An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Gaidheal > Volume 26, October 1930--September 1931

An t-Iuchar, 1931.
AN GAIDHEAL.
155
tha i a’ falbh anns an Lunasdal. Aithnichidh
na creutairean beaga nuair a tha an geamhradh
a’ tighinn agus theid cuid dhuibh nan cadal ann
an oisein agus bithidh iad mar sin gu deireadh
an Fhogharaidh agus gus am bith laithean a’
gheamhraidh air falbh.
Tha mac an duine mar an ceudna a’ buain mar
a chuir e agus ma bha e trang ’sna raithean a
chaidh seachad bithidh fois is pailteas aige nis.
Note.—A prize of ten shillings is awarded
to the writer of this essay. The subject for
next essay is “ An Geamhradh.” Essays
should be certified by teacher or parent as
being the unaided work of pupil.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR.
Mr. Barron and Gaelic Enthusiasts.
Sir,—In his recent interesting and
informative broadcast talk on “The truth
about the Highlands, ’ ’ Mr. Evan Barron said
many things with which all Highlanders
would cordially agree, and for which they
would gladly join in thanking him, but at the
same time he went somewhat out of his way
to make what I am sure many of his listeners
would consider needlessly slighting
references to Gaelic enthusiasts. If there
are any Gaelic enthusiasts who think the
preservation of Gaelic should be the “be all
and the end all’’ of all Highland effort, and
who have no interest in the material, moral,
and intellectual well-being of their fellow-
countrymen, they deserve all the hard things
Mr. Barron or anybody else cares to say
about them. But are there any such? I
have been more or less active in the Gaelic
movement, and in touch with its leading
personalities for more than a generation, and
I have not yet met them. In the
course of his talk Mr. Barron said “Gaelic
is a noble language, and we should strain
every nerve to preserve it. ’ ’ That confession
seems to me to place- Mr. Barron himself
among the Gaelic enthusiasts. I have
myself sometimes been called a Gaelic
enthusiast, but I have never claimed more
for the language than he does in the words
I have quoted.
Mr. Barron calls upon us to remember
that Gaelic is only one of many languages
spoken in Scotland at one time or another,
and is a comparative late-comer among
these. I do not see why that fact should
lessen our regard for it, or the importance
we attach to it. It is, at any rate, the only
one among the languages he mentioned that
had sufficient vitality to endure, spreading
itself as it did over by far the greater part of
Scotland and being dominant there for many
centuries. Why should Mr. Barron expect
that reminder of his to cool the ardour of
Gaelic enthusiasts ?
We all know Mr. Barron to be a good
Highlander, and we are deeply in his debt
for the light he has thrown by his historical
researches on the part the Celt has played
in the making of Scottish history. Our
regret is therefore all the greater when we
find him worrying so much about a type of
Gaelic enthusiast which does not exist, and
creating, however unintentionally, in the
minds of his numerous listeners the
impression that the more active protagonists
of Gaelic are mere visionaries, the victims of
an obsession and out of touch with reality.
The Gaelic enthusiasts known to me are not
less sane in their outlook than the mass of
their fellows, nor less ready to give due
weight to the teaching of history, and to
the facts of present day existence.
I am sure Mr. Barron would not like to
see An Comunn relax any of its efforts to
preserve the language, to encourage the
study and the extension of its poetic and
prose literature, and to reveal to the world
the beauty of its music and song.—Yours,
etc., M. M.
0
BARDACHD GHAIDHLIG.
A revised issue of this text book is about
to be published. This work has undergone
revision by Professor Watson, and is now
ready for the printer. An effort will be
made to have it available for the opening of
the next school session.
FREE GAELIC ADVERTISEMENT.
The Kyle Pharmacy, Kyle of Lochalsh,
has published an excellent little Pocket
Guide to Kyle of Loch Alsh and the Isle of
Skye (price 2d). The Editor of the booklet
has very generously inserted a free Gaelic
advertisement of the Gaelic National Mod at
Dingwall in September — dates, com¬
petitions, concerts, and train arrangements
are succinctly referred to. The Gaelic is by
that indefatigable worker, John N. Macleod.
The thanks of the Executive are now offered
to the Editor of the booklet for his
kindness,