Gaelic school in Inverness cannot find head that speaks the language

There was an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph yesterday (Friday) about the repeated difficulty a primary school in Inverness, set up specifically (with Scottish Executive [aka 'Government']) money, in other words our taxes, has had in recruiting a head teacher who actually speaks Gaelic. Basically the idea is that if a new generation of Scots can be educated (aka 'brain-washed') using this moribund, if not actually 'dead' language as their main means of communication, then the language won't actually die out completely in a new generation. The fact they have had to employ someone who is not a Gaelic speaker, and not even a Scot, but a Swede (and lovely people the Swedes are, I have absolutely no criticism of the person employed, nor of course of her home country), reveals just how artificial this whole project is. Far better to educate these children in English and give them a fighting chance of a decent future, rather than try to make them pawns in some ludicrous project to resurrect a language that is on its last legs.

If people wish to use Gaelic as a means of communication I have absolutely no objection and wish them the best of luck, just to be clear, but I do think that it is, ahem, 'short-sighted' and not to put too fine a point on it not in the children's own best interests to foist a little-used language upon them for quasi political purposes.

"Bad Language" - or how Gaelic is used as a means to differentiate (pointlessly)

(See PS/ at end)

There is a really excellent editorial in this week's issue of the Nairnshire Telegraph (dated 4SEP2012), of which regrettably no on-line version is available, but as I do occasionally with articles from our 'local rag' I am going to reproduce verbatim the content for your delectation and indeed for your enlgihtenment about what rational people in this area think about the creeping (perhaps even 'creepy') attempt to 'Gaelic-icise' every aspect of life in this area:

The Nairnshire Telegraph Editorial article - 4th Setpember 2012 "BAD LANGUAGE" The infiltration of Gaelic into local nomenclature has reached a new level in Nairn with bilingual street plates in one of the town's newest developments. It has angered at least one Nairnite but it is a reflection of Highland Council's policy of promoting the Gaelic language. The problem is that very few people in Nairn speak the language except enthusiasts and some incomers from Gaelic speaking areas. The question of relevancy is supreme. The presence of Gaelic in heritage terms in Nairnshire is undeniable. Almost all the place-names of the old county are Gaelic in their form, if not their origin. The language lingers in the local accent and in the pronunciation of some local names. The Nairn area is the place where the historic Gaeltacht begins. There is no doubt that between Forres and Inverness there was a sharp linguistic divide roughly centred on Nairn. Nairn may have been beyond The Pale of a mediaeval ethnic cleansing of Gaelic (Irish) speakers from Moray. Gaelic was widely spoken in the area up to the middle of the 19th century and Gaelic fluency was a requirement in some ecclesiastical appointments upto the beginning of the 20th century. But use of Gaelic died out substantially after World War I and the last speaker of a local dialect died in the 1970s. Whatever the wealth of evidence for its former presence, Gaelic has gone from present-day Nairn. However it is policy from Government to local authority that the language be nurtured and certainly be promoted in some areas. Because of its history, the use of Gaelic locally in this way is a moot point. It is certainly not justified by use. It is unfortunate however that as it moves from the Council's own signange to more general presence one of the first examples presents the more idiotic aspect of transliteration. It may be that this is just an over-enthusiastic interpretation of council policy by a developer eager to please. But it's not the only one we have seen recently. We see the name of Edinburgh's Haymarket railway station has been rendered literally into Gaelic. What really is the purpose of this? And what is the importance of language anyway? It is first of all about communication and yet, these days, it seems to be more and more about difference. Language as a definition of culture rapidly turns into politics. The patchwork of nationalities that is Europe is largely separated out by language and truly polyglot states are rare and often seriously divided. The future of the European Union may yet founder on this fact of linguistic diversity. Yet language is often transient and on a surprisingly short time scale. Gaelic was adopted by the Picts but its heyday of only a few centuries was overtaken by English which has at least a thousand years of currency in Scotland. If research into the genetic make-up of the population is anything to go by it appears to reveal some very old strains. What languages have come and gone since the ice melted and does it really matter anyway? We know who the people were. Us. It is the political aspect that is eventually of concern. There is little doubt that Gaelic is on its death bed and being kept going by some hefty transfusions of money and political good will. There is no problem with giving it a chance to survive and preserving the culture that it represents. Outside some future apocalypse, modern media and archiving will ensure that Gaelic never becomes the dry soundless collection that Latin and Anglo-Saxon have become, or the near mystery that is the Pictish language. But what worries us is the possibility that Gaelic will be used as a political tool. It is one thing to use signs to suggest that we are something we are not quite, it is quite another to use a language to separate people and to exclude. That is truly bad language.

