Why would you want to learn a minority language like Scottish Gaelic which is only spoken by 60,000 people? Learning English or Spanish may be first and foremost about the opportunity to communicate with a large number of people. But learning languages is about so much more: IT IS THE CHANCE TO DISCOVER A WHOLE NEW WORLD! More about Scots and Fering below.
Weltanschauung is the German word for ‘world view’ which you often see in British newspapers. Did you know that grass is considered “blue” in Gaelic? Maybe the inventors of the music genre were Gaels? Just kidding.
But is it really worth spending money on preserving minority languages when public finances are tight and health, policing and education are surely more important? Hang on a minute. Who determines the language and the indeed the content of that education? Yes, it costs money to create educational materials. But once they exist the additional spending on education in a minority language is arguably minimal: Teachers and schools have to be paid for anyway.
Sadly Gaelic medium education on its own often doesn’t create active users of the language. For many it remains the language of the school only. It is therefore important to create opportunities to use the language. One such opportunity is a Gaelic choir.
Còisir Ghàidhlig Thaigh an Uillt
I am honoured to be president and Gaelic tutor of the Taynuilt Gaelic Choir. Have a listen to our latest album, “Fo Sgàil nam Broc” here.
Below the Taynuilt Gaelic Choir are performing live on BBC ALBA at the Royal National Mòd in 2023. There are two songs in this recording with commentary in between.
Below is our 2017 performance of “Òran na Beairt”. It is a funny song about a useless loom (and starts at 2:22).
Unpublished Folklore
It is hard to believe, but there are still unpublished Gaelic songs out there. A friend of mine, Brigadier John MacFarlane, found a hand-written book of Gaelic songs including their melody in his loft. His grandfather, Iain MacCalum, composed this song at Tighnambarr, Taynuilt, Argyll in 1901. I sang it at the Celtic Congress in Quimper, Brittany in 2018. So far, I believe I am the only one to have recorded this song.
I first recorded this song for a CD by the Taynuilt Gaelic Choir. The track is available here:
http://redmp3.cc/14673875/taynuilt-gaelic-choir-latharna-nan-gleann-feat-andreas-wolff.html
LATHARNA NAN GLEANN
B’ e Latharna nan gleann dachaidh annsail feachd na Fèinne;
B’ e ‘n sealbh a bheanntan mòra ‘s a lòintean lurach feurach;
Ach ‘s beag tha ‘n diugh d’ an àl ann gu ‘n àiteach ‘s mòr am beud leam,
Tìr mhaitheasach mo ghaoil bhith fo chaoraich ‘s fo fhèidh.
Chorus:
Duisgeam gu cèol, ‘s nì mi òran a ghleusadh,
Do Latharna nan gleann ‘s fallain fonn is cannach rèidhlean
Dùthaich a’ phailteis nam machraichean rèidhghlan,
‘S ann reachdmhor chinneas pòr, sultmhor dòmh’l trom gun ghairt.
Ma dhìreas tu ri Cruachan, ceann uachdarach nan slèibhtean,
Gabh beachd air dreach nan gleanntan ‘s nam beanntan tha fo d’ lèirsinn
Tha tlachd air leth ‘s na chì thu, bho chìrean bràigh Ghlinn Èite,
Gu eileanan a’ chuain ‘s maiseach snuadh taobh nan caol.
Na beanntan corrach àrd; ionad tharmachan is fheubhag,
Cha’n aithne dhomh bheir barr air am blàth an tlus a’ Chèitein
Beinn Laoigh agus Beinn Starabh, Beinn Laire ‘s Buachaill’ Èite,
Sgùrr Dhearg, Bidean nam Bian, Sguileart Shian ‘s Cruachan Beann.
Gur iomadh abhainn shiùbhlach gun ghrùid, tha ruith gu sàil ann
Ag èiridh as na caochain air aodann nam beann àrda
‘S na lochain ghlana fhìoruisg, ‘s an lìonmhor bricein tàrbhuidh,
Gan lìonadh thun am bràigh; stràcadh fàis air gach taobh.
