Volume II. Guth na Bliadhna ' leabhar II.]

Although it woujd be a mistake to affirm that the future of the Gaelic language is assured so far as the schools are concerned, yet we have reason enough to congratulate ourselves on the undoubted progress that has been made. State recognition of Gaelic, however partial and grudging, is neverthe­less an accomplished fact. We have obliged " the-authorities " to recognise the importance of Gaelic and to make some provision for its admittance to the schools upon common-sense lines. It is true that only a moiety of what must be accomplished has actually been done, and that we are by no means yet out of the wood. But the concession of the principle for which we have been fighting marks an important step in the history of the language campaign, and of that general movement in behalf of the reassertion of our national rights-and privileges which goes by the name of the Celtic Renaissance. Undoubtedly we must not remain content with the present position of the language in the schools, which, in many respects, is unsatisfactory in the extreme. Such concessions as we have succeeded in extorting should be re­garded not as a settlement of the question, but as a channel through which yet greater and more im­portant victories must come. The fighting policy, hitherto adopted with fairly successful results, must be firmly persisted in, and reinforced. The tendency of governmental "departments" is, unfortunately, in the direction of procrastination and half-measures ; and unless then good intentions be quickened by a show of public interest, they are apt to dissipate their energies in the mere contemplation of activities.

The present position of the language, so far as the schools are concerned, may, then, be safely compared to that of a general who has successfully executed the inevitable " turning movement," and is now concentrating his forces for the delivery of those series of decisive blows by which he calculates to effect his victory. We have gained some un­doubtedly strong positions; but our success must be pushed home. This is, emphatically, no time for pausing, or for " marking time," as some un­wisely advise, with a view to the leisurely dis­covery of the probable consequences of the damage which we have already inflicted upon the enemies' defences. We have certainly succeeded in creating an impression upon the forces of our opponents; but victory is not yet by any means. Much, indeed the most difficult and arduous portion of the task that confronts us, remains to be accomplished; and if we desire to complete the good work to which we have neither lightly nor prematurely (but rather the contrary) set our hands, we must straightway redouble our efforts, trusting to Provi­dence, our own energy and skill, and to the trans­parent justness of our cause to ensure us final success.

Our obvious duty, then, is not to allow this question of Gaelic in the schools to sleep, or to become moribund by reason of our own inaction; but on the contrary neither to cease from troubling, nor ourselves to be at rest. But what of Gaelic outside the region of the schools ? The school agitation must go on. It is essential to the success of the Gaelic movement; but there are other fields which must be gained if that campaign is to achieve that composite success which alone can prove it to be the movement, not of a class, but of a people. By all means let us agitate the question of Gaelic in the schools unceasingly and strenuously; but let us not forget that we are a nation, and that, conse­quently, the Gaelic leaven must be introduced and worked so that it reaches the uttermost parts of the lump.

I think that in this agitation in behalf of our language we are apt to lose sight of the fact that the upper classes also must come under the spell of the movement if, as I have ventured to put it, we are to achieve not a partial but a composite success. The common people, doubtless, should be taught Gaelic. But what about their social superiors ? Whilst we are labouring to educate one portion of our countrymen, we must not forget the others. A nation does not consist of a class, or yet of a conglomeration of classes; but is a composite whole. The rich man, therefore, equally with the poor, must be made to realise the import­ance of preserving the Gaelic language, with a view-to our rehabilitation as a nation. The Gaelic movement here, as elsewhere, must permeate all classes, and sections, and degrees, and ranks of society, if it is to achieve that solid and enduring success by which alone it can be intellectually and politically justified.

Let us pause to consider for a moment the past I attitude of what is called "Society"- -I use the word here in its more restricted sense—touching the Gaelic. Once upon a time we know that our kings were Gaelic, and that their courts and nobles spoke the Gaelic language. In those days Gaelic was the official and social speech, to the exclusion of any other tongue. Then came the feudal system, and with it began that gradual Anglicisation of our race, politically and socially,, which has continued, with so melancholy results, down to this day. But even after feudalism had been firmly established, and the race of native sovereigns had been superseded by stranger blood, we find that the Gaelic language continued to be cultivated by at all events the remnants of the ancient Gaelic nobility. Our chiefs and chieftains knew Gaelic because without it they could not have exercised any influence over their followers. It is true that the attitude of the Scoto-Norman court was, as regards our language, generally un­friendly, though there is evidence to show, on the authority of a Spanish Ambassador to the court of Holyrood, that one at least of the Stuart sovereigns had acquired our tongue. The Gaelic nobility, however, seem to have stuck to their native speech with, on the whole, a general con­sent. They seem indeed to have been consider­ably more proficient in Gaelic than they were in English; and the few Gaelic productions by persons of rank and social standing that have come down to us compare very favourably with the effusions of their compatriots and equals who wrote in a different tongue.

