2,070 Gaelic events annually. This study, referred to the Kennedy Report and the Gaelic Preservation Strategy, adopted by Comhairle na Gàidhlig http://www.gaelic.ca, are the two most significant documents on the subject produced thus far. They were commissioned via a cooperative effort involving the Government of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Gaelic Community and call for developing the community, strengthening education, legislating road signs and publications, and building ties between the Gaelic community and other Nova Scotia “heritage language” communities (Mi'kmaq and Acadian French). Increased ties were called for between Nova Scotia and Scotland, and the first such agreement, the Memorandum of Understanding, was signed in 2002.
   In response to organised community efforts of recent years, the Government of Nova Scotia created the Oifis Iomairtean na Gàidhlig (Office of Gaelic Affairs) http://www.gov.ns.ca/oga. Established in December 2006, the mission of the Office of Gaelic Affairs is to work with Nova Scotians in the renewal of Gaelic language and culture in the Province.
   Sponsored by dozens of Gaelic organizations and societies, since fall 2004, ongoing Gaelic language adult immersion classes involving hundreds of individuals are held in over a dozen communities in the province. These immersion programs focus on learning language through activity, props and repetition. Reading, writing and grammar are introduced after the student has had a minimum amount of exposure to hearing and speaking Gaelic through everyday contextualized activities. A recently established organization, FIOS (Forfhais, Innleachd, Oideachas agus Seirbhisean) focuses on the criteria and development of language learning programs at the community level using proven immersion methodologies. The grouping of immersion methodologies and the Gaelic arts in the immersion environment is referred to in Nova Scotia as Gàidhlig aig Baile.
   Private language tutoring is also available in Nova Scotia and urban Canada.
   In the spring of 2007, The Office of Gaelic Affairs in conjunction with Highland Council recruited a fluent Gaelic-speaker from the Scottish Gàidhealtachd to live and work in Cape Breton and assist with ongoing language learning activities.
   In 2006, the Atlantic Gaelic Academy, http://gaelicacademy.ca, was established, and it uses new proven teaching methods and new technology to teach the Gaelic language. The Academy conducts in-person classes at various locations, and live distance learning classes, throughout North America. Classes are conducted at Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels by qualified instructors, and the program utilizes texts and materials with CDs and sound files by fluent Gaelic speakers. The Academy now has the largest number of Gaelic students of any organization in North America.
   Today over a dozen public schools offer Gaelic courses, in addition to advanced programmes conducted at Cape Breton, St Francis Xavier and Saint Mary's Universities. The Nova Scotia Highland Village offers a bilingual interpretation site, presenting bi-lingual interpretation for visitors and offers programs for the local community members. The Gaelic College in St. Ann’s program offering includes Gaelic summer classes. Microsoft has recently announced that Windows Vista will be available in Scottish Gaelic, a development partially funded by the Scottish Bòrd na Gàidhlig and planned for release in September 2007.

Scottish Gaelic Place Names in Canada

Names in Cape Breton Island (Eilean Cheap Breatainn)

Broad Cove: An Caolas Leathann

Glendale: Bràigh na h-Aibhneadh

Inverness: Baile Inbhir Nis or An Sithean

Judique: Siùdaig

Mabou: Màbu or An Drochaid

Southwest Margaree: Bràigh na h-Aibhne

Whycocomagh: Hogamah

Baddeck: Badaig

Iona: Sanndraigh

The North Shore: An Cladach-a-Tuath

St Ann's: Baile Anna

Christmas Island: Eilein na Nollaig

Grand Mira: A' Mhira Mhòr

Marion Bridge: Drochaid Mhira

Sydney: Baile Shidni

Grand River: Abhainn Mhòr

Port Hastings: Còbh a' Phlàstair

Port Hawkesbury: Baile a' Chlamhain or An Gut Names in mainland Nova Scotia (Tìr Mór na h-Albann Nuaidh)

Antigonish Am Baile Mór

Arisaig Àrasaig

Giant’s Lake: Loch an Fhamhair

Halifax Halafacs

New Glasgow Am Baile Beag or Glaschu Nuadh Elsewhere in Canada

Glengarry County, ON Siorrachd Gleanna Garadh

Bruce County, ON Siorramachd Bhrus

Nova Scotia Alba Nuadh or Alba Ùr

Newfoundland Talamh an Éisg or Eilein a' Trosg

Prince Edward Island: Eilean Eòin or An t-Eilean Dearg; calque Eilean a' Phrionnsa

Lewes, Prince Edward Island An Tuirc

Calgary, AB Calgarraidh Further Information

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