Everything about Galwegian Gaelic totally explained
Galwegian Gaelic is an extinct
Goidelic dialect formerly spoken in South West
Scotland. It was spoken by the
independent kings of Galloway in their time, and by the people of
Galloway and
Carrick until the early modern period. It was once spoken in
Annandale and
Strathnith. Little has survived of the dialect, so that its exact relationship with other Goidelic dialects is uncertain. It is also known as
Gallovidian Gaelic,
Galloway Gaelic etc.
It isn't to be confused with forms of
Irish Gaelic spoken in
County Galway in
Ireland, for which the adjectival form
Galwegian is sometimes also used.
History and extent
Gaelicization in Galloway and Carrick occurred at the expense of
Old English and
British.
Old Irish can be traced in the
Rhins of Galloway from at least the
fifth century. How it developed and spread is largely unknown. The Gaelicization of the land was complete probably by the
eleventh century, although some have suggested a date as early as the beginning of the
ninth century. The main problem is that this folk-movement is unrecorded in the historical sources, so it has to be reconstructed from things such as
place-names. According to the placename studies of WFH Nicolaisen, formerly of the
University of Edinburgh, the earliest layer is represented by placenames with the prefix
Sliabh- (often anglicized
Slew- or
Sla(e-) and
Carraig (= a fishing station; anglicized as
Carrick). This would make the settlement roughly contemporary with what was then
Dál Riata. The
Gall-Gaidhel (the Gaelic Norse), who gave their name to the area appear to have settled in the ninth and tenth centuries. Many of the leading settlers would have been Norse speaking, but this wouldn't appear to have been to the same extent as in other Norse-Gaelic regions, such as parts of the
Hebrides and
Sutherland-
Caithness.
It is quite possible that even as late as the
twelfth century,
Cumbric (a
Brythonic language related to
Welsh) was still spoken in
Annandale and lower
Strathnith (where a man called Gille Cuithbrecht has the Gaelic nickname
Bretnach [=Welshman]), but these areas seem to have been thoroughly Gaelicized by the end of that century. A couple of legal terms also survive in medieval documents. The demise of Cumbric in the region is even harder to date than Gaelic.
The likely eastern limit reached by the language was the
Annan. The reason for that's that Gaelic placenames disappear quite rapidly after this boundary, although a handful of Gaelic names also appear in
Cumbria. In the north it was possibly cut off from other Scottish dialects in the
fourteenth, if not the
thirteenth century.
Culture
Gaelic-speakers in medieval Galloway, whom
Richard of Hexham erroneously called
Picts, had a fearsome reputation. They were the barbarians
par excellence of the northern English Chroniclers, said, amongst other things, to have ripped babies out of their mother's wombs. It was reported that by
Walter of Guisborough in
1296, that during a raid on
Hexham Priory, the Galwegians under
William Wallace desecrated the shrine of
St Andrew, cut off the head of the saint's statue, and threw relics into a fire.
It was perhaps the wild reputation that Galwegians had in
England and
Lothian which gave rise to the myth of
Sawney Bean (note the Gaelic surname/nickname).
Although Galloway was peripheral to
Scotland until
1234, in the aftermath of the rebellion of
Gille Ruadh and the dissolution of the Lordship, Galloway and Galwegians became critical. In many ways, the Scottish Wars of independence were just a Galwegian civil war, with the Bruces the successors of
Gilla Brigte mac Fergusa and the Balliols the successors of
Uchtred mac Fergusa.
Under the post-
1234 Franco-Gaelic lorship were several powerful kin-groups, or
clans, for instance, the MacLellans, the MacDowalls and the Kennedys of Carrick. It was probably through these groups that Galwegian society operated for the remainder of the
Middle Ages. Evidence for a clan system in the area can be found in medieval records -
cineal (kindred) appears in such terms as "kenelman", and "kenkynol" (
Ceann-cinneil);
muinntir (household) appears in "Muntercasduff"; clan in "Clenafren", "Clanmacgowin" et al. A number of local surnames have Gaelic origins for example Landsburgh (originally McClambroch), MacClumpha, MacGuffock, Hannay, McKie, Kennedy and MacCulloch. The placenames
Balmaclellan and
Balmaghie may represent the site of chiefs' residences.
Evidence of a bardic class can be found in such placenames as Dervaird (
Doire a' Bhaird) and Loch Recar (
Loch an Reacaire).
Important information about local agriculture can be gleaned from placenames as well - shielings (
àiridh) were in use for example Airies, Airieholland; manured infield from Talnotrie (
talamh an otraigh) and
Auchnotteroch.
