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but it is perhaps possible given that puirt a beul could have arisen from
the banning of the pipes in the years 1747 to 1782 and Burns was around
between 1759 and 1796.
Incidentally, Robert Burns is often known as Rabbie Burns or (chiefly
by Americans) Robbie Burns. These are both modern misnomers and are not
names he used himself. He did use Robin, Rab, Rab Mossgiel, Rab the Rhymer,
Robert and in his formal letters frequently used Robt. Of course in
correspondence to Clarinda he was Sylvander and in one letter to Ainslie
he signed off with Spunkie.
Book information
----------------
Get more information on the books listed here
via our books page in association with Amazon.
http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/books/amazon.html#[5.2]
[5.3] Address to a Haggis - Robert Burns
To A Haggis
-----------
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!
Then, horn for horn they stretch an' strive,
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
_Bethankit_ hums.
Is there that owre his French _ragout_
Or _olio_ that wad stow a sow,
Or _fricasee_ wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! See him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.
Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware,
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!
[5.4] Robert Burns links
Particularly recommended
http://www.robertburns.org/ and
http://www.worldburnsclub.com/
http://www.milwburnsclub.org/
The Robert Burns club of Milwaukee.
Contains the complete works of Robert Burns and glossary.
Other recommendations
---------------------
http://www.ibiblio.org/gaelic/Scots/burns.html
http://www.darsie.net/library/burns.html
http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/
http://www.rabbie-burns.com/
http://www.bartleby.com/99/315.html
http://www.innotts.co.uk/~asperges/burns.html
http://www.lochness.co.uk/burns/
http://www.robertburns.org.uk/
http://www.tartans.com/burns/
http://www.thing.net/~strato/
http://www.dgdclynx.plus.com/poetry/poets/rab1.html
[5.5] The Celtic muse in Scott's 'Waverley'
Article by Christopher Rollason
mailto:rollason@9online.fr
3rd November 1996
The Celtic Muse in Walter Scott's 'Waverley'
*This article is mainly concerned with the role of Celtic music and
song in this novel. However, I have thought it useful to begin with a
brief general introduction to the book.*
Sir Walter Scott's first published novel, 'Waverley' (1814; references
to the Penguin Classics edition, ed. Andrew Hook, Harmondsworth:
Penguin, 1972) is best known for bestowing its name on Edinburgh's
main railway station, and to the whole series of Scott's historical
works of fiction, collectively known as the 'Waverley novels'. It
narrates the story of Edward Waverley, a young English aristocrat
posted to Scotland as an army officer, who becomes caught up in the
Jacobite rebellion of 1745, in which he sides with the Scottish troops
of Prince Charles Stuart, pretender to the British throne, against the
ruling house of Hanover.
In other words, the novel is about a civil war in Britain, essentially
between the Scots and the English, in which the main character fights
on the 'wrong' side: Waverley, despite being a ruling-class
Englishman, finds himself, in the remote fastnesses of Scotland,
wearing the tartan, listening to Gaelic, and fighting alongside the
feudal, archaic Highlanders - 'grim, uncombed and wild' (ch. 44, p.
324) - in a world where the chieftains hold 'patriarchal authority'
(ch. 58, p. 399) and the clansmen are bound by 'feudal duty' (ch. 24,
p. 188). The novel is written in the third person, but the protagonist
may be considered a stand-in for the English or, indeed, non-Scottish
reader, gradually inducted by the narrative into a society alien to
his or her own time and place. The reader is made aware throughout of
the divisions existing in the so-called 'United Kingdom', between
Whigs and Tories, Hanoverians and Jacobites, English and Scots; the
ancient kingdom of Scotland had been united with England only since
1707 (38 years before the events described, and 107 years before the
date of publication), and Scotland was itself geographically,
culturally and linguistically divided between the semi-Anglicised
Lowlands, whose inhabitants spoke either standard English or the
'Scotch' dialect of English, and the 'backward', Gaelic-speaking
Highlands where feudal and clan loyalties still ruled.
