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'Canadian Gaelic' (Gaelic: ''Gàidhlig Canadanach'', 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.^[2] The language has sharply declined since that period, however, and is now nearly extinct. Recently efforts have been made to revitalise the language.

Contents

History

Early speakers

Settlement

Red River colony

Nineteenth century

Linguistic features

Phonology

Vocabulary

Gaelic in Cape Breton English

Arts and culture

Reasons for decline

Outlook and development

Gaelic placenames in Canada

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

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.^[3]
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 Scottish Orkneymen and Highlanders, the latter of whom brought Gaelic to the interior. Those who intermarried with the local First Nations people passed on their language, to 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.^[4]

Settlement

Nova Scotia remained the property of France until 1758, when Fortress Louisbourg (built on the original Port Royal site) 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.² In turn the countryside itself secured a reputation among the Highlanders for its size, beauty, and wealth of natural resources.^[5]
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 1774.² In 1773 a ship named “The Hector” landed in Pictou, Nova Scotia, with 169 settlers mostly originating from the Isle of Skye.^[6] 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.^[7] It is estimated more than 50 000 Gaelic settlers immigrated to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island between 1815 and 1870.²
With the end of the American War of Independence, immigrants newly arrived from Scotland would soon be joined by Loyalist emigrants escaping persecution from American Partisans. These settlers arrived on a mass scale at the arable lands of British North America, with large numbers settling in Glengarry County in present-day Ontario, and in the Eastern Townships of Québec.²

Red River colony

In 1812 Lord Selkirk of Scotland obtained 300 000 km² to build a colony at the forks of the Red River, in what would become Manitoba. He brought over 70 Scottish settlers, many of whom spoke only Gaelic, and there established a small farming colony. The settlement soon attracted local First Nations groups, resulting in an unprecedented interaction of Scottish (Lowland, Highland, and Orkney), English, Cree, French, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, and Métis traditions all in close contact.^[8]
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.^[9] 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.⁴
The continuing association between the Selkirk colonists and surrounding First Nations groups evolved into a unique contact dialect. Used primarily by the Anglo- and Scots-Métis traders, the “Red River Dialect” or ''Bungee'' was a mixture of Gaelic and English with many terms borrowed from the local native languages. Whether the dialect was a trade pidgin or a fully developed mixed language is unknown. Today the Scots-Métis have largely been absorbed by the more dominant French-Métis culture, and the Bungee dialect is most likely extinct.

Nineteenth century

By 1850 Gaelic was the third most-common mother tongue in British North America after English and French, and is believed to have been spoken by more than 200 000 British North Americans at that time.⁷ A large population who spoke the mutually comprehensible Irish Gaelic immigrated to Scots Gaelic communities and to Irish settlements in Newfoundland. In PEI and Cape Breton there were large areas of Gaelic monolingualism,⁷ and communities of Gaelic-speakers had established themselves in northeastern Nova Scotia (around Pictou and Antigonish); in Glengarry, Stormont, Grey, and Bruce Counties in Ontario; in the Codroy Valley of Newfoundland; in Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Eastern Québec.²
At the time of Confederation in 1867 the most common mother-tongue among the Fathers of Confederation was Gaelic.^[10] 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.”⁷ He cited the ten Scottish and eight Irish senators who spoke Gaelic, and thirty-two members of the House of Commons who spoke either Scots- or Irish Gaelic. The bill was defeated 42–7.² Despite the widespread disregard by government on Gaelic issues, records exist of at least one criminal trial conducted entirely in Gaelic, c.1880–1900 in Baddeck, and presided over by Chief Justice Seumas Mac Dhòmhnaill.⁷

Linguistic features

The pronunciation of Canadian Gaelic has diverged in several ways from the standard Gaelic spoken in Scotland.^[11] 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

★ ' → '
: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 ''“gwug Eigeach”'' (“Eigg cluck”), for its putative use among speakers from the Isle of Eigg.¹¹

★ ' → '
:When “ n ” occurs after a rounded vowel, speakers tend to pronounce it as “ m.”¹¹

★ ' → '
:This form is limited mostly to the plural ending “-annan,” wherein the first ” n‘s ” are pronounced as ” w.”¹¹

★ ' → '
:This change occurs frequently in many Scotland dialects when “ r ” is realised next to specific consonants; however such conditions are not necessary in Canadian Gaelic, where ” r ” is pronounced as “ sh” regardless of surrounding sounds.¹¹

Vocabulary

★ 'fermeireachd' ''verb''  to farm.[12] ★ 'lodan'  ''noun''  a velvet offering pouch for church.12 ★ 'mogan'  ''noun''  moccassins.[13] ★ 'pàirc-coillidh' (or 'pàirce-choilleadh')  ''noun''  a wooded clearing burnt for planting crops.12 ★ 'coaraich' ''noun'' sheep.12 ★ 'moarach' ''noun'' mussel mud.12 ★ 'dreag' ''noun'' a feu-follett.12 ★ 'bean-ghlùin' ''noun'' Grannies.12 ★ 'sceatadh' ''verb'' to skate (on ice).[14] ★ 'sent' (pl. 'sentaichean') ''noun'' a cent.14 ★ 'smuglair' ''noun'' a town square.14 ★ 'ruma' ''noun'' rum.14

