95-457: Clan Cumming ( Scottish Gaelic : Na Cuimeinich [nə ˈkʰɯ̃mɛnɪç] ), historically known as Clan Comyn , is a Scottish clan from the central Highlands that played a major role in the history of 13th-century Scotland and in the Wars of Scottish Independence . The Clan Comyn was once the most powerful family in 13th-century Scotland, until they were defeated in civil war by their rival to
190-613: A Cistercian Abbey 7 miles south of Dumfries in April 1273. It still stands as a picturesque ruin of red sandstone . It is claimed that she was also responsible for the establishment of the first library in Dundee . When Sir John died in 1269, Dervorguilla had his heart embalmed and kept in a casket of ivory bound with silver. The casket travelled with her for the rest of her life. In 1274–5 John de Folkesworth arraigned an assize of novel disseisin against Dervorguilla and others touching
285-442: A 19% fall in bilingual speakers between the 1911 and 1921 Censuses. Michelle MacLeod of Aberdeen University has said that there was no other period with such a high fall in the number of monolingual Gaelic speakers: "Gaelic speakers became increasingly the exception from that point forward with bilingualism replacing monolingualism as the norm for Gaelic speakers." The Linguistic Survey of Scotland (1949–1997) surveyed both
380-564: A Pictish substrate. In 1018, after the conquest of Lothian (theretofore part of England and inhabited predominantly by speakers of Northumbrian Old English ) by the Kingdom of Scotland , Gaelic reached its social, cultural, political, and geographic zenith. Colloquial speech in Scotland had been developing independently of that in Ireland since the eighth century. For the first time,
475-524: A central feature of court life there. The semi-independent Lordship of the Isles in the Hebrides and western coastal mainland remained thoroughly Gaelic since the language's recovery there in the 12th century, providing a political foundation for cultural prestige down to the end of the 15th century. By the mid-14th century what eventually came to be called Scots (at that time termed Inglis ) emerged as
570-823: A challenge to revitalization efforts which occur outside the home. Positive engagements between language learners and native speakers of Gaelic through mentorship has proven to be productive in socializing new learners into fluency. In the 2022 census, 3,551 people claimed Gaelic as their 'main language.' Of these, 1,761 (49.6%) were in Na h-Eileanan Siar, 682 (19.2%) were in Highland, 369 were in Glasgow City and 120 were in City of Edinburgh; no other council area had as many as 80 such respondents. Gaelic has long suffered from its lack of use in educational and administrative contexts and
665-551: A dialect known as Canadian Gaelic has been spoken in Canada since the 18th century. In the 2021 census , 2,170 Canadian residents claimed knowledge of Scottish Gaelic, a decline from 3,980 speakers in the 2016 census . There exists a particular concentration of speakers in Nova Scotia , with historic communities in other parts of Canada having largely disappeared. Scottish Gaelic is classed as an indigenous language under
760-572: A fishery in Ellington. In her last years, the main line of the Royal House of Scotland was threatened by a lack of male heirs, and Dervorguilla, who died eight months before the young heiress Margaret, the Maid of Norway , might, if she had outlived her, have been one of the claimants to her throne. Dervorguilla was buried beside her husband at New Abbey, which was christened " Sweetheart Abbey ",
855-489: A full range of language skills: speaking, understanding, reading and writing Gaelic. 40.2% of Scotland's Gaelic speakers said that they used Gaelic at home. To put this in context, the most common language spoken at home in Scotland after English and Scots is Polish, with about 1.1% of the population, or 54,000 people. The 2011 UK Census showed a total of 57,375 Gaelic speakers in Scotland (1.1% of population over three years old), of whom only 32,400 could also read and write
950-586: A language ideology at odds with revitalization efforts on behalf of new speakers, state policies (such as the Gaelic Language Act), and family members reclaiming their lost mother tongue. New learners of Gaelic often have a positive affective stance to their language learning, and connect this learning journey towards Gaelic language revitalization. The mismatch of these language ideologies, and differences in affective stance, has led to fewer speaking opportunities for adult language learners and therefore
1045-805: A national centre for Gaelic Language and Culture, based in Sleat , on the Isle of Skye . This institution is the only source for higher education which is conducted entirely in Scottish Gaelic. They offer courses for Gaelic learners from beginners into fluency. They also offer regular bachelors and graduate programs delivered entirely in Gaelic. Concerns have been raised around the fluency achieved by learners within these language programs because they are disconnected from vernacular speech communities. In regard to language revitalization planning efforts, many feel that
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#17327755533151140-549: A process of Gaelicisation (which may have begun generations earlier) was clearly under way during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, and Pictish identity was forgotten. Bilingualism in Pictish and Gaelic, prior to the former's extinction, led to the presence of Pictish loanwords in Gaelic and syntactic influence which could be considered to constitute
