102-400: The Devon Valley Railway linked Alloa and Kinross in central Scotland , along a route following the valley of the River Devon . Its construction took 20 years from the first section opening in 1851, to the final section in 1871. Three railway companies were involved, and it encountered a great many problems both with finance and engineering. The line provided the missing link of
204-427: A burgh of barony , is the administrative centre of Clackmannanshire Council. Historically, the economy relied heavily on trade between Glasgow and mainland Europe through its port. This became increasingly uncompetitive and the port stopped operating in 1970. The local economy is now centred on retail and leisure since the closure of major industries; only one brewer and one glassmaker survive today. Parochially, Alloa
306-442: 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
408-564: 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,
510-576: A V.C. They were part of the 7th Argylls under the 51st Highland Division . As of 2014, the temporary national headquarters of Police Scotland is located in Alloa. Alloa's most famous landmark is the 15th century Alloa Tower ( National Trust for Scotland ), the surviving part of the ancestral medieval residence of the Erskine family, the Earls of Mar . Despite extensive internal and external alterations,
612-524: 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
714-823: 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
816-551: 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
918-489: 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
1020-456: A half-hourly service from Alloa railway station to Glasgow Queen Street via Stirling , Larbert and Croy between 0641 and 2315 Monday to Saturday and between 1041 and 2141 on Sundays. Passengers can travel to Inverness , Edinburgh Waverley and Aberdeen with a change at Stirling, however for journeys to or from Edinburgh passengers with heavy luggage may find it more convenient to change at Larbert, where Edinburgh and Glasgow services use
1122-586: 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
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#17327873072041224-805: 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
1326-549: 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
1428-610: 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
1530-748: A secondary route from the River Clyde to the River Tay by joining the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway with the Fife and Kinross Railway . Leaving the main Stirling to Dunfermline line at Alloa, other stations were built at Sauchie , Tillicoultry , Dollar , Rumbling Bridge , Crook of Devon , Balado and Kinross, where it joined the main Perth to Edinburgh line The railway was independent but worked by
1632-536: 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
1734-625: 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
1836-719: 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
1938-490: 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
2040-800: Is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland . It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to be the River Forth and becomes the Firth of Forth . Alloa is south of the Ochil Hills on the western Fife peninsula, 6.0 miles (9.7 km) east of Stirling and 13.0 miles (20.9 km) west of Dunfermline ; by water Alloa is 25 miles (40 km) from Granton . The town, formerly
2142-634: Is affiliated to the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church . Alloa is currently served by two churches in the Church of Scotland , namely Alloa Ludgate Church (formed by the union of Alloa North Parish Church and Alloa West Parish Church in 2009 in the building of the former West Church) and St. Mungo's Parish Church . In 1978 the Very Rev Dr Peter Brodie (then minister at St Mungo's) was elected Moderator of
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#17327873072042244-524: Is by Sir Robert Lorimer with sculpture by Pilkington Jackson . The monument to the South African War is also by Lorimer (1904). Alloa is served by many food retailers including Iceland Frozen Foods , Tesco , Aldi , Lidl , Morrisons , Asda , Co-op Food and Farmfoods . The Asda supermarket, opened in September 2006, is adjacent to the site of the new railway station and was built on
2346-532: Is located in Mar Street. The church is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld . There is a Musalla on Whins Road in Alloa. Muslims who are unable to attend a mosque can use this space as a place of prayer, worship and education. In 2003 it became open to the public. Alloa is home to one professional football club: Alloa Athletic Football Club . The club was formed in 1880 under
2448-411: 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,
2550-571: Is served by the Rev. Jason Lingiah and is part of the Presbytery of East. On Greenside Street, in the old Greenside mission hall (a mission of Moncrieff United Free Church), is Alloa Elim Pentecostal Church . There are churches of other denominations in the town, including a Baptist church, and St John's Episcopal Church. There are also congregations of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses in Alloa. The Catholic church, also named St Mungo's,
2652-773: The Alloa Advertiser , was founded in 1841 as a monthly but in 1855 it became a weekly. Similarly, in 1845, the monthly Clackmannanshire Advertiser became the Alloa Journal. More recently the Wee County News was launched in 1995 but went into liquidation in 2011. Some footage of a woollen mill and glassworks exists on film. River Forth (1956) B&W silent 15 mins. Scottish Gaelic language Scottish Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ æ l ɪ k / , GAL -ik ; endonym : Gàidhlig [ˈkaːlɪkʲ] ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic ,