★ 'ponndadh' ''verb'' to beat someone.14 ★ 'tri sgillin' ''phrasal noun'' a nickel. (literally “three Scottish Pence”).14 ★ 'sia sgillin' ''phrasal noun'' a dime. (literally “six Scottish pence”).14 ★ 'tasdan' ''phrasal noun'' twenty cents. (literally “a shilling”).14 ★ 'da thasdan agus sia sgillin' ''phrasal noun'' fifty cents. (literally “two shillings, six Scottish pence”).14 ★ 'coig tasdan' ''phrasal noun'' a dollar. (literally “five shillings”).14 ★ 'stòr' ''noun'' a shop.14 ★ 'ruith' ''verb'' to run (for political office).14 ★ 'maidseachan' ''noun'' matches.14 ★ 'bangaid' ''noun'' a banquet.14 ★ 'caraichean-sraide' ''noun'' street cars.14 ★ 'buna-bhuachaille' ''noun'' common loon.[15] ★ 'Faoillich' & 'Gearran' ''proper nouns''  February & March.12†

^†Traditionally these words meant “late winter” and “early spring,” respectively. In modern Gaelic in Scotland these terms are now applied to January and February, but in Canada, owing to the different climate, February and March are more suited.

Gaelic in Cape Breton English

★ 'boomaler'  ''noun''  a raucous drunkard (possibly from ''buidheam-òlar'', literally “drunken fits and starts” ).

★ 'sgudal'  ''noun''  garbage.

★ 'skiff'  ''noun''  a deep blanket of snow covering the ground. (from ''sguabach'' or '' sgiobhag'' ).¹¹

Arts and culture

A.W.R. MacKenzie founded the Nova Scotia Gaelic College at St Ann’s in 1939. St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia has a Celtic Studies department with Gaelic-speaking faculty members, and is the only such department outside Scotland to offer four full years of Scottish Gaelic instruction.⁷ Eòin Baoideach of Antigonish published the monthly Gaelic magazine ''An Cuaintear Og Gaelach'' (“The Gaelic Tourist”) around 1851.² The world's longest-running Gaelic periodical ''Mac Talla'' (Echo), was printed by Eòin G. Mac Fhionghain for eleven years between 1892 and 1904, in Sydney, NS.⁷ Eòin and Seòras Mac Shuail, believed to be the world’s only black goidelophones (a person whose mother-tongue is Gaelic), were born in Cape Breton and in adulthood became friends with Rudyard Kipling. In 1896 the author wrote ''Captains Courageous'', which featured an isolated Gaelic-speaking African-Canadian cook originally from Cape Breton.^[16]
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-language 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'Banrighinn gu brath!”'' (“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 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.^[17]

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.^[18] 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."¹⁸
That Gaelic had not received official status in its homeland made it easier for Canadian legislators to disregard the concerns of domestic speakers. Legislators questioned why "privileges should be asked for Highland Scotchmen in [the Canadian Parliament] that are not asked for in their own country?”. ⁷ Politicians who themselves spoke the language held opinions that would today be considered misinformed; Lunenburg Senator Henry A.N. Kaulbach, in response to Tòmas Mac Aonghais's Gaelic bill, described the language as only “well suited to poetry and fairy tales.”⁷ The belief that certain languages had inherent strengths and weaknesses was typical in the 19th century, but has been wholly refuted by modern linguistics.
Around 1880 Am Bàrd Mac Diarmaid from The North Shore, wrote ''An Tè a’ Chaill a’ Ghàidhlig'' ( The Woman who Lost her Gaelic ), a humorous song recounting the growing phenomenon of Gaels shunning their mother-tongue.^[19]

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

With the outbreak of 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.² In Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton where the Gaelic language was strongest, it was actively discouraged in schools with corporal punishment. Children were beaten with the ''maide-crochaidh'' (hanging stick) if caught speaking Gaelic.⁷
Job opportunities for monolingual Gaels were few and restricted to the dwindling Gaelic-communities, compelling most into the mines or the fishery. Many saw English fluency as the key to success, and for the first time in Canadian history Gaelic-speaking parents were teaching their children to speak English en masse. The sudden stop of the Gaelic tradition-bearing ''bho ghlùin gu glùin'' ("from knee to knee"), caused by shame and prejudice, was the immediate cause of the drastic decline in Gaelic fluency in the Twentieth Century.⁷
Ultimately the population dropped from a peak of 200 000 in 1850, to 80 000 in 1900, to 30 000 in 1930 and 500–1000 today.² There are no longer entire communities of Canadian Gaelic-speakers, although traces of the language and pockets of speakers are relatively commonplace on Cape Breton, and especially in traditional strongholds like Christmas Island, The North Shore, and Baddeck.