1235-610: A proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than 65% (the highest value is in Barvas , Lewis , with 64.1%). In addition, no civil parish on mainland Scotland has a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than 20% (the highest is in Ardnamurchan , Highland , with 19.3%). Out of a total of 871 civil parishes in Scotland, the proportion of Gaelic speakers exceeds 50% in seven parishes, 25% in 14 parishes, and 10% in 35 parishes. Decline in traditional areas has recently been balanced by growth in
1330-536: A situation where new learners struggle to find opportunities to speak Gaelic with fluent speakers. Affect is the way people feel about something, or the emotional response to a particular situation or experience. For Gaelic speakers, there is a conditioned and socialized negative affect through a long history of negative Scottish media portrayal and public disrespect, state mandated restrictions on Gaelic usage, and highland clearances . This negative affect towards speaking openly with non-native Gaelic speakers has led to
1425-632: A son, named Andrew , who with William Wallace would lead a Scottish army to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge on 11 September 1297. The son of the Black Comyn was John, known as the Red Comyn ( John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch ). This John Comyn was a descendant of both kings Donald III and David I, as his maternal grandmother was Devorguilla of Galloway , the daughter of Margaret of Huntingdon. John Comyn married Joan de Valence. At this time
1520-490: A succession of indignities, the Scottish people were forced into rebellion. John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch , known as John "the red" Comyn was a leader in Scottish independence. With the outbreak of war between England and Scotland, Comyn, his father, and his cousin, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, crossed the border and attacked Carlisle on 26 March 1296, defended for King Edward I of England by Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick ,
1615-918: A tenement in Stibbington, Northamptonshire. In 1275–6 Robert de Ferrers arraigned an assize of mort d'ancestor against her touching a messuage in Repton, Derbyshire. In 1280 Sir John de Balliol's executors, including Dervorguilla, sued Alan Fitz Count regarding a debt of £100 claimed by the executors from Alan. In 1280 she was granted letters of attorney to Thomas de Hunsingore and another in England, she staying in Galloway. The same year Dervorguilla, Margaret de Ferrers, Countess of Derby, Ellen, widow of Alan la Zouche, and Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, and Elizabeth his wife sued Roger de Clifford and Isabel his wife and Roger de Leybourne and Idoine his wife regarding
1710-625: A translation of the New Testament. In 1798, four tracts in Gaelic were published by the Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home, with 5,000 copies of each printed. Other publications followed, with a full Gaelic Bible in 1801. The influential and effective Gaelic Schools Society was founded in 1811. Their purpose was to teach Gaels to read the Bible in their own language. In the first quarter of
1805-719: Is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family ) native to the Gaels of Scotland . As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as both Irish and Manx , developed out of Old Irish . It became a distinct spoken language sometime in the 13th century in the Middle Irish period, although a common literary language was shared by the Gaels of both Ireland and Scotland until well into
1900-490: Is a significant step forward for the recognition of Gaelic both at home and abroad and I look forward to addressing the council in Gaelic very soon. Seeing Gaelic spoken in such a forum raises the profile of the language as we drive forward our commitment to creating a new generation of Gaelic speakers in Scotland." Bilingual road signs, street names, business and advertisement signage (in both Gaelic and English) are gradually being introduced throughout Gaelic-speaking regions in
1995-411: Is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken. Many historians mark the reign of King Malcolm Canmore ( Malcolm III ) between 1058 and 1093 as the beginning of Gaelic's eclipse in Scotland. His wife Margaret of Wessex spoke no Gaelic, gave her children Anglo-Saxon rather than Gaelic names, and brought many English bishops, priests, and monastics to Scotland. When Malcolm and Margaret died in 1093,
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#17327755533152090-738: Is retained by this family to the present. The current Chief is Sir Alexander "Alastair" Penrose Gordon-Cumming of Altyre, a descendant of Sir Robert Comyn, the knight who was killed while defending his nephew, John the Red Comyn. Castles held by the Clan Comyn and later by their descendants the Clan Cumming have included amongst many others: Clan Cumming is associated with these religious sites : Scottish Gaelic language Scottish Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ æ l ɪ k / , GAL -ik ; endonym : Gàidhlig [ˈkaːlɪkʲ] ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic ,
2185-581: Is the one who established this family in Scotland. His son was William Comyn , who married Marjory, Countess of Buchan. William's mother was Hextilda, the granddaughter of king Donald III of Scotland . His son was Walter Comyn , the man who acquired the lordship of Badenoch . The seat of power was Ruthven Castle . Ruthven Castle commanded the northern end of two passes over the Mounth , the Drumochter and Minigaig passes. This lordship passed to his nephew,