Now, there are parts of that article that strike me as foolish, verging on the melodramatic and faintly ridiculous, but it nevertheless does try to address the linguistic origins of the peoples of this small part of Scotland in a realistic and honest way. But the importance of this minority language should not be exaggerated nor viewed romantically and certainly not as of equal importance to the principal language of most of the British Isles, English. It does of course have a place in our linguistic origins and in the daily lives of a [very] small number of people even today and that place should be respected, but the rest of the population should equally certainly not be held to 'ransom' by being required to adapt their lives to accommodate this minority language by accepting it as of almost greater importance than the language used by the bulk of the population in road signs and in other public signs.

PS/ (Thursday 6SEP2012 17.45 BST) It is interesting to note that most of the comments on this tedious propaganda article in another local blog share my views on the unwanted, by the bulk of the local population, proliferation of street signs in our community with a [very] minority language given priority over the language spoken by the vast bulk of the population here. As for the blog-writer's comments about this linguistic-vandalism having 'cross-party' support this, if true, merely confirms just how sick and shallow politcs in this country has become - just as the major component in the current Coalition Government supported the idiotic economic policies of the last Government until the recession which began in 2007 took hold. The expression "flogging a dead horse" comes to mind! Short-termism and pandering to 'faddy' (and more importantly, malign) policies is NOT a way to run a country. Even Nicola Sturgeon is now forced to concede that Scots who do not support the 'separatist' policies she champions are not unpatriotic. The riposte in the comments thread by the blog owner that "the developer pays for new signs on housing schemes" is merely a reflection of the reality that developers must get their projects approved by Councillors and planners, and the fact that it would take a brave prospective Councillor in Scotland today to 'call out' the nonsense of Highland Council's engineered bilingual streetsigns policy. Doh! Finally, it is quite clear that the linked article was written only to try and rebut the recent editorial in The Nairnshire - the difference is that people PAY to read that publication, simply high-lighting the idiocy of the recent comment in another article in the sad blog in the link where the author writes of the 'prize' in a recent pseudo-quiz "A year's free subscription to the Gurn to anyone that does." - mildly amusing, I agree, but why waste energy writing such tedious nonsense? Rant over .... for now ;). I have refrained for far too long, recently, in drawing attention to the nonsense spewed out by that 'organ' (due respect to that other [much more] august 'organ', Private Eye, is hereby acknowledged). I don't expect I will gain many 'friends' locally for speaking out as I have just done, but who cares? I am WAY beyond caring about such trifles; my blog, in the 10+ years it has existed, has never been written with the aim of being populist, or nakedly partisan - and it never will. PPS/ I'm glad that my comment and link in that 'other' blog has now been published and resulted in two things - (1) a ridiculous comment by that fount of all knowledge 'Aye Right' who takes a swipe (perhaps deserved, ha ha - Ed) at me by name, but of course that 'esteemed' individual passes him-/her-self off using a pseudonym which epitomises the closed-minded attitudes of far too many in this community - (2) the owner of that blog announces that comments are 'closed', an all too frequent occurrence there when 'controversial' (i.e. rather too robustly challenging) views are aired there. Finally (for the afore-mentioned 'Aye Right'), of course I am an 'avid' reader, how else am I to get my laughs here - Go in Peace ....

Criticise Gaelic broadcasting and the "Gaelic Mafia" rears its ugly head!

My last article was about the recently-launched BBC Alba, a development which I regard as fundamentally positive - because it provides a suitable widely-available channel for those who wish to view it to watch programmes in the Gaelic language, but at the same time should relieve other channels (for example BBC2) of the need to broadcast in that language, in my opinion, except in exceptional cases.

