Blair Collection > Address to Highlanders respecting their native Gaelic

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It is true that the Gaelic is not to be compared as a learned lan-
guage with the English, being very deficieut in those technical terms
that are used in the various branches of education. But for ordinary
purposes, the Gaelic is not only equal but in many things surpasses
the English. The tongue of a Highlander surpasses any that I
have listened to for sarcasm, wit, and good humour. For showing
the good qualities of one, or the bad qualities of another, it is before
the English. For expressing sympathy with a fellow sufferer — for
the house of prayer— for the family and the social circle — for ex-
pressing the conjugal, the parental, the filial, the brotherly, the
friendly feelings and affections of the heart, it is far in advance of
the English. For preaching the gospel, for expatiating on the
love of God, for holding forth Jesus Christ and him crucified, for
catching and keeping the attention, for reaching and searching the
conscience, and for applying the subject to the heart, I have always
preferred it ; and I am convinced that those who know it properly,
and are in the habit of using it, have the same feelings. Its very
simplicity gives it a power which theEnglish does not possess. Who
does not see that the very simplicity of Judah's pleading with
Joseph for his brother Benjamin gave it greater force than had it
been delivered by Lord Brougham. Many of the translations
which I have seen in Gaelic are far too literal and stiff. A literal
translation will never tell on the minds of Highlanders. The best
way is to catch the ideas, and to express them as they would do
themselves.
What the Gaelic is capable of doing is clearly seen from the
Gaelic Messenger- and Dr. M'Leod's Collection, also the Pilgrim's Pro-
gress with notes, and other works of John Bunyan, translated and
edited by Dr. M'Gilvray, Glasgow, which has not only come up to
the original, but in some things surpasses it. If Good Words in the
hands of the son are good, good words in the hands of the father
are not behind. Any periodical more expressive, more telling, more
touching, and more entertaining than the Gaelic Messenger I have
never read ; and the principal reason why that periodical had not
been more extensively circulated, and Avhy it has ceased to exist, is
the great misfortune connected with Highlanders — that the great
body of them are not taught to read the Gaelic. This misfortune
is their disgrace — the disgrace of parents — the disgrace of noble-
men and gentlemen who are native proprietors ; yes, and the dis-
grace of ministers and schoolmasters. Let them all awake and wipe
away the disgrace from their native country. It is with blushing
shame for my country that I have to declare that never in my
younger days did I get a single lesson in the Gaelic in any school
that I attended, and I feel the ill effects of it to this day.
There is one thing, however, in which the Gaelic greatly exceeds
the English, namely, in lyric poetry. From the very constitution of
the two languages the English will not even make a near approach
to it. It is capable of a great many contractions that the English is
not capable of, agus and 'us, 's. All monosyllables and trisyllables