The abolition of the hereditable jurisdictions, following on the national disaster of the year 1746, struck heavily, however, at the social prestige hither­to enjoyed by the Gaelic language. The expatri­ation, moreover, of thousands of well-to-do Gaels in consequence of Culloden and the political troubles in connexion therewith, was a further source of weakness to our venerable and expressive tongue! By reason of these and cognate calamities the " language of Eden " began to decline, and in so much so that by the beginning of the nineteenth century the Gaelic language in Scotland had fallen from its former high estate to the condition of a sort of peasants' patois, spoken by a few half-starved rustics, and increasingly despised and neglected even by them. It is true that the discoveries, or rather forgeries, of MacPherson (in respect of whom my countrymen have contracted a debt of ever­lasting gratitude), inasmuch and in so far as they] tended to open the eyes of the polite world touch­ing the grandeur and antiquity of the Gaelic lan­guage, contributed to the rehabilitation thereof as a literary medium; but it is safe to say that this favourable opinion was shared by but compara­tively few, and that by no means, in all probability,! by those who were accustomed to look upon themselves as the natural leaders of the Gaelic people. There is certainly no evidence to show that MacPherson's writings were the cause of a Gaelic revival amongst the upper classes. The interest] of those discoveries was almost purely antiquarian. Reams upon reams of paper, and even more than the proverbial rivers of ink, were expended—nowa­days we should be tempted to say wasted—in the endeavour to prove that redoubtable author a] knave or the reverse. But so far was the contro-j versy which raged round the exploiter of Ossian from creating a practical interest in the Gaelic lan­guage, or arousing any general desire for its pre­servation, that there is not the slightest proof of the same. The Gaelic language continued to languish and die; and the attitude of " Society"— of that portion of it at all events which might have been expected to show some bowels in the matter —continued to be profoundly indifferent, if not openly hostile and sceptical. It is worthy of note that the great mass of this famous controversy was written in the English language sufficient proof in itself of the parlous condition in which the in­auguration of that contest discovered the Gaelic. No doubt, the publication of Ossian, and the incident of the wordy warfare in connexion therewith, gave rise to a literature in Gaelic; but the harvest was miserably out of proportion to the promise of that spring which the advent of MacPherson naturally created in all patriotic minds. Peers with Gaelic names galore subscribed to sumptuous impres­sions of the master's masterpieces (in English), and, as is their wont, boasted their blood upon a thousand noisy platforms; but they do not seem themselves to have taken the practical trouble of acquiring the Gaelic language, or of compassing the lesser heroic of obliging their children and kinsfolk to learn it instead of them.

But the good seed sown by MacPherson was destined to bear fruit, after all. Hitherto no doubt it is the poorer lands that have been most in­dustriously cultivated with a view to the raising of his delicate crop. The richer lands, encumbered with the rank but luxuriant growths of Anglicisa-tion, have hitherto proved inimical to the appear­ance of the blade. To the credit of the poor—of the rural population of the Highlands and Isles, and of their sons and daughters who have left the straths and glens to struggle for existence in our cities and towns—must be placed such measure of progress as we have already achieved. The present agitationj which has for its object the restoration of Gaelic ta the schools, is the answer of the common people to the call of MacPherson. It remains for their social superiors to follow their patriotic and disinterested! lead.

It must be allowed, however, that the inclusion of the upper classes in the Gaelic movement is a measure fraught with considerable difficulty. IfJ the case of the people themselves, a similar end ii much easier of attainment. The common peoplei are less subject to those influences which " make] for" Anglicisation. Their requirements are morel immediately under the eye of publicists than are] those of their betters. There is more cohesion] amongst them ; and the means of giving a common] direction, and of imparting an appearance of una! nimity, to their social and political aspirations are] more numerous and manageable than are those] which obtain elsewhere.