Tha ‘n t-Oban bòidheach grianach, san iar an cois an t-sàile,
Gu deisreach lurach taitneach on t-srath gu Bruthach nan Tàilleir
Le chaladh aoibhneil farsaing, gu fasgach, dìonach sàbhailt
‘S Dùn Ollaimh aosd Mhic Dhùghaill ga chrùnadh mu thuath.
LORN OF THE GLENS
Translation by his grandson, Brigadier John MacFarlane, 2011
Lorn of the Glens was their home, loved of the Féinne
Its high bens and fine fields of grass
Were theirs to hold
But few of their blood dwell there now, alas!
The kindly land I love
Is given over to sheep and deer.
Chorus:
Let me rouse my muse to music
So as to craft a song
To Lorn of the Glens, that finest land of prettiest plains
Land of plenty, of splendid level meadows
Where corn grows luxuriant,
Full-bodied, dense and heavy in open field.
If you climb up to Cruachan, Prince of peaks
Take note of how the glens and bens look, that lie beneath your gaze
There is sheer delight in all you see
From the crest of Etive’s slopes
To sea-isles of fairest hue
That flank the firths.
The high steep bens; haunt of ptarmigan and moor hen
I know of none so fair of flower in the balm of May
Beinn Laoigh and Beinn Starabh, Beinn Lair and The Shepherds of Etive
Sgurr Dearg Bidean nam Bian, Sguileart of Shian and Cruachan Beinn.
There are many swift clear streams that run to ocean’s tide there
Rising from the rills on the brows of the high peaks
And from the lochans clean and fresh with their shoals of gold –flanked trout
Brimming to their rims, garlands of foliage on each bank.
Oban is fair and sunny in the West side by the sea
Southerly, neat, agreeable from the Strath to Tailors’Brae
With its pleasant wide harbour, sheltered, secure and safe
And ancient Dunollie of Clan Dugald as its crown to the North.
Seanchas Shlèite – Sleat Folklore Project
While I was a student of Gaelic Language and Culture and Culture at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in the Island of Skye I undertook a project gathering folklore in the local community, funded by Comunn na Gàidhlig: https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/aite/Sleite/
Scots/ Doric
Some believe Scots is just bad English. But it was the language of Scottish kings and of the Scottish Parliament before its dissolution in 1707. It “lives” on a continuum with English, meaning that some speakers of Scots will be understood by English speakers, but others won’t. One of the strongest dialects is Doric or North-East Scots. I am currently organising this Doric Language Bootcamp:
Your chance to learn and practice North East Scots over a weekend in July in a beautiful setting by the beach. Get your tickets for the Doric Language Bootcamp here at bargain prices:
Here’s my report on the Scots Language Awards (An Là, BBC ALBA, 18/9/23).
Fering
If you thought Scottish Gaelic is in a difficult situation just think of Northern Frisian or Friisk, spoken by around 10,000 people in Northern Germany. Its biggest dialect (some call it a language) is Fering, spoken on the island of Feer/ Föhr. This seems to be the internet premiere of their “national anthem”! Fering is spoken by around 2000 people alongside German, Platt (low German) and Danish. (Feer is totally flat and this video was recorded in the Scottish Highlands.)
The total disregard for the Frisian language and culture in Germany, especially compared to the support that Gaelic and Welsh are getting in the UK is shocking. It even falls far short of the support for Sorbian. This is the same Germany that prides itself in being a model democracy.
Thankfully the Federal Government have just asked the Frisians to come up with a detailed proposal with a view to increasing funding considerably. The regional government have also just established a small entity called “Nordfriisk Liirskap” which is going to develop Frisian education in schools and for adults. Let’s hope it isn’t too late.
Andreas G. Wolff, MA (International Journalism) 