'Waverley' thus describes a society likely to appear strange and
outlandish to most readers outside Scotland, and, indeed, to Lowland
Scots not acquainted with the Highlands. Despite, or because of, this
visible strangeness of its subject-matter, the novel proved
phenomenally popular on first appearance. It is still of major
importance in literary history, for it introduces and classically
exemplifies the historical novel in its typical modern form: an
imaginary narrative based on actual events, whose characters embrace
all ranks of society and include both real historical figures (Charles
Stuart) and invented individuals who are nonetheless offered as
'typical' or 'representative' of the period.
One aspect of this novel which may not have received its due attention
is Scott's remarkable emphasis, at least in the middle section of the
book, on the strength and vitality of traditional Scottish culture,
especially folk poetry and music. The presence of such an element is
hardly surprising, as Scott's first important literary work was an
edition of Scottish folk ballads ('Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border',
1803), which is still regarded as a landmark in the field. The old
traditional culture was, in the early nineteenth century, still alive
in more than one region of Scotland: Scott himself collected his
ballad material from the lands on the English border, and in Ayrshire,
also in the Lowlands, Robert Burns (whom Scott quotes in 'Waverley' -
ch. 56, p. 388; editor's note, p. 594) helped keep the tradition
alive by composing his own songs in the ballad mode. The
Gaelic-speaking Highlands were, however, inevitably seen as the
ultimate repository and redoubt of Celtic culture.
Curiously, the folk-culture aspect of 'Waverley' is scarcely mentioned
by the author in his own prefaces and appendices to the novel, and it
may not appear the most obvious facet of a book mostly concerned with
warfare and battles. Nonetheless, there is evidence to suggest that
exposure to the old Celtic ways plays an important role in Edward
Waverley's learning process across the novel.
The narrative may be divided into three sections. Chapters 1 to 7
introduce Edward Waverley, his family background (he is of pure
English stock, but an uncle has pro-Stuart sympathies) and early
years, and show him embarking on a military career and arriving in
Scotland, where he is posted to Dundee; chapters 8 to 39 plunge the
young English officer, through a chain of chance circumstances, ever
more deeply into Scottish society and the world of Jacobite intrigue;
and from chapter 40 on, he has formally committed himself to the
service of Prince Charles Stuart, and his individual destiny is
subsumed into the larger history of the rebellion of 1745 (the
government cause finally prevails at the battle of Culloden; the
Prince flees into exile; many of his supporters are hanged, though
some, including Waverley, are pardoned). Scott's descriptions of the
Celtic popular tradition occur mostly in the middle section, before
the outbreak of the rebellion proper, and may be seen as forming part
of Waverley's gradual education in things Scottish.
At the beginning of chapter 8, Waverley, who has obtained leave of
absence from his regiment, is on his way to visit the Baron of
Bradwardine, an old friend of his uncle's whose mansion is just
outside Tully-Veolan, a village in the county of Perthshire - in other
words, right on the border between the 'civilised' Lowlands and the
'barbaric' Highlands: 'Edward gradually approached the Highlands of
Perthshire, which at first had appeared a blue outline in the horizon,
but now swelled into high gigantic masses, which frowned defiance over
the more level country that lay beneath them. Near the bottom of this
stupendous barrier, but still in the Lowland country, dwelt Cosmo
Comyne Bradwardine of Bradwardine' (ch. 8, p. 73). The 'stupendous
barrier' is not merely physical; it also symbolises the cultural
barriers between the Anglicised Lowlands and the Gaelic-speaking
Highlands, and the 'frown(ing) defiance' of the hills anticipates the
revolt with which their inhabitants will defy the English crown.
Waverley's experiences in the middle section of the book are,
technically, part in the Highlands, part in the Lowlands; but the
situation of Tully-Veolan on 'this Hieland border' (ch. 66, p. 454)
suggests that the visitor is, in fact, already coming into the purview
of the old Celtic ways.
When Edward enters the grounds of the manor-house at Tully-Veolan, the
first human voice he hears is that of a strange individual dressed in
motley, singing an 'old Scottish ditty' (ch. 9, p. 82): 'False love,
and hast thou played me thus/In summer among the flowers?'. It turns
out to be Davie Gellatley, the Baron's fool, jester, or, to use the
local term, 'innocent': a villager not completely in his right mind,
whom Bradwardine has nonetheless adopted as his personal servant, and
who compensates for his defects with 'a prodigious memory, and an ear
for music' (ch. 12, p. 105), and an immense repertory of traditional
songs, which he sings incessantly. Scott refers in his notes to the
survival in Scotland of 'the ancient and established custom of keeping
fools' (ch. 9, p. 85n), and identifies 'False love' as 'a genuine
ancient fragment' (p. 82n). Davie, 'half-crazed simpleton' (ch. 12, p.
