Gàidhealtachd
The
Gàidhealtachd (
Eng:
Gaeldom), sometimes known as
A' Ghàidhealtachd (Eng:
the Gàidhealtachd), usually refers to the
Scottish highlands and islands, and especially the
Scottish Gaelic culture of the area. This is in contrast to
Irish Gaelic where an Irish speaking area is known as a
Gaeltacht (itself a
loanword from Scottish Gaelic). The term is also used to apply to the Gaelic-speaking areas of
Nova Scotia,
Canada.
The term
the Gàidhealtachd is not truly interchangeable with the term
highlands, as it refers to the
culture and not to the
geography. Also, many parts of the highlands no longer have substantial Gaelic-speaking populations, and some parts of what is now thought of as the highlands have traditionally been
Scots-speaking areas:
Caithness,
Cromarty,
Grantown-on-Spey,
Campbeltown etc. Conversely, several Gaelic-speaking communities lie outwith the
Highland,
Argyll and Bute and
Western Isles council areas, for example
Arran and parts of
Perth and Kinross. For this reason,
the Gàidhealtachd also increasingly refers to the regions in
Scotland and
Nova Scotia where
Scottish Gaelic is spoken as the
native language by most or some part of the population.
Galldachd (
Gall-dom,
Gall referring to a non-
Gael;
cognate with
Gaul) is often used for the
Lowlands, although it is also notable that the
Hebrides are known as
Innse Gall due to the historical presence of
Norsemen.
In the past, the Gàidhealtachd would have included much of modern day Scotland outside the extreme south east and the
Northern Isles, as evidenced by the prevalence of Gaelic derived place names throughout Scotland, and contemporary accounts. These include
Dundee from the Gaelic
Dùn Deagh,
Inverness from
Inbhir Nis,
Stirling from
Sruighlea,
Argyll from
Earra-Ghàidheal and
Galloway from
Gall-Ghaidhealaibh. Gaelic speakers from what would be considered the Lowlands today included
George Buchanan from Stirlingshire, and
Robert the Bruce and
Margaret McMurray from Galloway and
Ayrshire.
For historical reasons, including the influence of a
Scots-speaking
royal court in
Edinburgh, and the
plantation of
merchant burghs in much of the south and east, the Gàidhealtachd has been reduced massively to the present region of the
Western Isles, and the North West
Highlands,
Skye and
Lochalsh and
Argyll and Bute, with small Gaelic populations existing in
Glasgow and
Edinburgh.
Scottish Gaelic has also survived among communities descended from immigrants in parts of
Nova Scotia (especially
Cape Breton Island),
Prince Edward Island and
Newfoundland in eastern
Canada and those areas where Gaelic is spoken can also be said to be
Gàidhealtachdan. See also
Scottish Gaelic in Canada.
*
Scotia
