Gaelic has at some point in the last two thousand years been used in almost all parts of Scotland. It was the language of Galloway until probably the 17th century. In Lorn and the islands Gaelic was the dominant language through the end of the 19th century. Those who came to newer lands from southwest Scotland carried cultural links that bear the historical imprint of Gaelic culture The last point of contact of those who immigrated from these areas was Gaelic Scotland.
Clan MacDougall and its associated families in Scotland were born and raised in, and were an essential part of, this Gaelic milieu. Our genealogies, our stories, our poetry, our histories are part of the larger Gaelic cultural fabric. Dunollie Castle, first built in or before the seventh century BCE, was one among the line of forts including Dun Add used to defend Gaelic Scotland.[1] It overlooks the passage into the Great Glen, through which the Gael, their trade and their language, streamed to the fertile lands on Scotland’s East Coast. Loch Etive, a part of what Walter MacDougall calls “MacDougall Country”[2] and probably “the most splendid and serene place in all Scotland,” is closely associated with the story of Deirdre and the Laoidh Chlann Uisne (Lay of the Children of Uisne), one of the world’s most beautiful poems. There are extant Gaelic laments of Lords of Lorn,[3] Gaelic descriptions of the court of MacDougall of Lorn,[4] Gaelic medical manuscripts written at Dunollie Castle, Gaelic elegies to MacDougall chiefs, Gaelic poetry attributed to Ian Ciar,[5] Gaelic religious poems and hymns written by MacDougalls in the nineteenth century,[6] a description of the 1905 MacDougall Clan gathering by Dugald Gordon MacDougall (the Clan’s last Gaelic poet),[7] Gaelic plays written by a twentieth century MacDougall playwright.[8]
An important tradition in Gaelic Scotland and Ireland was that the children of a clan chief or other eminent person were fostered with ordinary families for a significant part of their youth, thus promoting the bonds between the two families as well as the unity of the society, and encouraging the persistence of common cultural norms. The Statutes of Iona of 1609 represented an attempt by James VI to break this culture. Among other things, the Statutes prohibited customary hospitality, outlawed bards and other conduits of information and culture, and required Chiefs’ heirs to be educated in English in lowland schools. Nevertheless, the Gaelic traditions proved strong. There is various evidence that the practice of fosterage (daltchas) continued among the MacDougalls until quite late. One example is the fosterage of Patrick, our 24th chief (1801-1825), who came in line to be Chief after the death of his brother, John, in 1775. Jean McDougall writes in Highland Postbag that Patrick was said to have been fostered in a Morvern family, the MacCullochs, and that Lord Archibald Campbell wrote in his book, The Records of Argyll (1885):
The child was reared for several years in this family where he would hear no language but Gaelic, or see manners other than those of the Highland peasantry. When the time arrived for his return home MacCulloch sent him with 13 head of cattle, including a bull, on condition that the father would add an equal number of them to form a stock for his son. When they were landed at Port Mòr, below the Castle, MacDougall was highly gratified.
Sentiments expressed in Patrick’s letters during the difficult period for agriculture following the Napoleonic Wars and the early 19th century Clearances reflect these roots.
The history and adventures of individuals and families of this area are preserved in Gaelic stories, collected in the 19th century and recorded, for example, in the Dewar manuscripts housed in Cherry Park on the grounds of Inveraray Castle or in publications like Katherine Grant White’s Aig Tigh na Beinne(1911). The book, Sgeul no dhà às an Lios // A tale or two from Lismore (2006) by Dòmhnall MacIlleDhuibh// Donald Black continued this tradition.
At the turn of the twentieth century, 80 percent of the population of Lower Lorn and over half of Oban were Gaelic speakers.[9] In the mid-19th century, before the policy of English-only education was introduced, Gaelic was used for technical and other instruction in the region around Oban. An Comunn Gàidhealach, perhaps the oldest and most prominent institution supporting Gaelic culture in Scotland, was founded in Oban in 1891, and the first Gaelic Mòd was held in Oban in 1892. Hugh MacCowan, one-time Provost of Oban and a regular attendee at MacDougall Clan Gatherings, was instrumental in establishing both.