105) though he may be, is also a custodian of the collective memory,
and what Waverley calls his 'scraps of minstrelsy' (ch. 63, p. 435)
are not such scraps after all (several examples are carefully and
copiously quoted). Indeed, the fool's 'minstrelsy' in a sense
parallels, in a spontaneous and unintellectual form, Scott's own more
conscious activity of collecting and preserving the 'minstrelsy of the
Scottish border'. The Baron's 'innocent' has a Shakespearean dignity,
his ditties at times recalling the Fool in 'King Lear' or the
'melodious lay' of the crazed Ophelia. His old mother (herself
suspected by some of being a witch) declares: 'Davie's no just like
other folk, puir fallow; but he's no sae silly as folk tak him for'
(ch. 64, p. 440); and near the end, when the manor-house has been
plundered and pillaged by the English troops and reduced to an
apparently irrecuperable ruin, Edward identifies Davie's tones among
the wreckage: 'Amid these general marks of ravage ... he heard a voice
from the interior of the building singing, in well-remembered accents,
an old Scottish song:
" They came upon us in the night/And brake my bower, and slew my
knight ... " ' (ch. 63, p. 435). As it turns out, the fool and his
mother are instrumental in saving their master's life, keeping him in
concealment till a pardon reaches him. The figure of Davie singing
amid the ruins bears witness to the strength and tenacity of the
popular tradition which he and his songs embody.
Waverley's residence at the Baron's gradually leads him to discover
the Highlands proper. One and another circumstance brings him, first
to visit the cave of Donald Bean Lean, a freebooting robber, and then
to accept the hospitality of the Jacobite chieftain Fergus, head of
the MacIvor clan. These adventures are accompanied by music and song.
In the robber's lair, the young Englishman is served breakfast by his
host's daughter Alice, 'the damsel of the cavern', who wakes him with
'a lively Gaelic song' which she sings as she prepares 'milk, eggs,
barley-bread, fresh butter and honey-comb' for the guest (ch. 18, p.
145). This suggests she is singing a work-song, and that music is, as
is the case in traditional communities, an integral part of the pulse
and rhythms of daily life. At Fergus MacIvor's castle, the military
exercises of the clansmen are conducted 'to the sounds of the great
war-bagpipe' (ch. 19, p. 161), while the ceremonial dinner that
follows, in the great hall, is also enlivened by three bagpipers (ch.
20, p. 164). The Highland feast terminates with a formal address from
Fergus' resident 'bhairdh' or bard, one MacMurrough, who 'began to
chant, with low and rapid utterance, a profusion of Celtic verses',
later rising into 'wild and impassioned notes, accompanied with
appropriate gestures' (p. 165). His Gaelic chant acts as an expression
of group solidarity, and communicates itself as such to his audience:
'Their wind and sun-burnt countenances assumed a fiercer and more
animated expression; all bent forward towards the reciter, many sprung
up and waved their arms in ecstasy, and some laid their hands on their
swords' (p. 166). The bard is, like the fool, a still-alive archaic
figure; both, in their different ways, express through song the
collective consciousness of their ancient societies.
The musical high-point of the novel occurs in chapters 21 and 22,
which introduce the chieftain's sister, Flora MacIvor, as the Celtic
musician par excellence. Flora, though a Highlander, has been educated
in Paris, and blends native awareness of the tradition with a more
intellectual and sophisticated attitude to it: the reader is told that
she had studied 'the music and poetical traditions of the
Highlanders', carrying out 'researches' and 'inquiries' in a
conscious, organised fashion which seems to parallel Scott's own study
of the Border ballads (ch. 21, p. 169). It is, accordingly, under the
sign of music that her brother Fergus introduces her to Edward:
'Captain Waverley is a worshipper of the Celtic muse; ... I have told
him you are eminent as a translator of Highland poetry' (ch. 22, pp.