Whilst I accept that some may hold different views on this matter, I object very strongly to comments from two of the three persons who chose to comment upon what I write that if I didn't like Gaelic-language broadcasts on BBC2, even now that BBC Alba is widely-available, I should move to England; the 3rd commenter in particular over-stepped what I consider acceptable limits in writing:

If you don't like Scottish telly, in Gaelic or English, then move to England.

- of course this goes way beyond what I wrote. I like a lot of television in Scotland, but even if I didn't to basically be told to move elsewhere just to accommodate the wishes of a pretty small minority of the population (estimates are that there are 50-100,000 speakers of Gaelic in Scotland, in other words between 1 and 2 per cent of the population), speaks volumes about the attitudes of at least some of those who use Gaelic, although I hope and believe not many share these kinds of absolutist 'take it or leave it' views. I have just as much right to live in Scotland (just of course has any other citizen of the UK, whichever part of it they consider 'home'), and to state my views plainly and unequivocally, just as they do. But this is my blog and I will not be told in comments in it that I need to move from my homeland just to accommodate their small-minded prejudices. If they want to express such views, then they should start their own blogs or other means of publication to promulgate them, but I do not propose to allow my blog to be used to promulgate such small-minded and nasty views. Naturally I exclude from these remarks the comment made by the first commenter - he and I differ radically in how we see Scotland's [political] future, but his comments here and his writings in his own blog have always been expressed in a civilised manner, even when as on this particular issue our views do diverge quite a lot.

NB/ I am not permitting comments on this article (this is only the second time in over nine years I have taken this action - the only other time I have felt the need to close comments on an article here was also caused by unpleasantness in comments by Gaelic-speakers discussing the usage of Gaelic on road-signs in Scotland and who seemed unable to discuss the matter rationally without resort to abuse).

BBC Alba, Gaelic-language programming and BBC2 Scotland

This is a mostly-good-news observational article, with some less good news thrown in just to 'keep it real'.

First the good news; from 8th June the Gaelic-language channel TeleG (which broadcast only for a couple of hours a day and was, I understand, an offering from ITV) has been replaced on digital television channel 8 in Scotland by the BBC offering - BBC Alba - broadcasting mainly in Gaelic for 7 hours a day (8 hours a day at weekends) during late-afternoon until midnight.

As all parts of Scotland now receive digital television only (the analogue transmitters having been switched off some months ago), it is now possible for everyone in Scotland and who still wishes to watch terrestrial (as distinct from satellite) broadcasts to see all the Freeview digital offerings, so BBC Alba is now a truly 'national service'. I have no personal interest whatsoever in Gaelic-language broadcasting, but it is certainly a 'good thing' for those who do wish to do so to be able to watch programming in that language, wherever in Scotland they happen to be.

One of the things that has 'bugged' me for years was the two-hours of Gaelic-language broadcasting on BBC2 every Thursday evening, during the peak early-evening schedules, when there were usually much more interesting (to me) programmes airing in England, but which I could not watch in Scotland (although ironically I could in the past few years whilst at my Spanish home). The move of BBC Alba to the Freeview platform seems, happily, to have ended this lamentable state of affairs - next week's Radio Times magazine shows that Thursday-evening BBC2 programming is now Gaelic-free. Hurrah!

However, nothing in the BBC is ever that simple, of course, specially where the Kremlin-on-the-Clyde (the BBC Scotland HQ in Glasgow) is concerned! A close study of the BBC2 schedule for next week shows that a 1-hour Gaelic-language broadcast has been sneaked into the schedule at 7pm on Monday evening; the alternative in England seems to be an episode of James May's Toy Stories - the Great Train Race, which is possibly a repeat, although I'm not sure about that. However, it still does not explain why, or excuse, a 'Gaelic Music Sessions' programmes being slipped into the schedule on a Monday at peak viewing time.