2280-601: The Balliol and the Comyns . The Balliol family into which Dervorguilla married was based at Barnard Castle in County Durham , England . Although the date of her birth is uncertain, her apparent age of 13 was by no means unusually early for betrothal and marriage at the time. In 1263, her husband Sir John was required to make penance after a land dispute with Walter of Kirkham , Bishop of Durham . Part of this took
2375-837: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , which the UK Government has ratified, and the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 established a language-development body, Bòrd na Gàidhlig . The Scottish Parliament is considering a Scottish Languages Bill which proposes to give the Gaelic and Scots languages official status in Scotland. Aside from "Scottish Gaelic", the language may also be referred to simply as "Gaelic", pronounced / ˈ ɡ æ l ɪ k / GAL -ik in English . However, "Gaelic" / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik also refers to
2470-555: The Outer Hebrides , accommodation ethics exist amongst native or local Gaelic speakers when engaging with new learners or non-locals. Accommodation ethics, or ethics of accommodation, is a social practice where local or native speakers of Gaelic shift to speaking English when in the presence of non-Gaelic speakers out of a sense of courtesy or politeness. This accommodation ethic persists even in situations where new learners attempt to speak Gaelic with native speakers. This creates
2565-688: The Scottish Lowlands . Between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, the number of Gaelic speakers rose in nineteen of the country's 32 council areas. The largest absolute gains were in Aberdeenshire (+526), North Lanarkshire (+305), the Aberdeen City council area (+216), and East Ayrshire (+208). The largest relative gains were in Aberdeenshire (+0.19%), East Ayrshire (+0.18%), Moray (+0.16%), and Orkney (+0.13%). In 2018,
2660-786: The significant increase in pupils in Gaelic-medium education since that time is unknown. Gaelic Medium Education is one of the primary ways that the Scottish Government is addressing Gaelic language shift. Along with the Bòrd na Gàidhlig policies, preschool and daycare environments are also being used to create more opportunities for intergenerational language transmission in the Outer Hebrides. However, revitalization efforts are not unified within Scotland or Nova Scotia, Canada. One can attend Sabhal Mòr Ostaig ,
2755-421: The 17th century. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language place names. In the 2011 census of Scotland , 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) reported being able to speak Gaelic, 1,275 fewer than in 2001. The highest percentages of Gaelic speakers were in the Outer Hebrides . Nevertheless, there is a language revival , and
2850-601: The 19th century, the SSPCK (despite their anti-Gaelic attitude in prior years) and the British and Foreign Bible Society distributed 60,000 Gaelic Bibles and 80,000 New Testaments. It is estimated that this overall schooling and publishing effort gave about 300,000 people in the Highlands some basic literacy. Very few European languages have made the transition to a modern literary language without an early modern translation of
2945-404: The 2011 Census. The 2011 total population figure comes from table KS101SC. The numbers of Gaelic speakers relate to the numbers aged 3 and over, and the percentages are calculated using those and the number of the total population aged 3 and over. Across the whole of Scotland, the 2011 census showed that 25,000 people (0.49% of the population) used Gaelic at home. Of these, 63.3% said that they had
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3040-407: The 4th–5th centuries CE, by settlers from Ireland who founded the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata on Scotland's west coast in present-day Argyll . An alternative view has been voiced by archaeologist Ewan Campbell , who has argued that the putative migration or takeover is not reflected in archaeological or placename data (as pointed out earlier by Leslie Alcock ). Campbell has also questioned
3135-569: The Bible; the lack of a well known translation may have contributed to the decline of Scottish Gaelic. Counterintuitively, access to schooling in Gaelic increased knowledge of English. In 1829, the Gaelic Schools Society reported that parents were unconcerned about their children learning Gaelic, but were anxious to have them taught English. The SSPCK also found Highlanders to have significant prejudice against Gaelic. T. M. Devine attributes this to an association between English and
3230-539: The Bruce met in the church of the Grey Friars, Dumfries where Bruce murdered Comyn. The reasons are disputed. One account claims that the Bruce knew he had to gain the support of John Comyn; however, John was outraged when it was proposed he betray his terms with King Edward I of England. It is likely that Robert Bruce stabbed the Red Comyn at the high altar, and his companions finished the job. Sir Robert Comyn, uncle to
3325-469: The Clan Comyn (Cumming) was witnessed by their extended tenure of the Justiciarship of Scotia, the most important political and administrative office in the kingdom. Three successive Comyn Lords of Badenoch and Earls of Buchan were justiciars of Scotia for no fewer than sixty six years between 1205 and 1304. See: William Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan . After suffering