171-172). Flora informs the guest that 'the recitation of poems ...
forms the chief amusement of a winter fireside in the Highlands', and
that bards such as MacMurrough are 'the poets and historians of their
tribes'. She also pays tribute to the musicality of Gaelic: 'The
Gaelic language, being uncommonly vocalic, is well adapted for sudden
and extemporaneous poetry' (p. 173). That evening after dinner, she
invites the English visitor, in the company of her attendant Cathleen,
to a secluded glen in the castle grounds, where, by the side of a
waterfall, she sings a 'lofty ... Highland air' to him, in English
translation, accompanying herself on the harp and allowing her song to
blend with the sounds of the cascade. Flora declares: 'To speak in the
poetical language of my country, the seat of the Celtic muse is in the
mist of the secret and solitary hill, and her voice is in the murmur
of the mountain stream' (p. 177). Waverley is overcome by 'a wild
feeling of romantic delight', at her strains 'which harmonised well
with the distant waterfall, and the soft sigh of the evening breeze in
the rustling leaves of an aspen' (pp. 177-178). Flora's woodland
performance images an archaic world where music and song are
integrated into nature.
After this episode, Waverley, not unsurprisingly, falls in love with
the fair Celtic harpist. However, she rejects his suit, and he is soon
caught up in the chain of occurrences which will push him away from
this romantic Highland refuge into the thick of rebellion and war. The
musical references of the novel's third section, which narrates these
rougher and harsher events, are noticeably much fewer. They are also
more superficial, relating as they do, significantly, mainly to the
Lowlands or to the British. Thus, on the road to Falkirk a Lowland
lieutenant 'whistled the Bob of Dumblain' - a tune which the narrator
neither describes nor quotes (ch. 39, p. 287); a party of Lowlanders
is heralded by 'a kind of rub-a-dub-dub' or 'inoffensive row-de-dow'
on the drums (ch. 34, p. 264); an English soldier whistles 'the tune
of Nancy Dawson' (ch. 38, p. 282); the English cavalry are announced
by 'the unwelcome noise of kettle-drums and trumpets' (ch. 60, p.
410). The earlier poetry and depth of musical allusion has
disappeared, and does not return till Davie Gellatley the fool comes
back into the novel near the end.
The Jacobite rebellion is, of course, finally defeated by the English.
Fergus MacIvor is hanged, and Flora leaves Britain forever for a
French convent; the lives of Waverley and the Baron of Bradwardine
hang in the balance until both are in the end pardoned and young
Edward marries the Baron's daughter Rose. There is no evidence, either
internal or external, to suggest that Scott actually favoured the
Jacobite cause or the '45 rebellion. The 'unfortunate civil war' (ch.
71, p. 489) is seen as a forlorn attempt in a lost cause; at the same
time, however, Scott gives full credit and due to the courage and
devotion of the Jacobite leaders and their troops to a belief-system
with which he obviously does not agree himself. His protagonist, near
the end, reaches the conclusion that the only rational hope for the
future is that 'it might never again be his lot to draw his sword in
civil conflict' (ch. 60, p. 415).
It is, nonetheless, amply clear from the novel as a whole that Scott
wished his English readers to take Scottish culture seriously, and to
value and respect the passionate, heroic qualities of the Celtic
nation. At a number of points in the narrative, English prejudices
against things Scottish are exposed as being empty and stereotyped.
Colonel Talbot, an English officer whose life Waverley saves, speaks
contemptuously of 'this miserable country', and is described by the
narrator as being 'tinged ... with those prejudices which are
peculiarly English' (ch. 52, p. 366); he calls the Gaelic language
'gibberish', adding for good measure that 'even the Lowlanders talk a
kind of English little better than the negroes in Jamaica' (ch. 56, p.
387). Scott's own sympathies are clearly, by contrast, with the
Highland ladies and friends of Flora's who declare Gaelic to be more
'liquid' and better 'adapted for poetry' than Italian (ch. 54, p.
377). As an alternative to national antagonisms, Waverley's marriage
to Rose Bradwardine may be seen as symbolizing a certain
Anglo-Scottish convergence, a mutual recognition of cultural value on
both sides of the divide.