In fact the 7pm slot on BBC2 next week on several days seems to be devoted to local Scottish programming of one kind or another, although only on Tuesday does it seem to be in Gaelic. I have no particular objection to this, except that for example on Tuesday I'd far rather have the opportunity of watching "This World: The Invasion of Lampedusa" (the Italian island which has had an influx of illegal immigrants crossing from Libya and beyond in recent months) to something called 'The Adventure Show' about sporting events based in Scotland this week it seems. Wednesday and Thurday seem to be mercifully free of 'parochial' programming, although it creeps back in on Friday - but at least it's only on Monday that it's in Gaelic, still too much now that BBC Alba is available.

I do have a 'bee in my bonnet' about this issue, don't I? So sue me!

NB/ In view of the unpleasant nature of some of the comments here, I regret to advise that further comments on this article are not permitted.

For those interested in learning Scottish Gaelic ...

... (and I have to confess I have no interest in doing so myself) you may find this BBC write-up about Dingwall resident Fiona J Mackenzie of utility - the link to her Twitter page, as referred to in the BBC article is here and from there you will find a link to her website and its podcast page, from where her online Gaelic lessons may be downloaded.

PS/ For those in the Inverness/Nairn/Forres/Elgin area this coming weekend, she will be performing a concert of Gaelic songs at Brodie Castle on Sunday 25th October 2009 - more details here.

The fascistic and threatening nature of one Gaelic-speaker

Warning: This is a long and tedious article and I would not blame anyone who decides to skip it entirely. I have disabled comments for this specific article (something I have never done before in my almost 7 years of blogging). I am writing it only to document for archival purposes an unpleasant series of comments made last night on an article I wrote almost two weeks ago; I regret nothing I wrote in that article, although perhaps some of my own comments on the comments thread there made during the night and this morning were themselves 'over the top', but I will leave them in place in that article and in the chronological list below, 'warts and all'.

On 7MAR09 I posted an article about a debate going on within Scotland about the wisdom of expanding the number of bilingual Gaelic-English roadsigns throughout the Highland Region and into it. Apart from an initial comment on that article by someone who didn't actually comment on it per se, but made a general comment about my blog, there was one other comment from someone who made a substantive comment on the article ("Mac 'i Iain"), to which I responded 'robustly'. That was until last night, when another commenter ("AaronK") made another comment, basically supporting what "Mac 'i Iain" had written, again accusing me of 'racism'. I again responded quite 'robustly'. That started off a series of increasingly [in my opinion] hysterical and 'over-the-top' comments from "AaronK" until I decided I had done with 'tolerance' toward that particular commenter and would delete any further comments from him (or anyone else) appearing under that article - as I mentioned in a postscript to my 4th UPDATE to the blog article, and as I reiterated in my final comment to that article, when I had already decided to restrict myself to blog UPDATES rather than continuing to comment on his increasingly ridiculous comments, which I began to delete either shortly after they appeared online or, once I had updated the comment parameters for this blog, even before they appeared online, based on the email advices I was receiving from Blogger each time a new comment was made and asking me to approve or reject the comment. I had decided not to delete any of his comments made prior to that point, but he then (in addition to trying to post further comments) started to delete some of his own comments, but not others (for reasons one can only guess at), so it has left the comment thread there completely unbalanced and out of sequence. I have decided therefore, at the risk of giving his views greater exposure, to include below all the comments (his and my own) in their chronolgical sequence as a permanent record which I will not muck around with and which he will not be permitted to. We must all take responsibility for what we write, in my opinion, and not hide under the seeming 'anonymity' which the internet provides for those who wish to abuse it. So, to begin:

"AaronK"'s initial comment, since deleted by him from the comment thread:

Comment made at around 2.12am (Spanish time) I actually have to agree with Mac 'ic Iain. Just because you're Scottish does not mean you are not hostile and yes racist towards Gaels and Gaelic. In fact I'd say the chances, judging by history and much of the news media ( e.g. Allan Brown), were pretty good. Most of the policies that have damaged Gaelic have been developed in Scotland. Scotland does not have a good track record, to say the least, of supporting the language. This language was only given any official standing in 2005! That came about through years of hard work by Gaels, but also because the UK is duty bound by the European Convention on Minority Languages. Gaelic speakers have had to fight tooth and nail for everything they have won. And yes I wholeheartedly agree with Mac 'ic Iain, many many people in Scotland hold shameful views about Gaelic speakers, clearly some more than others; however, the signs debate has clearly demonstrated these attitudes are in no way a thing of the past.