2754-837: 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
2856-477: The North British Railway until 1875 when it was absorbed by the major company. In 1923 following the grouping it became part of LNER then, following nationalisation in 1947, was taken over by British Railways . The line closed to passengers in 1964 and to all traffic in 1973. In 1851 the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway opened a branch line of their railway from Alloa to Tillicoultry. In 1863
2958-555: 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
3060-688: 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,
3162-585: The West Indies , Egypt and the Far East . Alloa was also home to Alloa Brewery Co, developing Graham's Golden Lager in 1927 which was renamed Skol in the 1950s. Closures and mergers during the mid-20th century reduced the number of breweries to two and by 1999 after the closure of MacLay's Thistle Brewery, only one remained, the Forth Brewery which became Williams Bros. in 2003. In addition to
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3264-786: 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 ,
3366-477: 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
3468-528: The 1990s, but was badly damaged by fire in August 2024. It was illegally demolished in September 2024 without listed-building consent. Alloa Town Hall and Library was designed by the architect Alfred Waterhouse and built in 1886-9 at a cost of £18,008. The Speirs Centre was built as Alloa's swimming pool in 1895 and was designed by Sir John Burnet of Glasgow. The Sheriff Court is by Brown and Wardrop of 1862–5. Alloa War Memorial (designed 1920 erected 1925)
3570-446: The 19th and early 20th centuries. Alloa was long associated with the brewing industry, with at least nine major breweries producing ales at its height. However industrial decline during the mid to late 20th century has led to the economy relying more on retail and leisure. The first brewing firms in the town were Younger in 1762 and Meiklejohn in 1784. Alloa ale was sent to London and George Younger had an extensive export trade to
3672-601: 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
3774-404: 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
3876-407: 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
3978-569: 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
4080-613: The Devon Valley Railway, having struggled to raise sufficient capital, opened the 6½ miles from Kinross to Rumbling Bridge. The next 4½ miles was required to go alongside the Devon Water where there were a series of deep gorges making it very difficult to build a line. This was therefore shelved and a section from Dollar to Tillicoultry to join the existing line was built instead. This opened in 1869. The North British Railway supplied their expertise and capital to complete
4182-563: The Devon Water had to be diverted. The proprietor of that stretch of water had died recently, and to gain possession of the river the company had to fight a protracted action in the Irish Court of Chancery . The complete line was finally opened to traffic in 1871. In the early years, light 0-4-2 locomotives built by Beyer, Peacock and Company of Manchester hauled most of the trains on this line. They had lavish brasswork, open splashers and footplates. The boilers were interchangeable. In
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4284-594: 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
4386-538: 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
4488-684: 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
4590-762: 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
4692-471: The Gartmorn Dam can still be seen today, and although the dam is no longer used for energy production or water supply, it is well used for fishing and leisure purposes. The Clackmannanshire Library was founded at Alloa in 1797 and it contained upwards of 1500 volumes. As the 18th century closed a whisky distillery was established at Carsebridge by John Bald. In the 18th century the staple business of
4794-628: The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland . Four other former St. Mungo's ministers have held this position. Its current minister, the Rev. Sang Y Cha, is the first Korean to be ordained to The Church of Scotland . Alloa is part of the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Stirling. The United Free Church of Scotland has a presence in Alloa through the congregation at Moncrieff United Free Church in Drysdale Street. The congregation
4896-619: 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
4998-416: 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
5100-726: 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
5202-410: 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
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#17327873072045304-424: The Tower retains its original medieval wooden roof and battlements, as well as some internal features. It is one of the largest and earliest of Scottish tower houses . The town formerly contained a large number of 17th and 18th century buildings, but many were cleared with the expansion of milling operations and later with slum clearance in the 20th century. However, Alloa does retain some historic architecture in
5406-428: 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
5508-490: The US, each day. However, in 2009 the company announced that it intended to close the Carsebridge Cooperage and move the work to nearby Cambus . The new Cambus cooperage was opened in December 2011 by the Earl of Wessex . Alloa is linked to the historic Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders housed at Stirling Castle . Many of the soldiers in the Second World War fought under Montgomery at the Battle of El Alamein and Wadi Akrit where their commanding officer Lorne Campbell won
