An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Gaidheal > Volume 49--51, January 1954--December 1956

Story of An t'oiiiimu
By The Editor.
On 30th April, 1891, An Comunn Gaidhealach was formally instituted. Last October the Jubilee National
Mod was held in Oban. This, the Fiftieth National Mod, would really have been the Sixty-second Mod, had it not
been for the two World Wars which prevented the holding of National Mods in the years 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.
Next October the official magazine of An Comunn will attain its Jubilee. The first number appeared in October,
1905.
With so much history behind us, and especially in view of the fact that much of what An Comunn has done for
the Gaelic Cause seems to be unknown to or forgotten by so many of the more voluble critics of the Association, the
time seems opportune to tell the story of An Comunn Gaidhealach in some detail, and this we propose to do in this
and succeeding numbers. We shall draw mainly on the minutes of the Executive Council and the Annual General
Meetings of the Association.
I. THE FORERUNNERS
RIGHTLY to tell the story of An Comunn Gaidh¬
ealach, one must begin much further back
than 1891. Indeed, one ought really to begin
by reviewing the history of Gaelic in Scotland and trace
thtf stages by which, and indicate the reasons for which,
the Gaelic area steadily contracted until at last
patriotic men were stirred to action in defence of their
ancient language and culture.
It must suffice, however, to do two things by way
of introduction. One of these preliminaries is to recall
those societies that were busy in the interests of Gaelic
long before An Comunn was thought of. The other is
to describe the position of Gaelic in Scotland, and
especially in the educational system of Scotland, during
the 18th and 19th centuries. This latter we reserve
until later. Meanwhile we deal with societies which
may in some sense be regarded as forerunners of An
Comunn Gaidhealach.
‘ ‘ Mail is a social animal, ’ ’ said a philosopher of
old, and nowhere is this more clearly seen than among
the Gaels. For centuries the Clan, an enlargement of
the family, was the unit of social, and even military
and economic, organisation. When the Clan System
disihtegrated, the gregariousness of the Highlander,
more especially the Highlander in exile, found expres¬
sion in an extraordinary number and variety of societies
and associations—clan and territorial, benevolent and
cultural,. and sometimes simply convivial. That
admirable publication, The Scots Year-Book, lists the
hundreds of such societies which now exist all over the
world, a large number of them having a long history
behind them.
Our concern here, however, is with those societies
which, like An Comunn Gaidhealach, have applied
themselves, in greater or less degree, to the preserva¬
tion and cultivation of Gaelic language, literature,
and music.
Gaelic Society of London
The premier Gaelic Society is, of course, the Gaelic
Society of London, which was founded in 1777 by a
group of about twenty-five persons (nineteen of them
Gaelic speakers), mostly officers in Highland regiments
soon to be engaged in the American War of Independ¬
ence. One of the objects of the new society was the
foundation of a Gaelic professorship in a Scottish
University (a century was to pass before that dream
came true), and its first great achievement was the
part it played, with the assistance of the Marquis of
Graham and Fraser of Lovat, in securing the repeal
in 1782 of the obnoxious Disarming Act of 1747
which proscribed the use of Highland dress and
discouraged much that was truly distinctive of the
Gael.
Highland Society of London
When the American War was over, the Gaelic
Society of London had a considerable addition of new
jnembers, mostly military men, but the result was the
swamping of the Gaelic element in the membership
by a Lowland element who, feeling that “Gaelic
Society” was too restricting a title, changed the name
to “Highland Society of London” in 1782.
In 1807, the Highland' Society of London sent
Alexander Stewart on a tour of the Highlands to
collect Gaelic poetry and tales. Stewart had been,
with Donald Stewart, joint-editor of a Collection of
Gaelic Poetry published at Edinburgh in 1804 and was
the author of the popular song, ‘‘Mkiri Bhoidheach,”
which he composed in honour of Mary, daughter of
the Rev. Allan MacQueen, Minister of North Uist.
In 1808, a minority of the Highland Society of
London revived the Gaelic Society of London, their
leader being the Rev. Duncan Robertson who instituted
a fund (which amounted to) £4,000) for the support of
a Gaelic preacher in London. In 1808 the Highland
Society of London suggested the formation of a branch
in Inverness. They also urged the establishment of a
Chair of Celtic Literature in one of the Scottish
Universities and sought to encourage the teaching of
Gaelic in schools. Moreover, they suggested the
establishment of a National Academy of Pipe Music
and proposed the name of Lieutenant MacCrimmon as
Professor. They thought the Government should do
something in the matter, as pipe music was necessary
for the Highland regiments. Their idea was that
Lieutenant MacCrimmon (possibly the person referred
to in Bdrdachd Ghdidhlig, 2nd ed., page 288, as having
a farm in Glenelg) should be promoted by the Army
authorities “from half-pay to a higher and permanent
rank in the garrison of Fort Augustus or of Fort
William, which to him would be equivalent to a
salary, on being made Professor of the establishment. ’ ’
‘‘Mr. McCrummen,’’ they said, “is the last of the
celebrated race of pipers of that name; he is skilled
in the theory and practice of the ancient pipe music,
and is now in the vale of years. ’ ’
“The Sons of Morven’’
The Gaelic Society of London, resuscitated in 1808,
continued to 1816, in which year a non-Gaelic majority
of the members had the name changed to ‘ ‘The Club of
True Highlanders,” but the. Gaelic minority soon
afterwards re-established the Gaelic Society under the
new name of * * The Sons of Morven. ’ ’ Despite this
change of name, Gaelic was used in conversation at all
the meetings. Some of the members of the Highland
Society of London, including Stewart of Garth, joined
‘ ‘ The Sons of Morven, ’ ’ who devoted themselves to
literary interests and debates, gave prizes for essays
on Celtic subjects, and collected a library of books,
pamphlets, and manuscripts. Unfortunately, a
disastrous fire, which broke out in the hotel which was
the Society’s meeting-place, destroyed the minutes
and library of “The Sons of Morven” and the Society,
as a result, was suspended for a time. In 1830, how¬
ever, a remnant of the members re-instituted the
still-existing Gaelic Society of London. From then