3420-408: The Clan Comyn also held a number of royal castles through their role as hereditary sheriffs at Dingwall Castle , Banff Castle (in the north) and Wigtown in the south west. In the early 1290s, the Clan Comyn took additional responsibility for royal castles, including Aberdeen Castle and Jedburgh Castle , as well as castles at Kirkcudbright , Clunie , Dull and Brideburgh. Comyn influence over
3515-616: The Comyn chief, was killed while defending his nephew. Both the Comyn chief titles as Lord of Badenoch and Earl of Buchan were forfeited to the crown. John Comyn's son, also named John, was defeated by Robert the Bruce in a skirmish . Comyn fled to join the English and was later killed at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, fighting with the English, against Bruce. Any hopes of the Comyns returning to power ended at Bannockburn. Adomar Comyn,
3610-776: The Cummings of Altyre were recognised as the clan chiefs. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Clan Comyn, now known as Clan Cumming, had been reduced to a Highland clan. But its members played a significant part in the history and culture of the Badenoch , Strathspey , and Aberdeenshire regions of Scotland . In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Cummings carried on significant, and bloody, feuds with Clan Macpherson , Clan Shaw , and Clan Brodie over lands in Nairnshire . In 1550 Alexander Brodie, chief of Clan Brodie and 100 others were denounced as rebels for attacking
3705-591: The Cummings of Altyre. In 1424, the Comyns forcibly took possession of some of the Clan Mackintosh lands at Meikle Geddes and Rait, but Malcolm Mackintosh retaliated and put many of the Comyns to the sword. This action was met with retaliation by the Comyns, who invaded the Mackintosh homeland of Moy and unsuccessfully tried to drown the Mackintoshes on their island of Moy. A feast of reconciliation
3800-594: The EU's institutions. The Scottish government had to pay for the translation from Gaelic to other European languages . The deal was received positively in Scotland; Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy said the move was a strong sign of the UK government's support for Gaelic. He said; "Allowing Gaelic speakers to communicate with European institutions in their mother tongue is a progressive step forward and one which should be welcomed". Culture Minister Mike Russell said; "this
3895-494: The English king recognised the Comyn's political leadership in Scotland when in 1251, as the father-in-law to Alexander III of Scotland , he returned them to power during the minority period. It was only when Henry supported a take over of the Scottish government in 1255 that the Comyns resorted to kidnapping the young Alexander III in 1257. When Alexander III's minority ended, the Comyns, instead of suffering political eclipse dominated public offices between 1260 and 1286. The son of
Clan Cumming - Misplaced Pages Continue
3990-538: The Forth–Clyde line and along the northeastern coastal plain as far north as Moray. Norman French completely displaced Gaelic at court. The establishment of royal burghs throughout the same area, particularly under David I , attracted large numbers of foreigners speaking Old English. This was the beginning of Gaelic's status as a predominantly rural language in Scotland. Clan chiefs in the northern and western parts of Scotland continued to support Gaelic bards who remained
4085-684: The Gaelic Act falls so far short of the status accorded to Welsh that one would be foolish or naïve to believe that any substantial change will occur in the fortunes of the language as a result of Bòrd na Gàidhlig 's efforts. On 10 December 2008, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the Scottish Human Rights Commission had the UDHR translated into Gaelic for
4180-762: The Gaelic aristocracy rejected their anglicised sons and instead backed Malcolm's brother Domnall Bán ( Donald III ). Donald had spent 17 years in Gaelic Ireland and his power base was in the thoroughly Gaelic west of Scotland. He was the last Scottish monarch to be buried on Iona , the traditional burial place of the Gaelic Kings of Dàl Riada and the Kingdom of Alba. However, during the reigns of Malcolm Canmore's sons, Edgar, Alexander I and David I (their successive reigns lasting 1097–1153), Anglo-Norman names and practices spread throughout Scotland south of
4275-564: The Highland and Island region. In 1616, the Privy Council proclaimed that schools teaching in English should be established. Gaelic was seen, at this time, as one of the causes of the instability of the region. It was also associated with Catholicism. The Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) was founded in 1709. They met in 1716, immediately after the failed Jacobite rising of 1715 , to consider
4370-416: The Highlands and Islands, including Argyll. In many cases, this has simply meant re-adopting the traditional spelling of a name (such as Ràtagan or Loch Ailleart rather than the anglicised forms Ratagan or Lochailort respectively). Some monolingual Gaelic road signs, particularly direction signs, are used on the Outer Hebrides , where a majority of the population can have a working knowledge of
4465-726: The Inner Hebridean dialects of Tiree and Islay, and even a few native speakers from Western Highland areas including Wester Ross , northwest Sutherland , Lochaber and Argyll . Dialects on both sides of the Straits of Moyle (the North Channel ) linking Scottish Gaelic with Irish are now extinct, though native speakers were still to be found on the Mull of Kintyre , on Rathlin and in North East Ireland as late as