5610-581: 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
5712-589: 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
5814-466: 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
5916-408: 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
6018-413: 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
6120-518: The brewing of beer, Alloa is the site of the former Carsebridge Distillery. According to Alfred Barnard , the Victorian historian of British distilling and brewing, the distillery was founded as a malt distillery by John Bald in 1799. In the 1840s it was converted into a grain distillery and by the time of Barnard's visit in the mid 1880s the distillery covered 10 acres, employed 150 people, and had an annual output of 1.4 to 1.7 million gallons of pure grain whisky. The distillery's owner John Bald and Co
6222-625: 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
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#17327873072046324-451: The charter granted by King Robert the Bruce in the year 1315, to Thomas de Erskyne, it is called Alway; in some subsequent ones, Aulway, Auleway; and more recently Alloway. Dr Jamieson stated that the most probable etymology of the name was from Aull Waeg – the way to the sea. Sir Robert Erskine was granted the lands of Alloa and its environs in 1368 for services to King David II and he and his descendants were good stewards, developing
6426-419: 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,
6528-408: The coal mines, and Robert Bald , a local mining engineer, was contracted to provide water power from the Gartmorn Dam to operate the mines and other industries. Good water supplies and the availability of barley from the carselands encouraged George Younger to set up a brewery in the 1760s and he was soon followed by others. Alloa became one of Scotland's premier brewing centres. The 6th Earl of Mar
6630-399: The colliers were attached to the properties in which they were born and were virtual serfs or slaves, supported by the master. After the Colliers and Salters (Scotland) Act 1775 abolished the system, the colliers could move between collieries at will, and they were supported in their needs by the Alloa Colliers' Fund or Friendly Society which was founded in 1775. Traces of the waggonway and
6732-450: 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
6834-444: 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
6936-415: 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
7038-440: The estates and innovating. One of the earliest maps of the area was made by surveyor and cartographer John Adair in 1681. See Alloa witches John Erskine , the 6th Earl of Mar oversaw many far-reaching developments including substantial harbour improvements, a customs house, a "New Town" area of housing, and commissioning the building of the Gartmorn Dam , which was designed by George Sorocold . Erskine owned many of
7140-431: 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,
7242-425: The form of Alloa Tower, Tobias Bauchop 's House at 25 Kirkgate (1695), as well as later buildings such as Inglewood House ( c. 1900 ), Gean House (1912) and Greenfield House (1892). Carsebridge House, known locally as the Doll's House, was a B-listed two-storey house built around 1799 as part of the plan to establish the Carsebridge Distillery. It survived the demolition of the distillery buildings in
7344-571: The grouting of a large number of shallow mine workings. The project also involved the construction of a new bypass road, and a bridge which replaced a level crossing in the town. Alloa railway station reopened in May 2008, a short distance east of its former site, just beyond the location of the former junction to the Devon Valley line that served Tillicoultry and Dollar, and also carried through trains to Kinross and Perth. ScotRail now operates
7446-479: 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
7548-570: The land where the Alloa brewery once stood. After the closure of the Stirling-Alloa- Dunfermline line in 1968 and the Devon Valley Railway in 1973, the town had no passenger railway services for 40 years until 2008. The Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link project was completed in May 2008. The laying of new track had commenced in September 2006 after much preparatory work, including new drainage works and
7650-502: 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
7752-532: 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
7854-759: The latter years railbuses were used. With the opening of the line there were now two direct routes between Glasgow and Perth . The one via the Devon Valley was known as the Picturesque route and the other, via the Forth Bridge , became known as the Historic Route. Both took about two hours to travel between Glasgow and Perth. Curling was a popular sport on Loch Leven in the winter. Special trains were run for these sportsmen and their curling stones. The men would be in first class carriages and
7956-471: The line. Besides the two high schools of Lornshill Academy and Alloa Academy , the town also has four primary schools : Sunnyside, Redwell, Park, and St Mungos. In addition to these, the New Struan School is an independently run day and residential school catering for children of both primary and high school ages with autistic spectrum disorders . There is also a OneSchool Global UK that
