The Gàidhlig Anti Defamation

[SeamusAlba]

The Gàidhlig Anti Defamation League is determined to call to light all hate language against Gàidhlig from Anglophone Gaelophobes. Gaelophobia cannot be tolerated in a modern society and is the shame of Scotland.

Please join and contribute to the ongoing campaign.

G.A.D.L. | Facebook

[Lachlan09]

Originally Posted by SeamusAlba

The Gàidhlig Anti Defamation League is determined to call to light all hate language against Gàidhlig from Anglophone Gaelophobes. Gaelophobia cannot be tolerated in a modern society and is the shame of Scotland.

Please join and contribute to the ongoing campaign.

G.A.D.L. | Facebook

You mean there are currently Scots who actively hate Gaelic culture and language ? I imagined there were likely still Scots who make fun of Gaelic progs on radio and TV, but not active haters.

Billy Connolly did a wee routine in the 1970's gently ribbing 'Se Ur Beatha, but that wasn't taking the pee out of the language, rather he was ribbing the performances. He used to describe the way they stood and smiled as they sang and how one of them would wink and move his head while smiling and singing a line, as if he knew something the audience didn't.

At the time and earlier, my dad, brother and I had a ceilidh trio (as a ceilidh act, not for dancing) and we were part of the Highland scene in Edinburgh and area and also played in Glasgow, Stirling as well other parts of the Lowlands and The Highlands too on various occasions (from Campbeltown to Halbeath). As such, I feel we were fortunate to perform alongside many of the famous names of that time, such as Madge Campbell-Brown (our early mentor !), Evelyn Campbell, Kenna Campbell, Joan MacKenzie, Dolina MacLennan, Bessie MacLennan, George Clavey, Calum Cameron, Archie MacLean, Archie MacTaggart, Murdo FJ MacLeod, Norman MacLean, Alasdair Gillies as well as musicians such as Alasdair MacDonald, Fergie MacDonald, Ally Bain, Alison Kinnaird and Mary Lochead. Some of then we knew very well.

I can therefore smile at Billy Connolly's 1970's observations of the Gaelic TV scene but in no way does it mean I disrespect the culture, language and people. I was lucky enough to have also been at one time a tenor in a Gaelic Choir conducted by Archie MacLean and I loved the experience and put myself into it, including Gaelic pronunciation which I took really seriously. In fact, at one practice, each of us non-speakers had to one by one speak through the verses of one song we would do for the Stirling Mod so our pronunciation could be evaluated. A non-native speaker in a choir mainly made up of Gaelic speakers, I was nearly s******g myself when it was my turn. I had competed solo as a boy at a Local Mod in 1967 (I was coached by Murdo FJ MacLeod) and didn't win but was somewhere in the middle. So when I recited the verses like a poem for the choir (I had recently been learning basic Gaelic), I was amazed at myself ! I got a round of applause (amazing for me !) and was told that I even had a Sgianach accent when I was saying it (probably because Kitty MacAskill/*Flucker from Skye had coached me !)

* Kitty's hubby, Davie Flucker, was school janitor at RHS Prep School. He came from a Granton / Newhaven fishing family and had been a trawlerman as a lad. About his surname, he used to say "There's an L of a difference !"

[ScotSites]

I remember seeing Billy Connolly's routine about Gaelic and the way it was presented on tv. Around the same time there was a tv show called Dòtaman presented by Donnie Macleod; the programme itself was aimed at young children (pre-school?) and what I mainly remember was the hats Donnie used to wear, but he was very much like the kind of tv presenter that the Big Yin was speaking about. As you say Lachlan, this was definitely NOT an anti-Gaelic routine and to be honest, apart from a few idiots, I don't really know of anyone who really is anti-Gaelic!

Maybe there are not as many people actively supporting Gaelic (at least the language itself as opposed to the culture) as SeamusAlba would like, but that doesn't mean they are Gaelophobes even if they might be Anglophones... I for one might be the latter, but I am certainly not the former! What I have seen from time to time (particularly on this forum) is Gaelic speakers (or at times people who claim to be, but never show any real evidence of it) dismissing anyone who doesn't speak the language as being a Scot... but again, its just a few idiots that are trying to stir up a little trouble rather than the majority who are trying to promote their own culture alongside that of their lowland countrymen!

SeamusAlba, I wish your group well and I may even join, but having had a look at it I don't see any real evidence of hate language against Gàidhlig (other than one topic about the term Teuchter from someone who claims William Wallace was a Gaelic speaker , though admittedly there are some posts in Gaelic that I can't read); yes historically there were attempts to destroy the Gaelic language and culture, but where, other than the few idiots that I have already mentioned, is the evidence of that happening today? The worrying thing for me (and something that might stop me and possibly others from joining) is the group will attract the kind of people I mentioned that already frequent this forum - those that dismiss non-Gaelic speaking Scots as having any right to claim to be Scottish! I certainly hope that doesn't prove to be the case!

[tig]

i believe this group has been set up to fight a non problem.

ive lived here for nearly 40 years and have NEVER met anyone you could call anti gaelic.

no doubt theyl be trying to get funding now from some council to fight their non problem

imho its utter nonsense set up by people with nothing better to do

[Lachlan09]

Yup, sounds a bit precious.

[Lianachan]

There is plenty anti-Gaelic racism around. A popular deasach pass-time for centuries, it is still practised by some even in these enlightened times.

Recent example

[Lachlan09]

I might be talking out my pog, but I thought Caithness was only marginally Highland and that Gaelic was not a base-language there. My old boss, a Weeker ie from Wick, certainly didn't see Gaelic as his heritage.

Would instilling support for Gaelic as a teaching job pre-requisite in say St Boswells or Galashiels be considered appropriate ?

I think it's a case of Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. - ie if it is appropriate and belongs there.

"A popular deasach pass-time for centuries". Well, I thought it was only post 1746 to early 20th Century only (which is 2 centuries right enough) rather than your inference of more.

To me, racism of any sort is the active dislike or hatred of another culture, religion, race etc. Be careful in using that word, there's a big difference between people who don't give a toss and those who actively hate. Also, you cannot call racists those people who resist or criticise the intrusion of a language upon them in a region where it has not been spoken for a very long perod of time, if ever, because some bureaucrat has decreed it shall be used.