The upper classes, on the other hand, are lessj easily organised and influenced than are those whol rank below them in the social scale. Their material circumstances should render them more independents as regards thought and action ; but, unfortunately! experience shows that they are generally far more] subservient to public opinion. If fashion decree! a thing, he is a bold gentleman who will set hil face against it; and alas! in this matter of tha preservation of Gaelic, " fashion " has hitherto been] strongly opposed to us. Added to all which, there] is this to remember, namely, that our Gaelic nobility] and gentry (or at all events what remains of themH have contracted the improvident and unpatriotiq habit of sending their sons and daughters to

England in order to be educated. The result of such a measure is easily perceived in the dearth of private schools for the sons and daughters of gentlemen which exists in Scotland, and more es­pecially in Celtic Scotland, at this moment. With the exception of an Anglican school at Glen Almond in Perthshire, I do not believe that there exists such a thing as a school for gentlemen's sons throughout the length and breadth of the Highlands; and at that solitary school I make bold to say that probably the last thing the authorities thereof Iwould dream (or be capable) of teaching would be |he ancient language of the nobility and gentry of this kingdom ! As for our universities, apart from the fact that as patriotic centres they leave a great deal to be desired, the upper classes of Scotland 'have long ceased patronising them. They send [their sons to Oxford and Cambridge instead, which "turn them out," as the saying goes, approved specimens of the results of the Anglicising process, [indeed, but with scarce a thought in their heads above boating and cricket.

No doubt this is but one aspect of the general 'impoverishment of our country in consequence of the disastrous union of 1707. By impoverish­ment I do not so much mean actual financial loss —though, to be sure, that also can easily be proved, as the late Lord Bute justly contended— as the withdrawal and disappearance of all those [outward signs and symbols which invariably characterise a nation "in being". The stripping [Scotland of her private schools and colleges, to which the best blood in her was wont to resort, is an incontestible sign of the country's degeneration inconsequence of 1707. A country in which there is no local government, in the national sense of the

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word, and whose upper classes send their sons and daughters elsewhere in order to be educated, may be a glorified province, or a limb of empire indeed, but has absolutely no pretensions worth consider­ing to be regarded as a nation.

With no schools, therefore, and a public opinion little better than openly hostile, how can we reason­ably expect the upper classes in Celtic Scotland to come at all heartily or generally into the Gaelic movement, or to profit, educationally, by that agita­tion which, in the case of their social inferiors, has already achieved so pleasing and useful results? Fortunately, there are not wanting signs tending to prove that the more conscionable members of our Gaelic nobility and gentry have already ap­preciated the matter. Paragraphs to the effect that the young laird of so and so, or the proprietor of this or that Highland estate has acquired, or is acquiring, the Gaelic language are of no uncommon occurrence in the Gaelic press. That some of our Gaelic nobles and gentry, moreover, take a genuine interest in the Gaelic movement, and ardently wish it success, is fortunately also true enough. These signs, of course, are distinctly encouraging; but if the language movement is to prosper as it should, and as, emphatically, it deserves to do, by reason of its outstanding merits, there must needs be a further considerable awakening and searching of hearts and consciences in this respect. I maintain that no Gaelic proprietor is fit to hold his estate if he does not know the Gaelic language. The sons and daughters of every Gaelic proprietor—indeed of every one who prides himself upon his Gaelic blood, irrespective of rank and station—should be instructed in the Gaelic language.

It may be inquired at this conjuncture: " But how is this to come to pass, seeing that there are admittedly scarce any schools in Celtic Scotland to which the sons and daughters of gentlefolk resort, much less any in which the Gaelic language is taught ?" My answer to this question is, that, doubtless, for some time to come the Gaelic pro­prietary of Scotland will have to rely on themselves, so far as instruction in the tongue of our ancestors is concerned. The masses, in this respect at least, are much better off than are their social superiors. They have schools whose cwrriculi provides for Gaelic, and teachers paid by Government to instruct their children in their mother-tongue. The Gaelic nobility and gentry, on the other hand, have no schools which might justly be claimed as their own. The few whose sons are educated at home send their children to Lowland schools. It is clear, then, that self-help and self-reliance must needs supply for some time to come what patriotism demands. And, after all, is it not little enough that Celtic Scotland expects? Thousands of patriotic Irish­men and women of all ranks and classes are this day engaged in acquiring the Gaelic language in Ireland, not because it " pays " them to do so, but out of that love which they bear to their native land, and which we should generously strive to emulate. Many of these disinterested individuals have had the greatest difficulties to contend against in their commendable endeavour to acquire the speech of their forefathers. In many cases, perhaps in the vast majority, they have been brought up not only without knowing a single word of the language which, often in middle age, they have set themselves to acquire, but in towns and districts far removed from the sound of the Gaelic tongue. Patriotism, however, at all events the Irish Gaelic

