medieval-atlas/social-and-cultural/426

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Linguistic changes Gaelic is today widely spoken only in the north-west Highlands and islands. Ln the past, Gaelic was more widely spoken. Understanding the past extent of the Gaidhealtachd (Gaelic speaking region) before 1707 is hindered by the variable source material. Four principal categories of evidence may be distinguished: place names; medieval charters and documents which allow a conjectural positioning of the medieval Gaelic language border; localised sources on Gaelic in the seventeenth-century Highlands; and material of 1698 and 1705-1708 which allows the earliest picture of a nationwide Gaidhealtachd. Gaelic was never everywhere spoken by all people in Scotland. Gaelic's decline begins from about A.D. 1100 as the result of several factors including the influence of the court; the authority of the Roman over the Celtic Church; the spread of English-dominated trade; and the waning of Gaelic cultural prestige. By the later 1300s, these processes had led to the emergence of the Highlands as a distinct cultural and linguistic area. South and east Scotland was particularly affected by these changes, the more isolated north and west less so. Yet the Gaelic notes in the Book of Deer, written between 1130 and 1150, suggest that Gaelic was still spoken quite widely in north-east Scotland at that period. Gaelic was probably extinct in Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan by about 1350. Areas around Caputh and Abernyte in southern Perth shire were only partly Gaelic by the early sixteenth century. Gaelic was probably spoken in south-west Scotland until the late sixteenth century at least. But it should be emphasised that any definition of the medieval Gaidhealtachd must only be conjectural. By the seventeenth century, the Gaelic language was the focus of direct legislative concern. One act spoke of 'English' schools 'rooting out the Irish language, [Gaelic], and other pious uses'. Several schools whose purpose was the teaching of English were in existence in the Highlands before 1696 and others are known in which Gaelic was used. In the 1650s, Gaelic was the only language spoken by a large proportion of the population in the east central Highlands. In Watten in 1658-1659, there were over ninety Gaelic monoglots but no Gaelic-speaking minister. In some parishes along the upland margin, both Gaelic and English were spoken and used in religious administration. Southern Kintyre had a large English-speaking population. In Contin in 1651, Dores (1671), Kilmorack (1651), Kirkhill and Kilteam (1680s), both Gaelic and English were preached. Gaelic and English services were held in Inverness burgh from 1639, from 1657 in Inveraray, and in Campbeltown from 1680. Ln several parishes which we must presume to have been largely Gaelic in the seventeenth century, ministers were settled who had little or no knowledge of the language. In Perthshire in the I 660s, Gaelic was 'commonly in use' in the north-west upland parishes. Glenisla was Gaelic as was northern Alyth. In Glenshee and Strathardle, Gaelic was used in religious administration and was spoken in Lochlee and Lethnot and Navar parishes. It is likely other parishes in northwest Angus were at least partly Gaelic then. By piecing together this fragmentary evidence, we may suggest a conjectural boundary for the Gaidhealtachd in about 1660. It should be stressed that this boundary is not as clear cut on the ground as it is on a map. The ftrst detailed extent of the Gaidhealtachd dates from 1698. Evidence deriving from plans to distribute Gaelic scriptural texts throughout the late seventeenth-century Highlands provides the first detailed guide to parishes in which Gaelic was widely used in daily life and religious ordinance. Several parishes on the borders of, but not included in, the Gaidhealtachd of 1698 also contained numbers of Gaelic speakers. Sources of 1705-1708 allow a more exact identification of these parishes. The whole of Sutherland was reckoned Gaelicspeaking in 1706. Caithness was Gaelic-speaking in its western districts but we are told that 'the people of Week understand English also'. Inverness-shire was almost entirely Gaelic in 1706. In Nairn, Ardclach, Cawdor, and Edinkillie parishes, religious administration in Gaelic was 'absolutely necessary'. In Aberdeenshire, Glenmuick Tullich and Glengairn, Crathie and Braemar, Strathdon, Cabrach, and Mortlach were all strongly Gaelic in 1705 as was upland Perthshire. Several parishes in south-east Perthshire had pockets of Gaelic speakers in the period 1698-1708. The town of Dunkeld was 'divided equally' between Gaelic and English speakers in 1705. [n Kirriemuir parish, Angus, over sixty Gaelic-speaking families were resident in the Glenprosen district in 1705 with smaller Gaelic communities elsewhere in the parish. Arrochar, Rhu [Row1, Buchanan, Drymen, Luss and Rosneath were all ' Highland parishes' in 1708, but evidence of 1705 suggests that only one-quarter of the parish population actually spoke Gaelic in Drymen. [n Rosneath, the figure was about one-half of the parish population Gaelic speaking. Gaelic and English were both commonly spoken on Bute and Arran, Gaelic prevailing on the west side of Arran, English on the east. No definitive statements can be made on shifting social patterns of Gaelic before 1707, or on the numbers speaking Gaelic at this time since hearth and poll tax records give an incomplete coverage for the Highlands. The suggestion that about 30% of Scotland's population of about 900,000 persons in the late I 690s spoke Gaelic must be considered a rough approximation. 426

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