4560-631: The Irish language ( Gaeilge ) and the Manx language ( Gaelg ). Scottish Gaelic is distinct from Scots , the Middle English -derived language which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the early modern era . Prior to the 15th century, this language was known as Inglis ("English") by its own speakers, with Gaelic being called Scottis ("Scottish"). Beginning in
4655-514: The Scottish throne, Robert the Bruce . Like many of the families that came to power under King David I of Scotland, the Comyn clan is of Norman or Flemish origin. The surname may be a place-name, possibly derived from Bosc-Bénard-Commin , near Rouen in the Duchy of Normandy , or from Comines , near Lille, in France. Richard Comyn , the nephew of William Comyn , chancellor to King David,
4750-428: The UK Government as Welsh . With the advent of devolution , however, Scottish matters have begun to receive greater attention, and it achieved a degree of official recognition when the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act was enacted by the Scottish Parliament on 21 April 2005. The key provisions of the Act are: After its creation, Bòrd na Gàidhlig required a Gaelic Language Plan from the Scottish Government. This plan
4845-581: The Western Isles (−1,745), Argyll & Bute (−694), and Highland (−634). The drop in Stornoway , the largest parish in the Western Isles by population, was especially acute, from 57.5% of the population in 1991 to 43.4% in 2011. The only parish outside the Western Isles over 40% Gaelic-speaking is Kilmuir in Northern Skye at 46%. The islands in the Inner Hebrides with significant percentages of Gaelic speakers are Tiree (38.3%), Raasay (30.4%), Skye (29.4%), Lismore (26.9%), Colonsay (20.2%), and Islay (19.0%). Today, no civil parish in Scotland has
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#17327755533154940-589: The Western Isles. The Scottish Qualifications Authority offer two streams of Gaelic examination across all levels of the syllabus: Gaelic for learners (equivalent to the modern foreign languages syllabus) and Gaelic for native speakers (equivalent to the English syllabus). An Comunn Gàidhealach performs assessment of spoken Gaelic, resulting in the issue of a Bronze Card, Silver Card or Gold Card. Syllabus details are available on An Comunn's website. These are not widely recognised as qualifications, but are required for those taking part in certain competitions at
5035-466: The age and reliability of the medieval historical sources speaking of a conquest. Instead, he has inferred that Argyll formed part of a common Q-Celtic -speaking area with Ireland, connected rather than divided by the sea, since the Iron Age. These arguments have been opposed by some scholars defending the early dating of the traditional accounts and arguing for other interpretations of the archaeological evidence. Regardless of how it came to be spoken in
5130-408: The annual mods . In October 2009, a new agreement allowed Scottish Gaelic to be formally used between Scottish Government ministers and European Union officials. The deal was signed by Britain's representative to the EU, Sir Kim Darroch , and the Scottish government . This did not give Scottish Gaelic official status in the EU but gave it the right to be a means of formal communications in
5225-413: The bill be strengthened, a revised bill was published; the main alteration was that the guidance of the Bòrd is now statutory (rather than advisory). In the committee stages in the Scottish Parliament, there was much debate over whether Gaelic should be given 'equal validity' with English. Due to executive concerns about resourcing implications if this wording was used, the Education Committee settled on
5320-625: The census of pupils in Scotland showed 520 students in publicly funded schools had Gaelic as the main language at home, an increase of 5% from 497 in 2014. During the same period, Gaelic medium education in Scotland has grown, with 4,343 pupils (6.3 per 1000) being educated in a Gaelic-immersion environment in 2018, up from 3,583 pupils (5.3 per 1000) in 2014. Data collected in 2007–2008 indicated that even among pupils enrolled in Gaelic medium schools, 81% of primary students and 74% of secondary students report using English more often than Gaelic when speaking with their mothers at home. The effect on this of
5415-419: The cities and professors of Celtic from universities who sought to preserve the language. The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 provided universal education in Scotland, but completely ignored Gaelic in its plans. The mechanism for supporting Gaelic through the Education Codes issued by the Scottish Education Department were steadily used to overcome this omission, with many concessions in place by 1918. However,
5510-450: The concept of 'equal respect'. It is not clear what the legal force of this wording is. The Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament unanimously, with support from all sectors of the Scottish political spectrum, on 21 April 2005. Under the provisions of the Act, it will ultimately fall to BnG to secure the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland. Some commentators, such as Éamonn Ó Gribín (2006) argue that
5605-444: The dialect of the Scottish Gaelic language, and also mixed use of English and Gaelic across the Highlands and Islands. Dialects of Lowland Gaelic have been defunct since the 18th century. Gaelic in the Eastern and Southern Scottish Highlands, although alive until the mid-20th century, is now largely defunct. Although modern Scottish Gaelic is dominated by the dialects of the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Skye, there remain some speakers of