8058-444: The line. To prevent a very steep descent into Dollar it was decided to rebuild the section at Rumbling Bridge to a lower level. 17 bridges had then to be constructed and an 80-foot (24 m) cutting through a hill of sand had to be made. The Devon Viaduct was described as a beautiful and imposing structure 390-foot (120 m) long with 6 arches on a curve. Gairney Glen viaduct was 360-foot (110 m)long with 5 arches. At one point
8160-718: The main industry to the north and east of the town was coal mining. Wool was also locally plentiful and in the early part of the 19th century, John Paton set up a small yarn-spinning business in the town, later establishing Kilncraigs Mill. Much of the Kilncraigs complex has been demolished but a four-storey Edwardian Baroque block of 1903–1904 survives, with an extension of 1936. The buildings were converted to Council offices by LDN architects in 2003/2004. Patons merged with J. & J. Baldwin of Halifax in 1924 to become Paton & Baldwins Ltd. The town itself continued to be known for its weaving and glassmaking industries well into
8262-459: 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
8364-734: 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
8466-532: 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
8568-744: The name of Alloa but changed to its present-day name of Alloa Athletic in 1881. The team currently play in the Scottish Championship , formerly the Scottish Football League First Division , after being promoted as winners of a play-off with Dunfermline Athletic , the season after being crowned champions of the Scottish Football League Third Division at the end of the 2011–12 season . Their home games are played at Recreation Park in Alloa. Alloa's oldest newspaper,
8670-434: 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,
8772-695: 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
8874-459: 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
8976-560: 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
9078-454: The port was coal with about 50,000 tons a year exported. In 1813 the first steamboat started to operate out of Alloa harbour. Rival companies later united into the "Stirling, Alloa and Kincardine Steamboat Company". In 1822 water was brought into the town and in 1828 a gas works was built. While building a road to Alloa Academy in 1828, an ancient burial site was found at Mars Hill, with several finds including two gold armlets. Alloa Academy
9180-466: 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
9282-460: 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
9384-587: 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,
9486-432: The same platform. The new railway opened for traincrew route learning in early April 2008, followed by the opening to the public on Monday 19 May 2008. This had been preceded by an official opening on 15 May 2008, where LNER Gresley K4 61994 The Great Marquess hauled four specials to Stirling. The return workings were hauled by Deltic 55022 Royal Scots Grey . Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson officially reopened
9588-752: The stones in fish wagons at the rear of the train. Coal was transported from a mine at Dollar to the power stations on the Forth estuary. Road transport made this line uneconomic and it was closed to passengers in 1964. When the Dollar mine closed in 1973 freight traffic also ceased and the track was uplifted. Today the Devon Way utilises part of the trackbed in the area of the mine. Railways of Kinross Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation / ˈ æ l oʊ ə / ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; Scottish Gaelic : Alamhagh , possibly meaning "rock plain" )
9690-399: 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
9792-400: Was built in 1824, being paid for by subscription. The Alloa Swing Bridge was opened to the public on 1 October 1885. The population was 5,434 in the 1841 census. After the improvements were made to the harbour during the 18th century, Alloa thrived as a river port through which the products of Glasgow manufacture were exported to continental Europe. At that time, and until the 1950s,
9894-527: Was forced to flee the country and forfeit his lands after disastrously backing the Jacobite cause in 1715. However, his brother was allowed to purchase the forfeited lands and future generations continued the tradition of creative industry by launching a glass-works in 1750 and laying one of Scotland's earliest railways (a waggonway) from the Sauchie mines to down to the harbour in around 1766. Before 1775,
9996-414: Was linked with Tullibody . The towns are now distinct, albeit with Lornshill in the middle, and Alloa is about twice the size of its north-western neighbour. The population of Alloa was estimated to be approximately 20,730 residents in 2016. Alloa grew up under the protection of Alloa Tower which may have been built before 1300 AD. The name of the town has had different spelling at different periods. In
10098-554: 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
10200-510: 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
10302-565: Was one of five companies that combined to form the Distillers Company Limited in 1877. In 1902, a fire devastated the distillery, after World War I it was refitted and started producing yeast. This yeast production lasted until 1938. In 1956 the distillery was modernised, it expanded in 1966 and in the 1970s a new still house, cooperage and animal feedstuffs plant added. By 1980 the Carsebridge Distillery
10404-468: Was the largest grain distillery in Scotland, however it closed in 1983 and was demolished in 1992. One of the distillery's Coffey stills is now in use at the Cameronbridge distillery. After whisky ceased to be produced at Carsebridge, the cooperage remained as one of two owned by Diageo in Scotland. In 2008, 30 people worked there assembling or repairing up to 400 bourbon casks, imported from
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