Product Code Database
Galwegian Gaelic (also known as Gallovidian Gaelic, Gallowegian Gaelic, or Galloway 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 (except numerous placenames) and a song collected in North Uist have survived, so that its exact relationship with other Scottish Gaelic dialects is uncertain.
It is quite possible that even as late as the twelfth century, Cumbric was still spoken in Annandale and lower Nithsdale (where a man called Gille Cuithbrecht has the Gaelic nickname Bretnach =Welshman), but these areas seem to have been thoroughly Gaelicised by the end of that century.G. W. S. Barrow,Robert Bruce: and the community of the realm of Scotland (4th edition ed.), p. 34 :- "But Annandale was settled by people of English, or Anglo-Scandinavian speech, and thoroughly feudalised." 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.
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 allegiance of the Galwegian Gaels became critical. In many ways, the Wars of Scottish Independence were also a dynastic civil war, with the Bruces the successors of Gilla Brigte mac Fergusa and the Balliols the successors of his brother Uchtred mac Fergusa.
Under the post-1234 Franco-Gaelic lordship were several powerful kin-groups, or Scottish clan, for instance, the MacLellans, the MacDowalls, and Clan Kennedy 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 ('kinsman'), and kenkynol ('chieftain', from ceann-cinneil 'head of the kindred'); muinntir ('household') appears in the name Muntercasduff; clann ('children', less literally 'progeny', 'family') in names such as Clenafren, and Clanmacgowin. A number of local surnames have Gaelic origins, e.g. Landsburgh (originally McClambroch), MacClumpha, MacGuffock, Hannay, McKie, McNay, 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 e.g. Airies, Airieholland; manured infield from Talnotrie (talamh an otraigh) and Auchnotteroch. Gall-Ghàidheil agriculture is indicated in the use of Pennyland]] and its subdivisions, e.g. Pinminnoch, Leffin Donald, Fardin; Daugh and quarterland (ceathramh) also appear, e.g. Doach, Kirriedarroch, Terraughty.
Galwegian Gaelic may have borrowed certain words from Northumbrian Old English or Old Norse. The influence of the Anglian Whithorn, with the Norse Gall-Gaidhel, could explain why the word kirk (ON kirkja, cognate with OE cirice, 'church') is used in so many placenames with Celtic second elements and word order. Cirice / kirkja occurs in medieval Galwegian placenames where, in the rest of Scotland, one would expect Gaelic cille, 'church'. Examples include: Kirkcormac, Kirkmikbrick, Kirkinner, Kirkcolm, Kirkcowan, and Kirkmabrick, and many others. 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 (cf. Dùn Èideann versus Edin-burgh). 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 (Cille + Osbern) is another. A plethora of personal names confirm the influence of Anglo-Saxons culture. For example, the name Gille Cuithbrecht (also found in Manx as Giolla Cobraght) means 'devotee of St Cuthbert'. Another historical example is Gille Aldan, the name of the first bishop of Galloway after the re-establishment of that see by King Fergus.
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 "italic=unset".Lorimer, The Persistence of Gaelic, p. 117
After this, there is much ambiguous and indirect evidence that the language was spoken, if only fragmentedly, into the eighteenth century. Margaret McMurray (died 1760) is one of the last speakers we know of by name, although there are some suggestions that linguist Alexander Murray (1775–1813) 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. Nearby areas such as the Isle of Man, east Ulster (especially Rathlin Island and the Glens of Antrim), and Arran all had native Gaelic speakers into the 20th century.
| 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, ?Benbeoch 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 (such as Lenition tu "you" and dom "to me" (usually thu and dhomh). 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" (usually anns an). The negative nì (usually chan) is also a feature more commonly associated with Irish dialects, rather than Scottish Gaelic.
On 8 September 2018 a one-day conference 'Galloway: Gaelic's Lost Province' was held at the Catstrand in New Galloway.
Efforts are also ongoing by the Dumfries and Galloway County Council to promote both heritage language learning and the Scottish Gaelic Renaissance in the region. Dumfries and Galloway Council Gaelic Language Plan
|
|
