Ball Martin, M?ller Nicole. The Celtic Languages
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Figure 13.12 Scotland 1981: age and sex structure of Gaelic population. Sources: Registrar General (Scotland), 1983: p. 4, Table 2; Offi ce of
Population Censuses and Surveys, 1983
Figure 13.13 Scotland 1981: areas with bilingual primary Gaelic teaching schemes. Age and sex structure of Gaelic population. Sources:
Registrar General (Scotland), 1983: p. 22, Table 40; pp. 4–9, Table 2
Figure 13.14 Scotland 1981: areas with second language primary Gaelic teaching schemes. Age and sex structure of Gaelic population.
Sources: Registrar General (Scotland), 1983: p. 22, Table 40; pp. 4–9, Table 2
Figure 13.15 Scotland 1981: all areas with primary Gaelic teaching schemes. Age and sex structure of Gaelic population. Sources: Registrar
General (Scotland), 1983: p. 22, Table 40; pp. 4–9, Table 2
Figure 13.16 Scotland 1981: Areas without primary Gaelic teaching schemes. Age and sex structure of Gaelic population. Sources: Registrar
General (Scotland), 1983: p. 22, Table 40; pp. 4–9, Table 2
SCOTTISH GAELIC TODAY 621
their children, and the ‘multiple families’ to 65.3 per cent. Thus the total of 3,369 fami-
lies where all adults spoke Gaelic, 2,001 of their 2,900 children or 69.00 per cent spoke
the language. Transmission rates were much lower among Gaelic- speaking lone- parent
households. There were 1,757 such cases, among whom 528 of their 1,524 children (or
34.6 per cent) were being brought up to speak the language (Census Scotland 2001, Table
S143). Transmission rates and proportions of all Gaelic- speaking adult families were
higher in the more strongly Gaelic areas, such as the Western Isles and Skye and Loch-
alsh, but still with very considerable shortfalls in terms of transmission rates. If current
policy initiatives are at all serious in seeking to maintain the numbers of Gaelic speak-
ers and Gaelic- speaking communities, this must be the key priority action area. And the
second priority must be availablilty of Gaelic schooling for the children of partially Gaelic
families whose parents want it.
Figure 13.17 Primary schools with Gaelic teaching schemes in 1981
622 THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF THE CELTIC LANGUAGES
SURVEYS OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY GAELIC USAGE IN THE
WESTERN ISLES: 1986–8, 1994–5, 2004–5
A survey of Gaelic language maintenance in the Western Isles was undertaken in 1986–8 in
parallel to the study in Skye discussed above. The results have been reported in detail else-
where (MacKinnon 1991, 1994). Further studies were undertaken in 1994–5 as part of the
Euromosaic Project study of Gaelic speakers in Scotland (MacKinnon 1998, 2000a and b,
2001), and of the general population, Gaelic speakers, and recent incomers for the Western
Isles Language Plan Project (WILPP) in 2004–5 (MacKinnon 2006, 2007). These stud-
ies enable some successive comparisons to be attempted of Gaelic usage in the family and
community. In general they show the above trends to have been rapidly accelerating.
Language usage within the family among Gaelic speakers in the Western Isles in
1986–8 is detailed in Table 13.6 above and in Figure 13.10, which compared the ques-
tions on family usage common to both surveys. It will be apparent that this, the most
strongly Gaelic area in Scotland, has been undergoing rapid and accelerating language
shift. Gaelic usage has declined intergenerationally between reported usage in family of
origin and present- day family, and sequentially over the decade between the two surveys.
In comparison with the situation a decade later the noticeable decline in usage levels in all
family situations is conspicuously apparent.