My initial response:

Comment made at 8.15am So, another anonymous commenter (the email address bears no relationship to the email address used in the Google profile seemingly created solely for the purpose of commenting here - may even be the same person as the previous commenter, for all I know, with whom 'agreement' is expressed), considers it 'racist' to wish road signs to display the language spoken by over 98 per cent of the population in the areas where bi-lingual are displayed at least as prominently as that used by less than 2 per cent of the population? I think that is nonsense. The charge of 'racism' is doubly-inappropriate in that not only am I mainly Scottish, but all of my heritage is from a Gelic-speaking backround; quite frankly I think you need to consult a semi-decent dictionary to discover what that word means and not fling around verbal insults which arhas he offended the completely idiotic. Finally I have no idea who Allan Brown is. Is he a 'racist', too, or has he offended the Gaelic mafia as well?

... and so it really kicks off:

AaronK at 9.09am - comment since deleted by him Just because you have a certain background doesn't mean you cannot display racism against an identifiable group. You are not a Gael, you are not a Gaelic speaker. Your use of the disparaging "Gaelic Mafia" is indicative of your contempt. You have been reared in a culture that places Gaels at the bottom. Their language as useless and their heritage as simply a tool to drive your tourist industry. Believe it or not there are also Blacks who loathe other Blacks. So a simple genetic connection means nothing if you hold the position of the dominant group. Many people have more than one email account.

Bill at 9.19am Hello again 'Aaron K' - thankyou for commenting again. You really do need to consult a dictionary. I am, by heritage, completely from a 'Gael' background; the fact I do not speak (or do not choose to use) Gaelic has nothing to do with it. Call what I write 'linguistic imperialism' if you like, but it is not 'racist'. I am addressing other remarks associated with your comments and with the comment made by "Mac 'ic Iain" in an UPDATE to my blog article, rather than in these comments.

- you can read the UPDATE to which I refer in the original article here. The comments continue:

AaronK at 9.36am - not so far deleted by him While I may be commenting on your particular post about signs, in actuality I am commenting on the totality of events that have impacted Gaels in Scotland. The distinction of Gaels as a separate race is actually quite well documented in Scottish history. Prevalent in this ideology was that Gaels, as people, and their language are inherently inferior. Though some suggested, obviously meant in your case, that Gaels were capable of "improvement". How nice. The present bigotry expressed against Gaelic, be it over signs, or money "wasted" on BBC Alba, or schools,or even Allan Brown, a prominent Scottish columnist referring to Gaelic as "Hebridean twittering" among other negative characterizations, all allude to this earlier ideology that was in fact linked to ideas of race. So using race when describing how the dominant Anglo culture views and acts towards Gaelic has a historical context and is not at all out of place. thanks very much. I love Gaelic and any opportunity, no matter how unpleasant, I have to talk about it, I thoroughly enjoy.

Bill at 10.05am "So using race when describing how the dominant Anglo culture views and acts towards Gaelic has a historical context and is not at all out of place." Same old confusion I'm afraid. Are we talking about 'race' or 'culture'? Whatever way you slice it I am of 100 per cent "Gael" origin (Scottish and Irish). I have absolutely no 'Anglo' blood in me so far as I am aware, not that it would bother me if I had. I won't comment further here; please read the 'UPDATE' to my blog article if you have not already done so. Whatever comments you may have about that, if any, I shall not be adding my own further comments either.

AaronK's next comment relates to the first UPDATE I posted to the original article here:

AaronK at 10.07am Well typically people only react if they dislike what they are reading. Given the low traffic on your blog as is I would assume most of the viewers either know you or were attracted by a certain headline. The headline you use in regards to Gaelic signs already tips your hand as to which side you support. And as for Gaels in far flung places, we are indeed everywhere!