brand of it, knows no obstacles; and what can be done in Erin can be just as well accomplished in Alba. In the vast majority of cases, the sons and daughters of the upper classes of Celtic Scotland are brought up in districts where the tongue of Ossian is habitually spoken. These, therefore, should have no difficulty whatever in acquiring the Gaelic language: nor should their parents ex­perience the slightest difficulty in securing com­petent instructors to teach them. The period of early youth, before ever the children are sent to school, is that, after all, in which the Gaelic founda­tion should be laid, as it is that in which the mind is most open to impression and most favourably disposed to the reception of such knowledge. As for those who are already grown up, even if they cannot themselves find time, zeal and opportunity wherewith to acquire a practical knowledge of the language, they can at least encourage others to do so, and show their interest in the campaign by subscribing to the funds of An Comunn Gaidhealach, and by otherwise forwarding the aims and objects of the movement. No doubt, as time goes on and the Renaissance spreads, Celtic Scotland will recover somewhat of its old estate, and with it, no doubt, its old educational machinery.

National principles, however slowly they may progress, are yet undoubtedly making some head­way amongst us. The example of other nations, and more especially, perhaps, of our own colonies, who rightly insist upon self-government, is bound, sooner or later, to produce a general demand for Scottish autonomy. The slow process of Govern­ment as presently conducted, the expense and delay entailed by the legislative union with Eng-, land, and the neglect of purely national business which that connexion necessarily involves, must inevitably lead to a radical rearrangement and re­adjustment of the legislative apparatus. Who can doubt that, with a Scots Parliament sitting at Edinburgh, the affairs of this country would be more economically, more efficiently, more expeditiously transacted, and in a manner infinitely more agreeable to our national spirit and character, than ever they can hope to be by our parliamentary managers at Westminster \ Home Rule is necessary to Scotland as a whole: it is of vital importance to the High­lands, which can only hope to thrive by reason of that close and careful attention to local and peculiar needs and requirements which experience shows us to be necessary, which autonomy alone can give, and in which consists the true science of Govern­ment, as liberally and intelligently interpreted.

But what is the existing attitude of " Society " regarding the Gaelic? I have no hesitation in saying that it is a vastly improved quantity. As in the lower classes, generally speaking, the old spirit of indifference has fortunately given way to a juster appreciation of the value and dignity of the Gaelic language, so in " Society" the old feeling of contempt for Gaelic and everything Gaelic is rapidly disappearing before more intelli­gent sentiments. The extraordinary antiquity of the language, its beauty, joined to its aristocratic past—fruits of knowledge which are largely the gift of the middle classes—are producing their inevitable results upon a class which is naturally drawn to such things. Gaelic is no longer un­fashionable : indeed, at this moment it is very much the reverse. An ever-increasing number of well-born people is taking a practical interest in the preservation of our tongue. I have already


alluded to the number of young men and women of good social position and connected with Celtic Scotland who are acquiring the language, or other­wise manifesting their interest in its preservation. The bad old views that a " Highlander" was necessarily a native of the Highlands, that the dress made the man, and that his language was scarce a thing to be named amongst polite, intelli­gent people, are rapidly going the way of all such unprofitable flesh. The spread of knowledge, especially of Celtic knowledge, has proved the gross insufficiency of this ancient order of things, with the pleasing result that the Gael of Scotland is not only almost daily widening his present and future political platform, but furthermore those who but a few years ago were prepared to imitate him in nothing save his dress are now desirous to be identified with him in all things, even to the extent of claiming his blood and acquiring his language.

It must be allowed, looking to the future wel­fare of the movement, and the necessity which exists for a composite success, that this is a highly, gratifying and encouraging state of affairs. We wish to impose our language not only on the peasant, but also on the peer, and the middle classes. Remember, that whilst the former gives its social " tone" to a nation or people, the latter is largely responsible for its literature. The spectacle of a Gaelic-speaking peasantry is no doubt gratifying enough; but the prospect of the re-nationalisation of their social superiors is one to be thankful and to work for. Remember, a peas­antry, however patriotic, prosperous and virtuous does not constitute a nation: if those who are socially above them are yet cut off from them in all the essentials which make for national homo­geneity, the labours of those who are endeavouring to rebuild the walls of Zion must needs be in vain.