Music and poetry emerge from 'Waverley' as essential elements of that
traditional Celtic society whose dignity and originality Scott's novel
clearly defends, at least in cultural terms. Scott was, of course,
more than familiar with the specific musical and poetic traditions of
the Lowlands, as is clear from his ballad studies or from a later
novel like 'The Bride of Lammermoor'. However, he chose in 'Waverley'
to associate the Celtic muse with the Highlands and their hinterland,
as symbolizing all that was most classically and irremediably
Scottish. In this traditional society, music and poetry are integrated
with daily life and work, and make up a tissue of folk history; and
Scott's first novel offers the reader memorable images of this archaic
but holistic view of the world, through the ancient, archetypal
figures of Fool, Bard and Harpist.
Christopher Rollason
[5.6] Scottish Poetry Library
Scottish Poetry Library
5 Crichton's Close
Canongate
EDINBURGH
EH8 8DT
Tel: 0131 557 2876
http://www.spl.org.uk/
mailto:inquiries@spl.org.uk
[5.7] The Saltire Society
The Saltire Society
9 Fountain Close
22 High Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1TF
http://www.saltire-society.demon.co.uk/
Tel: 0131 556 1836
Fax: 0131 557 1675
The Saltire society is active in encouraging the development of
Scottish arts, particularly material connected with the Scots and
Gaelic languages and runs an annual competition for the best Scottish
books in various categories.
[5.8] Women's writing
For more information, see
A History of Scottish Women's Writing
ed. Douglas Gifford and Dorothy McMillan
Edinburgh Univ Press 19 pounds 95p
0748609164 Aug 1997
described as "The first ever comprehensive critical analysis of Scottish
women's writing from its earliest known beginnings to the present day."
[5.9] Scottish literature and writers
An outstanding site with lots of useful information:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9172/scot.html
[5.10] Literature magazines and newsletters
Chapman (Scotland's Quality Literary Magazine)
Contact:
Joy Hendry, 4 Broughton Place
Edinburgh
EH1 3RX
Tel: 0131 557 2207
Fax: 0131 556 9565
Cencrastus is edited by Raymond Ross at
Unit One, Abbeymount Techbase, 8 Easter Road, Edinburgh EH8 8EJ
Lines Review is edited by Tessa Ransford at
Edgefield Road, Loanhead, Midlothian EH20 9SY
West Coast Magazine is edited by Joe Murray at
Top Floor, 15 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 6AB
NorthWords, the magazine from the north for short fiction and poetry is
available from:
Northwords, 68 Strathkanaird, Ullapool, Ross-shire, IV26 2TN
For Scots Gaelic, the premier magazine is Gairm
Gairm, 29 Waterloo St, Glasgow G2 6BZ
Gairm is completely in Gaelic
Lallans, The magazine for writing in Scots:
The Scots Language Society
The AK Bell Library
York Place
Perth
PH1 5EP
Telephone: 01738 440199
Fax: 01738 646505
[5.11] The Selkirk Grace
The Selkirk Grace
=================
often attributed to Robert Burns, but in fact already in use in his time.
Scots
-----
Some hae meat and canna eat,
and some wad eat that want it,
but we hae meat and we can eat,
and sae the Lord be thankit.
Gaelic translation
------------------
Tha biadh aig cuid, 's gun aca ca\il,
acras aig cuid,'s gun aca biadh,
ach againne tha biadh is sla\int',
moladh mar sin a bhith don Triath.
[6.1] Scottish folk festivals
Edinburgh
---------
Edinburgh festival/fringe etc usually starts the second Sunday in
August and runs for 3 weeks.
http://www.edfringe.com/
at about the same time is the Edinburgh Tattoo
http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/
The Fringe starts a week earlier than the 'main' festival
and about the same time as the tattoo.
Celtic Connections
------------------
This runs for three weeks. Usually starting about the middle
of January and running to the first week in February. More info from the
Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow.
BOX OFFICE:-
The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall,
2 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3NY, Scotland.
