Galwegian Gaelic
Galwegian Gaelic is an extinct dialect of Scottish Gaelic formerly spoken in southwest Scotland. It was spoken by the people of Galloway and Carrick until the early modern period. Little has survived of the dialect, so that its exact relationship with other Gaelic language is uncertain.
History and extent
in Galloway and Carrick occurred at the expense of Old English and Cumbric, a British dialect. 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 Gaelicisation 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 historical sources, so it has to be reconstructed from things such as place-names. According to the placename studies of W. F. H. Nicolaisen, formerly of the University of Edinburgh, the earliest layer is represented by compound placenames starting with Sliabh "mountain" and Carraig "rock". This would make the settlement roughly contemporary with what was then Dál Riata. The Gall-Gaidhel, 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 of both Norse and Gaelic heritage, and it was the Gaelicisation of these Norse leaders which distinguished them from other Norse lords of northern Britain such as those in Shetland, Orkney and Caithness.It is quite possible that even as late as the twelfth century, Cumbric was still spoken in Annandale and lower Strathnith, but these areas seem to have been thoroughly Gaelicised 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 that of Gaelic.
The likely eastern limit reached by the language was the River Annan, for the reason that Gaelic placenames disappear quite rapidly beyond this boundary. In the north it was possibly cut off from other Scottish dialects in the 14th, if not the 13th 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 mothers' 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.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 lordship 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 appears in such terms as "kenelman", and "kenkynol" ; muinntir appears in "Muntercasduff"; clan in "Clenafren", "Clanmacgowin" et al. A number of local surnames have Gaelic origins e.g. Landsburgh, 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 and Loch Recar.
Important information about local agriculture can be gleaned from placenames as well: shielings were in use e.g. Airies, Airieholland; manured infield from Talnotrie and Auchnotteroch. Gall-ghàidhil agriculture is indicated in the use of peighinn and its subdivisions, e.g. Pinminnoch, Leffin Donald, Fardin; Daugh and quarterland also appear, e.g. 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. However, medieval Goidelic was a single language, spoken from Munster to Sutherland, with a universal educated standard and many regional dialects, which might have been mutually comprehensible. It is possible that the Gaelic dialect of the Isle of Arran parallels the Galwegian language most, but this is purely speculative.Galwegian 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 / kirkja : 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, one would expect Cille. Examples are legion. They include Kirkcormac, Kirkmikbrick, Kirkinner, Kirkcolm, Kirkcowan, Kirkmabrick. In these names, the first word is Germanic and the second Gaelic. The word order is typical of the Celtic languages, with the adjective following the noun, rather than the Germanic adjective preceding the noun. It is possible that this was a feature of the dialect, but it is also possible that most of these are the product of later English semi-translations.
Early English influence would not be surprising given the popularity of English saints. Kirkcudbright, for example, means Church of St Cuthbert. Closeburn, earlier Killeosberne is another. A plethora of personal names confirm the popularity of Anglo-Saxon culture. For example, the name Gille Cuithbrecht 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 and Walter Kennedy. 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 salient point is that, from a Lothian perspective, as late as the early sixteenth century, Carrick and Galloway still represented Gaelic Scotland, just as Lothian did Anglian Scotland. Kennedy is referred to as "Heland". Although Kennedy's surviving works are written in Middle Scots he may also have composed in Gaelic. In the Flyting, for instance, Dunbar makes big play of Kennedy's Carrick roots and strongly associates him with Erschry, "Irishry" which meant in other words the bardic tradition; the term Irish in Scotland signified Gaelic generally:Alexander Montgomerie 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, reported that Gaelic was still spoken in Galloway. In the middle of the century, 1563–1566, an anonymous English military investigator reported that the people of Carrick "for the most part specke erishe".
After this, there is 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 linguist Alexander Murray may have learnt it from his aged father, a local upland shepherd.
It is safe to say, though, that the Galwegian language died out somewhere between 1700 and 1800. 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.
