Ghetto na Gàidhlig

The Vernacular Gaelic Community in Crisis; A Liminal Perspective

I’m on the Isle of Lewis as we come out of lockdown and I have spoken only Gaelic today. I had a yarn with the dog but didn’t get much back and wrote a message in Gaelic to my daughter in Shetland. I spoke with a family friend for a while and then at length […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

A Child Eye’s View of Language Revitalisation: Hope and opportunity for the future of Gaelic in Scotland

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

As part of our ongoing series about Gaelic in Scotland we ask: What could we learn from research in Ireland about how to support language regeneration? The announcement last week that Gaelic is predicted to perish as a community language within the decade hardly came as a surprise to me—as others have pointed out, those […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

Bithidh coma – stop being so polite

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

Uill, a’ Ghàidhlig chòir. Tòrr smuaintean a dol aig a h-uile duine, seo beagan meòrachadh bhuam fhìn [A few thoughts on the present situation about Gaelic. This is a very important juncture for Gaelic. English below]. Tha naidheachd mun rannsachadh ùr seo air eagal a chuir air grùnnd dhaoine. Tha tòrr ag radh air na […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

Responding Creatively to The Gaelic Crisis

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

Like many Gaelic speakers, this week I was left reeling with the title of the new book by Conchúr Ó Giollagáin and aghast at the spin put on it by the mainstream print and online media. The news even travelled so far as CNN. When have they shown any interest whatsoever in our minoritised community? […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

Gaelic and the Hebrides are Valuable – Let’s Strengthen Them

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

Charles (Teàrlach) Wilson argues that the Hebrides are not a remote archipelago with nice views and old-fashioned ways of life: they are a crucial and important part of Scottish society, identity, history. If we reconceive the problems of Gaelic as not a crisis of language but a crisis of how we see rural and Highland […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

Smuaintean, fo Ghlasadh-Sluaigh

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

In this piece Fiona MacIsaac explores the impact that the lockdown has had on her mental health. Isolated in a way in which is multi-layered, from friends and events on the mainland, the sense of loneliness is only heightened. Time has lost its rigidity and seems to stretch into one infinite day. Current events […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

A Crack Guide to Anti-Gaelic Trolls

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

1. The Deeply Unloved 100% FYOOMIN. This is your base level vanilla troll. Inhabits the Scotsman comments section. Externalises their inner pain by ranting about how Gaelic was never spoken in *insert Gaelic placename* 2. The Russian Bot Generated by the Motherland to shitpost about literally everything, including Gaelic. 60 tweets per minute, and […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

Peat & Diesel a’ toirt buaidh mhòr air saoghal ceòl Gàidhealach

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

As BBC ALBA screen Peat & Diesel, That’s the Way We Do It, Emma Felber reports for Bella. It’s Friday night in Clerkenwell, central London, back in a time when we could go to gigs. To the south, the towers of the Barbican frown toothily down at the Guildhall; to the west, red 63 buses […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

On Sacred Cows

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

There’s a gap between the reality of the mass of people appreciating the centrality of gaelic language and culture to Scotland – and small handful of mainstream media outlets cultivating hatred and grievance. First the good news. After the spectacular success of Gaelic Duolingo – covered here and here – and after the critical reflection […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia

On Gaelic, Language and Identity

Le Bella Caledonia Editor

Scotland is evolving as a country, as a cultural entity, as a place that knows itself. * The contradictory and dividing myths we’ve told ourselves (and been told) are falling apart. One of the enduring mythologies is that of the “divided self” – from the “double and divided” Scottish self in literature including Hogg’s The […]

Tadhail air Ghetto na Gàidhlig – Bella Caledonia