International Tel:- +44 141 287 5511
International Fax:- +44 141 353 4134
Pay by Access/Visa/MasterCard. Cheques payable to 'The Glasgow Royal
Concert Hall'
Press & Media Enquiries:-
Tracey Kelly Tel:- 0141 332 6633 Fax:- 0141 333 0123
Info is available at
http://www.grch.com/
and
http://www.lismor.co.uk/
Search
------
The British Council has a searchable database of some major
festivals in Britain, see
http://www.britcoun.org/scotland/scoeven.htm
[6.2] Edinburgh Festival Fringe
postal: 180 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1QS
tel: 0131 226 5257 / 5259
fax: 0131 220 4205
mailto:admin@edfringe.com
web: http://www.edfringe.com/
You can view the whole Fringe programme, see and make on-line reviews
and buy tickets through the web site
join the edinburgh festival fringe e-mailing discussion group:
send the message: subscribe edfringe-list
to mailto:majordomo@presence.co.uk
The Gilded Ballon (a comedy venue during the fringe) can be reached at
mailto:info@gildedballoon.co.uk
http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk/
[6.3] Edinburgh Folk Festival
Contact address:
David Francis
Artistic Director
Edinburgh Folk Festival Society
PO Box 528
Edinburgh
EH6 5YR
T/F 0131 557 1050
mailto:dfrancis@netreal.co.uk
http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/
Edinburgh Folk Festival/ Shoots and Roots is no more.
After over 20 years of operation it has been forced to close due to
funding difficulties and cash flow problems.
[6.4] Gaelic festivals / Feisean nan Gaidheal
Contact:
Arthur Cormack
Fe\isean nan Ga\idheal
Nicolson House
Somerled Square
Portree
Isle of Skye
IV51 9EJ
Tel 01478 613355
Fax 01478 613399
http://www.feisean.org/
mailto:acormack@dircon.co.uk
[6.5] Festivals in Edinburgh
All festivals in Edinburgh, the Festival City
http://www.go-edinburgh.co.uk/
Beltane
-------
http://www.beltane.org/ Beltane fire society
The Beltane Fire Society is a charitable organisation, it exists to
organise the Beltane Fire Festival which happens each year in Edinburgh,
it is also an important hub for a large number of groups and individuals,
who as well as contributing to the overall Beltane project also work within
their local communities and internationally to promote the wealth of arts
and culture that Beltane represents.
Folk Music
----------
Folk Festival http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/
August Festivals
----------------
Edinburgh Internet Festival (launched 1999)
http://www.edinburghceltica.com/
Book Festival
http://www.go-edinburgh.co.uk/ebf/
The Festival Fringe
http://www.edfringe.com/
Film Festival
http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/
The Edinburgh Military Tattoo
http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/
Edinburgh International Festival: mailto:eif@eif.co.uk
http://www.eif.co.uk/
the Fringe usually starts a week earlier.
Fireworks are the last Saturday of the official festival.
Edinburgh's Hogmanay
http://www.edinburghshogmanay.org/
Edinburgh's Capital Christmas
http://www.edinburghscapitalchristmas.org/
[6.6] Scottish and Celtic festivals worldwide
Highland Games and Celtic Festivals
-----------------------------------
U.S. Scots Online has spent over five years developing an extensive and
rich database of Highland Games and Celtic Festivals across North
America and around the world. We currently have more than 400 games
listed with current dates, contact information, listings of scheduled
events, featured activities, competition championships, scheduled
performers, attendance figures, admission prices, and much more.
Visit http://www.usscots.com/ for the latest
information on all Highland Games and Celtic Festivals.
Additions and updates can be made at the site using the information
form.
Scottish and Celtic Festivals
-----------------------------
Updated listings detailing over 350 Scottish and Celtic
festivals from around the world have been posted at:
http://www.maclachlans.org/games.html
The new listings include over 80 events in Scotland plus several
new events in North America. There is even a Celtic Festival in
Japan listed.
If you are aware of any events not in the listings, or have any
corrections you wish to share, please let us know. We have an
on-line form to make submitting the information we need simple:
http://www.maclachlans.org/sendinfo.html
Enjoy!
Jim Finegan
Clan MacLachlan
Celtic Colours
--------------
http://www.celtic-colours.com/
This is a Cape Breton Celtic music festival held in October each year.