Outlook and development

The last fluent Gaelic-speaker in Ontario, descended from the original settlers of Glengarry County, passed away in 2000.^[20]
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.^[21] In 2005 the homepage for the popular Canadian Gaelic magazine "''Am Braighe''" went offline, and the magazine itself has ceased publication.^[22]
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 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.^[23] 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.
The Gaelic Economic-impact Study and the Gaelic Preservation Strategy are the two most significant documents on the subject produced thus far. They were specifically commissioned by the Government of Nova Scotia 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.^[24]
Today in Cape Breton introductory Gaelic courses are offered at the secondary level, in addition to the advanced programmes at St Francis Xavier and the Gaelic College. Private schools and individual tutours are also widely available, across Nova Scotia and urban Canada. In 2007 the Government of Nova Scotia created the “Office of Gaelic Affairs”, in response to the organised community efforts of recent years. In press releases the office has stated that it plans to have 25 000 fluent speakers by 2027. The office has recruited a fluent Gaelic-speaker from the Scottish Gàidhealtachd, who will live and work in Cape Breton.
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.

Gaelic placenames in Canada

Names in 'Cape Breton Island' ''(Eilean Cheap Breatainn)'' ★ Broad Cove: ''An Caolas Leathann'' ★ Glendale: ''Bràigh na h-Aibhneadh'' ★ Inverness: ''Baile Inbhir Nis'' ★ Judique: ''Siudaig'' ★ Mabou: ''Màbu'' ★ 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 Mòr''

Names in 'mainland Nova Scotia' ''(Alba Nuadh mhòr)'' ★ Antigonish ''Baile Mòr'' ★ Arisaig ''Àrasaig'' ★ Giant’s Lake: ''Loch an Fhamhair'' ★ Halifax ''Halafacs'' ★ New Glasgow ''Baile Beag'' Elsewhere in 'Canada' ★ Glengarry County, ON ''Siorrachd Gleanna Garadh'' ★ Bruce County, ON ''Siorrachd Brus'' ★ Nova Scotia ''Alba Nuadh'' or ''Alba Ùr'' ★ Newfoundland ''Talamh an Eisg'' or ''Eilein a' Trosg'' ★ Prince Edward Island ''Eilein a' Phrionnsa'' or ''Eilein Eòin'' or ''An Eilean Dearg'' ★ Lewes, Prince Edward Island ''An Tuirc'' ★ Calgary, AB ''Cala-ghearraidh''

See also

★ Scottish Gaelic ★ Newfoundland Irish ★ Cape Breton Island ★ Nova Scotia ★ Endangered language ★ Bungee language ★ Linguicide ★ Cape Breton English

'Links for Learners' # Introductory Lessons - BBC - ''Beag air Bheag''# Pronunciation & Grammar - A Bit of Grammar# Complete Lessons - Gàidhlig Learner's Resource# Dictionary - ''Stòr-dàta Briathrachais Gàidhlig'' #Advanced Exercises - ''Litir do Luchd-Ionnsachaidh''

Notes and references

Notes

1. Statistics Canada 2001 Census
2. Scots
3. New Evidence on New Scotland, 1629
4. Métis
5. Bras d'Or Lake unknown
6. Hector Festival unknown
7. Gaelic Economic-impact Study
8. Red River Colony unknown
9. The Lord Selkirk Settlement at Red River
10. National Flag of Canada Day February 15 unknown
11. Festschrift for Professor D.S. Thomson
12. Gaelic in Prince Edward Island: A Cultural Remnant
13. Gaelic Placesnames of Nova Scotia unknown
14. Scottish Gaelic in Canada, Campbell, J.L., , , ''JSTOR'', ,
15. Cape BReton Gaelic Folklore Collection, MacNeil, Joe Neil, , , ''St Francis Xavier University'', ,
16. Nova Scotia Quotations unknown
17. N.S. Crew Set to Release Gaelic Short Film unknown
18. “This Could Have Been Mine”: Scottish Gaelic Learners in North America
19. MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada unknown
20. Alec McDonald
21. Halifax Celtic Fèis unknown
22. Am Bràighe: Gaelic Magazine unknown
23. Scotland's Gaelic Renaissance
24. Memorandum of Understanding unknown

References

★ Gaelic Economic-impact Study

★ Gaelic Preservation Strategy

★ Scottish Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts

★ Gàidhlig Placenames in Nova Scotia

★ Gaelic Placenames of Scotland and Canada

★ Nova Scotia Gaelic Visual Archives

★ Highland Village in Cape Breton

★ Gaelic in Prince Edward Island

★ ''Leugh Seo'' Gaelic Collection of the Cape Breton Library

★ Cape Breton Cèilidh

★ St Francis Xavier University Gaelic Resources

★ ''Se’ Ceap Breatainn Tir Mo Graidh''. Part One and Part Two. Scottish documentary on Canadian Gaelic-speaking community .

★ ''Aiseirigh Nan Gàidheal''. Canadian Gaelic radio show.