Tha e criochnaiche" -
"the landowners' day is over. It is done."
99% of Scots do not understand Gaelic -
and Gaelic, Scotland's mother tongue, is dying.
the number of Scotland's Gaelic speakers
has fallen below 60,000
If it falls below 50,000
Gaelic will be considered officially dead.
Scottish Gaelic is close to the precipice edge
The decline of our Gaelic
has been slow and steady.
Gaelic was introduced to Scotland from Ireland in the 5th century and remained the main language in most rural areas until the early 17th century.
It was outlawed by the crown in 1616, and suppressed further after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745.
Less than 100 years ago children were beaten into speaking English at school.
Now Gaelic is concentrated in a few areas.
Almost 68% of Western Isles residents are fluent in Gaelic, but only 0.8% of people in Strathclyde.
With each generation the number of speakers drops further.
more Gaelic speakers are dying than are being born or learning,as long as that goes on the language will disappear.
It is an incontrovertible fact that Gaelic is a language that belongs to Scotland, and there may be thousands of Gaelic speakers throughout the world, but if Gaelic dies here, it dies. End of story.
The starting of teaching our children at school is a great start
Hopefully more creative occasions to use the language will promote the language
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