Gall-ghàidhil agriculture is indicated in the use of
peighinn and its subdivisions (q.v.), for example Pinminnoch, Leffin Donald, Fardin;
Daugh and
quarterland (
ceathramh) also appear, for example Doach, Kirriedarroch, Terraughty.
Relationships to other languages
It is thought that Galwegian Gaelic probably had more in common with the
Manx and
Ulster Irish than with
Scottish Gaelic as spoken in the
Highlands. This idea has in the past been used to disassociate Galwegian Gaelic from other Scottish dialects, for political purposes in fact. However, the idea is very misleading. All medieval Goidelic languages were mutually comprehensible so far as we can tell. Perhaps the Gaelic dialect of the
Isle of Arran parallels the Galwegian language most, but this is purely speculative.
Gallowegian Gaelic may have borrowed certain words from Old English or Norse. The influence of the Anglian
Bishopric of Whithorn, with the Norse
Gall-Gaidhel, could explain the word
cirice (O.E.)/
kirkja (O.N.) (=Church): see
kirk is used in so many placenames with Celtic second-elements and word order.
Cirice/
kirkja occurs in medieval placenames where, in the rest of Scotland, we'd expect
Cille. Examples are legion. They include Kirkcormac, Kirkmikbrick, Kirkinner, Kirkcolm, Kirkmabrick. In these names, the first word is Germanic and the second Gaelic. The word order is Celtic too, noun + adjective, rather than the Germanic adjective + noun (c/f
Dùn Èideann and
Edin-burgh). This is why we can be sure, for example, that
Kirkcudbright, etymologically entirely
Germanic, was in fact coined by a Celt. It is possible that this was a feature of the dialect, but it's also possible that most of these are the product of later English semi-translations.
Early English influence wouldn't be surprising given the popularity of English saints.
Kirkcudbright, mentioned above, means Church of St Cuthbert.
Closeburn, earlier Killeosberne (
Cille (Gd. Church) + of Osbern) is another. A plethora of personal names confirm the popularity of
Anglo-Saxon culture. For example, the name Gille Cuithbrecht (= Manx, Giolla Cobraght) means
devotee of St Cuthbert. Another historical example is
Gille Aldan, the name of the first bishop of Galloway after the resurrection of that see by King
Fergus.
1500 and after
An important source for the perception of Galwegian language is the poem known as
The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy. The poem, written somewhere between
1504 and
1508 portrays an ideological, historical and cultural conflict between
William Dunbar (representing Lothian, and Anglian Scotland) and
Walter Kennedy (representing Carrick and Gaelic Scotland). Dunbar ridicules Kennedy's
Heland accent and
Erische language, whilst Kennedy defends it, saying calling it "all trew Scottismennis leid" and telling Dunbar "in Ingland sowld be thy habitation." The importance is that, from a Lothian perspective in the early sixteenth century, Carrick and Galloway still represented Gaelic Scotland, just as Lothian did Anglian Scotland. Note also that Kennedy is referred to as "Heland" (Highland).
Alexander Montgomerie (1545? - 1610?) was also a Gaelic speaker, and was termed the "Hielant Captain"; various Gaelic terms and phrases can be found in his works.
George Buchanan, himself a Gaelic speaker, writing in
1575, reports that Gaelic was still spoken in Galloway. In the middle of the century,
1563-
1566, a report by an anonymous English military investigator informs us that the people of Carrick "for the most part specke erishe".
After this, there's much ambiguous and indirect evidence that the language was spoken, if only fragmentedly, into the
eighteenth century.
Margaret McMurray is one of the last speakers we know of by name, although there are some suggestions that
Alexander Murray, the linguist may have learnt it from his aged father who was a local upland shepherd.
It is safe to say, though, that the Galwegian language died out somewhere in the two-century period between
1600 and
1800, with the balance of evidence strongly indicating an effective disappearance in the
seventeenth century. It is notable though, that nearby areas such as the Isle of Man, east Ulster and Arran all had native Gaelic speakers into the 20th century.
Modern influence
Although Galwegian Gaelic has left no extant literature and has been extinct for several centuries, the Gaelic heritage of Galloway continues to be an inspiration to modern writers, such as
William Neill a poet who writes in
Scottish and
Irish Gaelic,
Lowland Scots and English. Another example of the modern legacy is the "Gall-Gael Trust" founded by Colin MacLeod.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Galwegian Gaelic'.
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