Example
Virtually no known records exists of Galwegian Gaelic. The only known text is a Galwegian song collected from a North Uist shennachie called Òran Bagraidh which was collected by the oral historian Donald MacRury from his schoolmaster. Although the song is broadly comprehensible, it contains many obscure words, shown in bold.| Gaelic text | English |
| Aobh cumar an eas dom, Aobh bealach nan slògh, Aobh bruthaichean Beinn Beithich, Aobh an gleann san robh tu òg. Trom dom maduinn aon-là, Trom dom maduinn a' chro, Nì robh èirig air an eislig Caisteal a' chro. | Pleasant is the confluence of the waterfalls to me, Pleasant the pass of the hosts, Pleasant the slopes of Beinn Bheithich, Pleasant the glen in which you were young. Heavy for me the one-day morning, Heavy for me the morning of blood, Your ransom was not on the bier The castle of blood. |
| Nar ro geis anns a' chro, Nir bu geis anns a' chro, Fa tu deanma bidh muid diamain, Lagaidh ceudan dìogailt linn. Buille beada gom borr, Goille grad beart doid, Com gun cholainn sliochd na feannaig, Dìogailt rinn-dearg baradag slìom. | There was no enchantment in the blood, There never was an enchantment in the blood, ? you ? we will be ?, Hundreds shall be weakened by is. A stroke ?, ? quick to act, A headless body to the kindred of crows, The vengeance of the red points ? slippery. |
| Riam righfinnid air an Fianta, Ro-sà ràthan rìghtech tu, Riam ruighean ràth na rìghinn, Rogaid roighean tu ar rìgh, Saindsearc sighi sorcha seiti, Caimbeart cruthach calma ceannt, Supach suanach solma socrach, Ceudnach clota cleusta clit. | Always a born leader of the Fianna, A great man in the king's house are you, Always ? in the queen's house, A chief among the ? of the king, ? bright ? No crooked ways, a strong ?, ? calm, The first ?. |
| Toinnti muinntir na dubh-chos, Inn san draodhnich 's ruigh raoin, Sloinnti cinneil sliochd a' mhaduidh, Cingdi cairpech diaman saoidh, Bhite breacach Loch a' Bharr, Bhite fiadhach Carrsa Feàrn, Bhite brocach Gleann na Seamraig, Bhite fleaghtach an Dail Righ. | Wrapped up in the people of the black foot, In their thorny places and grazing, In the genealogy of the people of the wolf, ? warriors. They would be fishing in Lochinvar, They would be deer-hunting in Carsphairn, They would be badger hunting in Glen Shamrock, They would be feasting in Dalry. |
| Do bhi treilis donna dosrach, Air an ruadhadh san do dail, Greaghan congail tochadh sgola Seirbhti sin an deireadh gnas. Tarpa sluagh na gruaigi ciar, Na cneas deathar cairti glas Dosguin ciripti teasmailt brianta Sosguin foirprig teanmaidh bragh. | Long ringlets of brown hair, Shalle be reddened in the ?, ?, ? the end of ?. ? of the dark-brown host, Of the dark tanned complexions, ? ?. |
The song contains numerous examples of linguistic features associated with known Southern dialects. The retention of the verbal particle in the last stanza do bhi is also highly unusual for a Scottish Gaelic dialect, as is the form inn san "in the". The negative nì is also a feature more commonly associated with Irish dialects, rather than Scottish Gaelic.
Modern influence
Although Galwegian Gaelic has left no extant literature and has been extinct for over two centuries, the Gaelic heritage of Galloway continued to inspire modern writers, such as the late William Neill, a poet who wrote in Scottish Gaelic and Irish, Lowland Scots, and English. Another example of the modern legacy is the "Gall-Gael Trust" founded by Colin MacLeod.On 8 September 2018 a one-day conference 'Galloway: Gaelic's Lost Province' was held at the Catstrand in New Galloway.