This trend continues strongly in the results of the surveys conducted in 1994–5 as part
of the Euromosaic Project (MacKinnon 1998, 2000a and b, 2001), and in comparison
with the survey ten years later in 2004–5 conducted by the Western Isles Language Plan
Project (WILPP 2005, MacKinnon 2007). In both of these surveys common questions
were asked, although the methodology was different. The earlier survey comprised 130
Gaelic- speaking subjects quota- ed for area, age, gender and occupation. The later survey
was systematically sampled from the electoral roll as a whole, from which the 254 Gaelic
speakers were separately analysed. With these provisos of comparability, the rate of lan-
guage shift was such that the strong rate of decline continued to be abundantly apparent.
(See Figures 13.18 to 13.21.)
Mainly Gaelic Both equally Mainly English
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Croft work 82.0
Prayer meetings 64.3
Work 60.0
Social events 55.4
Church services 51.5
Township meetings 51.9
Post office 41.3
Local shop/van 23.8
Mean Gaelic usage scores and % of respondents using:
Figure 13.18a Gaelic usage in community and media: Isle of Skye Gaelic speakers,
1986–8 (N = 81) – in community situations
SCOTTISH GAELIC TODAY 623
Mainly Gaelic Both equally Mainly English
0 102030405060708090100
Church elder 82.8
Church minister 61.6
Local nurse 57.1
Crofting assessor 52.0
Local councillor 48.3
Child’s teacher 46.4
Doctor 17.8
Bank teller 9.3
Council officials 2.0
DHSS/tax officials 1.7
Local police 0.7
Mean Gaelic usage scores and % of respondents using:
Often Gaelic Sometimes Gaelic Never Gaelic
0 102030405060708090100
Radio broadcasts 88.0
TV programmes 84.8
Newspaper articles 60.3
Reading Gaelic Bible 45.3
Public entertainments 35.0
Reading Gaelic books 26.9
Letter writing 9.1
Mean Gaelic usage scores and % of respondents using:
Figure 13.18c Gaelic usage in community and media: Isle of Skye Gaelic speakers,
1986–8 (N = 81) – media/entertainments
Figure 13.18b Gaelic usage in community and media: Isle of Skye Gaelic speakers,
1986–8 (N = 81) – community fi gures
624 THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF THE CELTIC LANGUAGES
Mainly Gaelic Both equally Mainly English
0 102030405060708090100
Mean Gaelic usage scores and % of respondents using:
Croft work 95.8
Prayer meetings 86.6
Post office 78.9
Social events 77.2
Local shop/van 77.0
Church services 76.2
Township meeting 73.5
Work 69.5
Figure 13.19a Gaelic usage in community and media: Western Isles Gaelic speakers,
1986–8 (N = 222) – in community situations
Mainly Gaelic Both equally Mainly English
0 102030405060708090100
Mean Gaelic usage scores and % of respondents using:
Church elder 91.1
Local councillor 77.2
Local nurse 74.2
Minister/priest 69.1
Child’s teacher 69.0
Crofting assessor 41.1
Bank teller 36.9
Council officials 24.0
DHSS/tax officials 12.9
Local police 12.0
Doctor 5.3
Figure 13.19b Gaelic usage in community and media: Western Isles Gaelic speakers,
1986–8 (N = 222) – community fi gures
SCOTTISH GAELIC TODAY 625
0 102030405060708090100
Mean Gaelic usage scores and % of respondents using:
TV programmes 79.3
Radio broadcasts 78.8
Newspaper articles 50.8
Reading Gaelic Bible 45.3
Public entertainments 43.3
Reading Gaelic books 28.9
Letter writing 7.1
Mainly Gaelic Sometimes Gaelic Never Gaelic
Figure 13.19c Gaelic usage in community and media: Western Isles Gaelic speakers,
1986–8 (N = 222) – media/entertainments
Only
Gaelic
Mainly
Gaelic
Both
equally
Mainly
English
Only
English
To maternal grandparents
To paternal grandparents
Between parents
To original mother
To original father
To sister
To brother
To present mother
To present father
To spouse/partner
To children
Partner to children
Between children
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Figure 13.20a Western Isles: language use in family, 1994–5 (Euromosaic Survey
N = 130) – numerical