5700-414: The diffusion of the clan, spelling of the family name changed over time. Spellings in different regions include, the Scottish Cumming or Comyn, the Irish Cummins or O'Comyn, as well as Cummin, Cummins, Cumins, Cummine, Coman, Cuming, Comins, Comin, Commins, Cummings, Comings, Comeens, Commens, and Common. After the death of the last chief in the Badenoch line, the chiefship fell on the Cummings of Altyre. It
5795-415: The entire region of modern-day Scotland was called Scotia in Latin, and Gaelic was the lingua Scotica . In southern Scotland , Gaelic was strong in Galloway , adjoining areas to the north and west, West Lothian , and parts of western Midlothian . It was spoken to a lesser degree in north Ayrshire , Renfrewshire , the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire . In south-eastern Scotland, there
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#17327755533155890-535: The father of the future king of Scotland. John Comyn became the most powerful political and military leader in Scotland from 1302 to 1304. He led the Scottish army against the English in the Battle of Roslin , 23 February 1303. John's greatly outnumbered army faced and beat the well-trained English army. However, many of the Red Comyn's allies made peace with Edward I of England , and so John submitted to King Edward I of England at Strathhord on 9 February 1304. On 10 February 1306 John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Robert
5985-425: The first John Comyn . This John was the first to be known as "the Red" Comyn. He was a descendant of William Comyn, Earl of Buchan , by the earl's first wife, Sarah Fitz Hugh. The chiefs also possessed the lordship of Lochaber . Here can be found the remains of Inverlochy Castle , built by the Comyns about 1270–1280. The Comyns were forced to sign an oath of allegiance to Henry III of England in 1244. However,
6080-424: The first John Comyn was John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch , known as the Black Comyn. He had a claim to the throne based on his descent from king Donald III of Scotland . John was made one of the six guardians of Scotland after the death of King Alexander III, in 1286. Their duty was to act as regents for Margaret of Norway, heir to the Scottish throne; however, she died en route to Scotland. King Edward I of England
6175-431: The first time. However, given there are no longer any monolingual Gaelic speakers, following an appeal in the court case of Taylor v Haughney (1982), involving the status of Gaelic in judicial proceedings, the High Court ruled against a general right to use Gaelic in court proceedings. While the goal of the Gaelic Language Act was to aid in revitalization efforts through government mandated official language status,
6270-618: The following castles: Ruthven Castle , Lochindorb Castle , Blair Castle , Balvenie Castle , Dundarg Castle , Cairnbulg Castle , Castle of Rattray and Kingedward . In particular Clan Comyn castles controlled important passes from the north and west highlands into the Tay basin. A third main branch of the Clan Comyn, the Comyns of Kilbride, held power in southern and central Scotland. They held castles at Kirkintilloch (Dumbartonshire), Dalswinton (Nithsdale), Cruggleton Castle (Galloway), Bedrule , Scraesburgh (Roxburghshire) and Kilbride (East Kilbride). In addition to their private holdings,
6365-479: The initiatives must come from within Gaelic speaking communities, be led by Gaelic speakers, and be designed to serve and increase fluency within the vernacular communities as the first and most viable resistance to total language shift from Gaelic to English. Currently, language policies are focused on creating new language speakers through education, instead of focused on how to strengthen intergenerational transmission within existing Gaelic speaking communities. In
6460-437: The language. Compared with the 2001 Census, there has been a diminution of about 1300 people. This is the smallest drop between censuses since the Gaelic-language question was first asked in 1881. The Scottish government's language minister and Bòrd na Gàidhlig took this as evidence that Gaelic's long decline has slowed. The main stronghold of the language continues to be the Outer Hebrides ( Na h-Eileanan Siar ), where
6555-465: The language. These omit the English translation entirely. Bilingual railway station signs are now more frequent than they used to be. Practically all the stations in the Highland area use both English and Gaelic, and the use of bilingual station signs has become more frequent in the Lowlands of Scotland, including areas where Gaelic has not been spoken for a long time. Devorguilla of Galloway Dervorguilla of Galloway (c. 1210 – 28 January 1290)
6650-477: The late 15th century, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse ("Irish") and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis . Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a separate language from Irish, so the word Erse in reference to Scottish Gaelic is no longer used. Based on medieval traditional accounts and the apparent evidence from linguistic geography, Gaelic has been commonly believed to have been brought to Scotland, in