AaronK at 10.13am No I think you've pretty much decided to end your relationship to Gaelic and Gaels, your genetic connection is what it is, codes of DNA. Whoopee! There is no confusion, lol. I am not the one making racial categories. These are pre-existing ideologies that shape the reactions that people reared in Anglo society have towards Gaels, and many other cultures I might add. Though in the Scottish context they are directed more specifically towards Gaels.

- this resulted in my 2nd UPDATE to the original article here.

AaronK at 10.20am - since deleted by him Well at the very least it blows your theory that Mac 'ic Iain and I are one in the same.

- I think this flows from him having re-read fully my first UPDATE in the original article here.

AaronK at 10.25am - since deleted by him There is tremendous support outside of Alba, for Gaelic. I always tell my family and friends that I'd love to see some of the Gael-haters attempt to get away with some of their comments in North America.

- this resulted in me writing the 3rd UPDATE in the original article here. I think his next comment relates to something I wrote in the 2nd UPDATE in the same article:

AaronK at 10.43am - since deleted by him No Bill, wrong again. Scottish Anglo society is the one that developed the idea that Gaels are a separate and inferior racial group. You are the one engaging in mumbo jumbo. You have merely assumed the attitudes of the culture you were raised in vis-a-vis Gaels, and the idea that they are an inferior group. In the historical context this has referred to more than just language, but to the very people themselves. The comments that constantly emerge from the Gael-hating community in Scotland is inextricably linked to this ideology.

His next comment seems to relate to something I wrote in my first UPDATE in the original article here:

AaronK at 10.48am - since deleted by him It is not rubbish. You are completely blinded because like most racists you simply fail to acknowledge nor see any fault. Scotland is full of Gael-haters. You may claim atheism but you do have an ideology. Ottawa? Obviously you know nothing of Canadian politics or demographics.

The next comment probably also relates to something I wrote in my first UPDATE in the original article here:

AaronK at 10.51am - since deleted by him Ah yes a "dissident", a gay Solzhenitsyn are you? Fighting the good fight. "Oh the signs, they're gonna kill us!" .Talk about a hysterical reaction.

AaronK at 11.02am - since deleted by him FYI, Gaels are real living breathing people. Not your long dead grampa. Although that's how your lot prefers to characterize Gaels. My issue with you has nothing to do with your homosexuality. I don't care who you do. Nice diversion tactic though.

- probably relates to something I wrote in the 3rd UPDATE in the original article here. I think that from this point on it was probably me who deleted all of AaronK's subsequent comments, shortly after they appeared in the comments thread, although later I started to intercept them before they actually appeared online in the comments thread.

AaronK at 11.06am - since deleted by me You tolerant? That's a laugh. No I am more than pleased to end this with you. You are an anachronism. Your days of dictating the demise of Gaelic are over

- probably relates to what I wrote in the second paragraph of my 4th UPDATE in the original article here

AaronK at 11.08am - since deleted by me Wasn't too fond of the Solzhenitsyn comment or your hysterical reaction to Gaelic signage? C'mon Bill, run for office on your bile. Go show that Hamish Fraser what for. See how far you get.

AaronK at 11.13am - since deleted by me Poor billy didn't like that. Gonna take his bats home to play on his own.

- I think this is probably when he realised I was deleting all his comments.

AaronK at 11.17am - deleted by me hysterical reaction to Gaelic signs: "Carnage on the Highway" Solzhenitsyn Solzhenitsyn Solzhenitsyn Oh wasn't he a commie at one time. Maybe that's what gets up your dress eh Maggie T?

AaronK at 11.22am - deleted by me Bill is a Gael-hater, as clear as any that ever lived. I shall rue the day I meet this type of individual in person, and so shall they rue me. You affront, me, my parents, my grandparents and all the generations that have come before.