See also
--------
More info in section [16.5] regarding Highland Games
[6.7] Hebridean Celtic Festival
See http://www.hebceltfest.com/
further info from mailto:caroline@hebceltfest.com
On in Lewis each July
Postal mail: PO Box 9901 Stornoway Isle of Lewis HS2 OHH.
[7.1] How can I learn Gaelic?
Comann an Luchd-Ionnsachaidh (CLI)
==================================
The Gaelic learners' association Comann an Luchd-Ionnsachaidh can advise
about books, learners near you, classes, correspondence courses etc. The
name is abbreviated to CLI and pronounced KLEE. CLI has members around
the world. Motto: "For Gaelic learners and supporters". CLI publishes an
excellent magazine quarterly called 'Cothrom' which is bilingual and
packed full of interesting articles and useful information. There is
also a tape of the Gaelic in the magazine. The printed version of the
magazine is distributed free to members. Please mention the Internet if
you found out about CLI through this medium. Gaelic is pronounced "Gaalic"
in Scotland and "Gaylig" in Ireland. In Canada, mostly the "Gaylig"
pronounciation is used, but to mean Scots Gaelic.
Address:
CLI, Tu\r a Tuath, An Caisteal, Inbhir Nis, Alba, IV2 3EE
CLI, North Tower,The Castle, Inverness, Scotland, IV2 3EE
Phone and Fax: +44(0)1463 226710
http://www.cli.org.uk/
mailto:cli@cli.org.uk
On CLI's website is a database of Gaelic classes worldwide.
Bilingual extracts from CLI's magazine "Cothrom" are on-line at
http://www.scottishradiance.com/galcol.htm - CLI column
E-mail lists and IRC
====================
Gaelic-L
--------
There's GAELIC-L, a Gaelic medium e-mail list for all 3 Gaelics.
Short English only messages from learners are OK
mailto:listserv@listserv.hea.ie with a message containing the line
sub Gaelic-L yourgivenname yoursurname
to join
List archives at
http://listserv.hea.ie/lists/gaelic-l.html
Gaidhlig-A & Gaidhlig-B
-----------------------
For beginners of Scots Gaelic there is a list for Gaelic and English,
although English should only be used where you are unable to phrase
your message in Gaelic. It is Gaidhlig-B - to join, send a mail to
mailto:listserv@listserv.hea.ie containing the line
sub gaidhlig-b yourgivenname yoursurname
There is an archive at http://listserv.hea.ie/lists/gaidhlig-b.html
There is also a list Gaidhlig-A which is for fluent speakers and fluent
learners and is Gaelic only (no English). To join, send a mail to
mailto:listserv@listserv.hea.ie containing the line
sub gaidhlig-a yourgivenname yoursurname
List archive at
http://listserv.hea.ie/lists/gaidhlig-a.html
There are also similar -A and -B lists for Irish
For Manx, there is a list GAELG at mailto:listserv@listserv.hea.ie
Gaidhlig4U
----------
Scots Gaelic complete beginners:
A new mailing list -- Gaidhlig4U -- exists for entry-level beginners
of Scottish Gaelic, as well as for those who are in the early stages
of learning the language. Such topics as conversation and grammar,
learning materials and other resources, and Gaelic culture will be
emphasised. Particular attention will be given to encouraging new learners
to practice and post their Gaidhlig, no matter how elementary it may be at
present. Those with more advanced Gaidhlig are wholeheartedly invited to
participate, but please remember that communication will be centred on the
needs of beginning learners. Postings may be in Gaidhlig with
accompanying English translations, or in English only.
If you have any further questions regarding gaidhlig4u, please contact
Gobnait NicFhilib (Deborah White) mailto:gaidheal@distantoaks.com or
Daibhidh Ealaghoil (David Wright) mailto:daibhidh@ealaghol.co.uk
To subscribe, please do the following:
Send a message to mailto:majordomo@lists.sonic.net
Write the following in the body of your message: subscribe gaidhlig4u
IRC info
--------
For IRC, try #gaidhlig4u on Efnet. There is generally someone
there between 8pm-10pm EST, Monday through Thursday.
There is also a chatroom at
http://www.nettaxi.com/citizens/galichat/
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