6745-502: The late sixteenth and throughout the seventeenth century, members of the clan were known for their musical talents. They served as the hereditary pipers and fiddlers to the Laird of Grant of Clan Grant . Many members of the Cumming (Comyn) clan left Scotland for greener pastures, some went to Ireland, England and Wales; others later migrated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to North America, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Mascarene Islands (Mauritius and La Réunion). Due to
6840-601: The manors of Wyntone, King’s Meaburn, Appleby, and Brough-under-Stainmore, and a moiety of the manor of Kirkby Stephen , all in Westmorland. The same year Dervorguilla sued John de Veer for a debt of £24. In 1280–1 Laurence Duket arraigned an assize of novel disseisin again Dervorguilla and others touching a hedge destroyed in Cotingham, Middlesex. In 1288 she reached agreement with John, Abbot of Ramsey, regarding
6935-459: The members of Highland school boards tended to have anti-Gaelic attitudes and served as an obstacle to Gaelic education in the late 19th and early 20th century. Loss of life due to World War I and the 1919 sinking of the HMY Iolaire , combined with emigration, resulted in the 1910s seeing unprecedented damage to the use of Scottish Gaelic, with a 46% fall in monolingual speakers and
7030-734: The mid-20th century. Records of their speech show that Irish and Scottish Gaelic existed in a dialect chain with no clear language boundary. Some features of moribund dialects have been preserved in Nova Scotia, including the pronunciation of the broad or velarised l ( l̪ˠ ) as [w] , as in the Lochaber dialect. The Endangered Languages Project lists Gaelic's status as "threatened", with "20,000 to 30,000 active users". UNESCO classifies Gaelic as " definitely endangered ". The 1755–2001 figures are census data quoted by MacAulay. The 2011 Gaelic speakers figures come from table KS206SC of
7125-532: The modern era. Some of this was driven by policy decisions by government or other organisations, while some originated from social changes. In the last quarter of the 20th century, efforts began to encourage use of the language. The Statutes of Iona , enacted by James VI in 1609, was one piece of legislation that addressed, among other things, the Gaelic language. It required the heirs of clan chiefs to be educated in lowland, Protestant, English-speaking schools. James VI took several such measures to impose his rule on
7220-618: The name Balliol College , where the history students' society is called the Dervorguilla Society and an annual seminar series featuring women in academia is called the Dervorguilla Seminar Series. While a requiem mass in Latin was sung at Balliol for the 700th anniversary of her death, it is believed that this was sung as a one-off, rather than having been marked in previous centuries. Dervorguilla founded
7315-401: The name which it retains to this day. The depredations suffered by the abbey in subsequent periods have caused both graves to be lost. A replica is to be found in the covered south transept. Dervorguilla and John de Balliol had issue: Owing to the deaths of her elder three sons, all of whom were childless, Dervorguilla's fourth and youngest surviving son John of Scotland asserted a claim to
7410-434: The number of speakers of the language under age 20 did not decrease between the 2001 and 2011 censuses. In the 2022 census of Scotland , it was found that 2.5% of the Scottish population had some skills in Gaelic, or 130,161 persons. Of these, 69,701 people reported speaking the language, with a further 46,404 people reporting that they understood the language, but did not speak, read, or write in it. Outside of Scotland,
7505-645: The official language of government and law. Scotland's emergent nationalism in the era following the conclusion of the Wars of Scottish Independence was organized using Scots as well. For example, the nation's great patriotic literature including John Barbour's The Brus (1375) and Blind Harry's The Wallace (before 1488) was written in Scots, not Gaelic. By the end of the 15th century, English/Scots speakers referred to Gaelic instead as 'Yrisch' or 'Erse', i.e. Irish and their own language as 'Scottis'. A steady shift away from Scottish Gaelic continued into and through
7600-459: The outcome of the act is distanced from the actual minority language communities. It helps to create visibility of the minority language in civil structures, but does not impact or address the lived experiences of the Gaelic speaker communities wherein the revitalization efforts may have a higher return of new Gaelic speakers. Efforts are being made to concentrate resources, language planning, and revitalization efforts towards vernacular communities in
7695-560: The overall proportion of speakers is 52.2%. Important pockets of the language also exist in the Highlands (5.4%) and in Argyll and Bute (4.0%) and Inverness (4.9%). The locality with the largest absolute number is Glasgow with 5,878 such persons, who make up over 10% of all of Scotland's Gaelic speakers. Gaelic continues to decline in its traditional heartland. Between 2001 and 2011, the absolute number of Gaelic speakers fell sharply in
7790-582: The political scene was strengthened by marriages with the earls of Marr, Ross, Angus, Strathearn and Fife, and with the powerful families of Clan MacDougall , Clan Murray , the Balliols, Mowbrays, Umphravilles and Soules. Other prominent allies of the Comyns were the Clan Graham , Clan Fraser , Clan Sinclair , the Cheynes, Mowats, Lochores, Clan Maxwell and Clan Hay . The long-standing authority of