Many of those who left the Highlands and Islands in the 18th and 19th centuries left in groups, taking their language and traditions with them. The Scottish settlement along the Cape Fear in North Carolina was Gaelic speaking and the language could be heard in this region up until the time of the Civil war — by some accounts longer. Presumably those McDougalds arriving in North Carolina from Jura in the mid-18th century were Gaelic speakers, as were the McDougalds arriving from Islay and settling in the Argyll Settlement in Upstate New York. [10]
There were several Gaelic-speaking communities formed in Canada and New Zealand, with perhaps the largest concentration in north eastern Nova Scotia. Gaelic stories, poems, and song, and traditional music and dance are enjoyed in Nova Scotia to this day. These are found in homes, in the halls, on stages, and in the pubs. The MacDougalls of Cape Breton and Antigonish County have been and continue to be a vital part of this heritage. Although the number of Gaelic speakers declined over the last half of the 20th century, there is a vigorous regrowth of the spoken language and its associated culture. One of the principle figures in this revitalization is Lodaidh MacFhionghain, or Lewis McKinnon, who was awarded the Bardic crown by An Comunn Gàidhealach in 2011. Lodaidh, who is Executive Director of Gaelic Affairs in the Province of Nova Scotia, began his Gaelic education learning from, then conversing with, his great uncle, Dougald MacDougall, who ignited in him his great passion for the language. Alasdair Seumas Mac Dhùghaill, or Alexander James (AJ) MacDougall of Judique, was an important Gaelic seanachaidh (tradition bearer) and teacher who recently passed away.[11]
The period following the Jacobite defeat at Culloden was characterized by a systemic attempt to disrupt the highland culture, affecting those who supported Bonnie Prince Charlie, those who opposed him, and those who were neutral. It was in this period that James MacPherson began to publish, beginning in 1761, his Ossian poems. This work, along with the work of Sir Walter Scott, was instrumental in reviving international respect of our Gaelic heritage.
James McLagan was a minister in Gaelic-speaking Perthshire who came to serve as chaplain to the Black Watch.[12] He was stationed with the Regiment at Fort Pitt during the French and Indian wars, on Long Island during the American Revolution, in Ireland, and on the Isle of Man. He collected Gaelic poetry and song from those with whom he served, from some of the communities in which he lived, and from a network of correspondents that he cultivated. He was probably gathering Gaelic poetry before MacPherson published. Importantly, our 23rd Chief, Alexander MacDougall or Alasdair Dubh, was one of McLagan’s correspondents. Jean MacDougall’s Highland Postbag reproduces a long letter that McLagan wrote to Alasdair Dubh from Belfast in December 1771. The original is presumably still held in the Archives at Dunollie. In the letter, McLagan, discusses some of Alasdair Dubh’s connections with the island (via Somerled); the geography, climate, and economics of the island; Celtic place names; and the relation of Manx to Scottish Gaelic. With respect to the difference between Manx and Scottish Gaelic he writes, “There is no great Difficulty in understanding them, tho’ they differ in their orthography from us and the Irish.”
Tòmas MacCòmhghan
Betesda, Tìr-Mhàiri
[1] Alcock and Alcock (1987)
[2] MacDougall, Walter Marshall (1984)
[3] For example that of Eòghan Mac Eoin in the Book of the Dean of Lismore and by that of Domhnall Mac an t-Saoir as reported in McCaughey (2007) and translated by the Rev. John MacLeod of Oban in Jean MacDougall’s Highland Postbag.
[4] Wiseman, Andrew (2003).
[5] McCaughey, T.P. (1996).
[6] For example Màiri Nic Dhòmhnaill and Donnachadh Mac Dhughaill.
[7] “Comunn Chlann Dùghaill” in Bràiste Lathurna.
[8] Mac Dhùghaill, Eachann (1912).
[9] Kurt Duwe (2006).
[10] J. P. MacLean (1900) discusses the North Carolina and the upstate New York groups and William L. MacDougall (1977) gives an extensive treatment of the upstate New York settlement.
[11] Some of his stories can be read and heard on Cainnt mo Mhathar (my mother’s language).
[12] McLagan’s collections, many of which are amassed in the University of Glasgow, are receiving renewed scrutiny. A September 9, 2016, conference provided an extensive review of his life and work. The papers at that conference give extremely valuable insight into his work and the state of Gaelic in the second half of the 18th century.