7885-466: The prosperity of employment: the Highland economy relied greatly on seasonal migrant workers travelling outside the Gàidhealtachd . In 1863, an observer sympathetic to Gaelic stated that "knowledge of English is indispensable to any poor islander who wishes to learn a trade or to earn his bread beyond the limits of his native Isle". Generally, rather than Gaelic speakers, it was Celtic societies in
7980-460: The reform and civilisation of the Highlands, which they sought to achieve by teaching English and the Protestant religion. Initially, their teaching was entirely in English, but soon the impracticality of educating Gaelic-speaking children in this way gave rise to a modest concession: in 1723, teachers were allowed to translate English words in the Bible into Gaelic to aid comprehension, but there
8075-587: The region, Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the eighth century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. During the reign of Caustantín mac Áeda (Constantine II, 900–943), outsiders began to refer to the region as the kingdom of Alba rather than as the kingdom of the Picts. However, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly,
8170-588: The son of John, died just two years later and was the last male of the Badenoch line. The lands in Badenoch, once the centre of Comyn power, were given to the Clan Macpherson for supporting Robert Bruce. The fall of the Badenoch Comyns removed the Comyns from politics in Scotland although other branches of the clan continued to thrive. The spelling of the name Comyn generally became Cumming and
8265-536: The two main branches of the Clan Comyn were the Comyn Lords of Badenoch and Lochaber , and the Comyn Earls of Buchan . By controlling key castles, the Comyns also controlled the main lines of communication, especially in northern Scotland, where their power stretched from Inverlochy Castle in the west to Slains Castle in the east. Between these two points, they had allied forces strategically situated in
8360-506: The very expensive form of founding a college for the poor at the University of Oxford . Sir John's own finances were less substantial than those of his wife, however, and long after his death it fell to Dervorguilla to confirm the foundation, with the blessing of the same bishop as well as the university hierarchy. She established a permanent endowment for the college in 1282, as well as its first formal statutes. The college still retains
8455-566: Was a "lady of substance" in 13th century Scotland , the wife from 1223 of John de Balliol and mother of John I , a future king of Scotland. Dervorguilla was one of the three daughters and heiresses of the Gaelic prince Alan, Lord of Galloway . Her unusual name is a Latinisation of the Gaelic Dearbhfhorghaill . She was born to Alan's second wife Margaret of Huntingdon , who was the eldest daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon and Matilda (or Maud) of Chester . David in turn
8550-399: Was accepted in 2008, and some of its main commitments were: identity (signs, corporate identity); communications (reception, telephone, mailings, public meetings, complaint procedures); publications (PR and media, websites); staffing (language learning, training, recruitment). Following a consultation period, in which the government received many submissions, the majority of which asked that
8645-439: Was asked to step in and decide who had the best claim to the crown of Scotland. He decided in favour of John Balliol . John Comyn had married Eleanor Balliol, daughter of John I de Balliol , between 1270 and 1283. The Black Comyn died at Lochindorb Castle in about 1303, a castle the Comyns built in the thirteenth century. An anonymous sister of John II Comyn of Badenoch married Sir Andrew Moray of Petty . Murray and Comyn had
8740-726: Was held at the Comyn's castle of Rait , but the Mackintoshes slaughtered their Comyn hosts. In 1594, the Clan Cumming supported the Earl of Huntly , chief of Clan Gordon , along with the Clan Cameron at the Battle of Glenlivet , where they defeated the Earl of Argyll , chief of Clan Campbell . He was supported by the Chattan Confederation of Clan Mackintosh , the Clan Murray , and the Clan Forbes . During
8835-554: Was long suppressed. The UK government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Gaelic. Gaelic, along with Irish and Welsh, is designated under Part III of the Charter, which requires the UK Government to take a range of concrete measures in the fields of education, justice, public administration, broadcasting and culture. It has not received the same degree of official recognition from
8930-510: Was no further permitted use. Other less prominent schools worked in the Highlands at the same time, also teaching in English. This process of anglicisation paused when evangelical preachers arrived in the Highlands, convinced that people should be able to read religious texts in their own language. The first well known translation of the Bible into Scottish Gaelic was made in 1767, when James Stuart of Killin and Dugald Buchanan of Rannoch produced
9025-718: Was the youngest brother to two Kings of Scotland , Malcolm IV and William the Lion . Thus, through her mother, Dervorguilla was descended from the Kings of Scotland, including David I . Dervorguilla's father died in 1234 without a legitimate son (he had an illegitimate son Thomas ). According to both Anglo-Norman feudal laws and to ancient Gaelic customs, Dervorguilla was one of his heiresses, her two sisters Helen and Christina being older and therefore senior. Because of this, Dervorguilla bequeathed lands in Galloway to her descendants,
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