- this resulted in me posting the initial 'PS/' to my 4th UPDATE in the original article here, which I repeated in a final comment in the comments thread:

Bill at 11.24am To "AaronK": In case you have not read the PS/ to the 4th UPDATE to my blog article, I repeat it below for your information: PS/ I have so far had to delete a further 6 or 7 comments from "AaronK"; I will continue doing so until he gets bored and stops posting his bile here. Luckily we will soon reach the 2-week stage when Blogger automatically asks for blog-owner approval before permitting comments to appear, even in blogs like mine which do not require moderation for recent post comments.

AaronK's comments kept coming, however, even though they were no longer appearing in the blog comments thread:

AaronK at 11.25am Any Scottish person that decides to open their mouths and spew out your bigoted, crass, Gael-hate will regret uttering a word of it in my presence.

AaronK at 11.28am Couldn't care less Bill. You can delete, manipulate, try to turn yourself into some victim of homophobia, whatever. Wherever I see you or anyone else maligning gaelic in anyway I will comment again and again and again. I don't care what you think of me. Your opinion to me is less than nothing. You can rot in hell for all I care. and by the way creep, I'm a fag!

A likely story, that last bit - lol! Even if he is, who cares? As his tedious comments continued I gradually added the addenda to the original PS/ to my 4th UPDATE in the original article here

AaronK at 11.34am I'm a Gaelic fag, and I hate you!! I hate you more than any of the others. You are to me the very definition of a traitor. I do not understand you. I don't know why you people are so nasty and cruel.

- awww, diddums, to that last bit! Perhaps AaronK might care to look in a mirror and ask himself the same rhetorical question.

AaronK at 11.38am Watch your cattle. Mar sin leat.

- I ask you! That one had me giggling for a few moments.

AaronK at 11.50am Almost done, but I go on my own terms

- obviously relates to one of my PS/ addenda, when I realised he was deleting some of his own earlier comments in 'retaliation' for me blocking all his more recent comments. His later comments now become even more ludicrous, I'd call them farcical and definitely obsessive:

AaronK at 12.27pm Oh did you feel threatened? You nasty old, did I not mention old, fossil. You are not tolerant, you are not decent. You are a lecherous, sad, creep. No one reads your "blog", there's nothing here. I read it because yes I am an absolute partisan! A Fanatic even. And damn proud of it! All you are is just some sad retrograde who's world is apparently crumbling because of the "Gaelic Mafia". Well get used to it. I never said , boo-hoo "why is world so cruel to me". I said why are you so nasty and cruel. Mr. "I love My Gael Grandads" Bullshit!, You are so full of shit! Why the hell do you feel the need to attack a group of people when they have been put down by you people for hundreds of years. Some in Scotland may not want to face up to it, but frankly you don't have much of a choice. I am angry. I don't hide or deny that. What sane person wouldn't be? Any claim you have in Scotland to being a tolerant society is worthless until you do something, more than just window dressing to address what you people have done to Gaels. Post that you jerk. Stop hiding behind being gay. Nobody cares.

AaronK at 12.35pm You're the whiner. With your "why do we the precious "majority" have to put up with Gaelic signs". Us poor put upon "majority". Majority where? A democratic body decides on more than one occasion to approve these signs and still you go on about this so-called majority. Why don't you run for office? Too scared? You know you're option sucks ass. Deep down you know what a god damn bigot/racist you are. You're just some sad Tory (hello Michael Fry) who couldn't get elected as head of a chip shop. My intervention in your blog is the only thing of any interest on this whole site. So yeah please keep posting my comments. I'll keep sending them your way. "oooh I felt threatened and scared" lol, sad fool.

AaronK at 12.40pm I have to wonder what you did for a living? Mr. "I have a house in Spain". How many people did you screw over to get that, while others starve. I notice you lived in Culloden. Bet you liked that eh? Sitting over some nice Gaelic blood and guts. Oooh look at my merlot drinking life, aren't I special. Flaunting yourself like you're something pretty special.

- apart from the hysterical comments he makes (which I'll ignore), I'm pretty open in my websites about who and what I am, unlike people such as AaronK.

That is, mercifully, the last of AaronK's comments at the time of writing. If he does decide to continue sending me comments I shall simply ignore them, even if I do archive them for my future reference and amusement. I won't be updating this blog article or writing subsequent articles about this matter. Enough is enough.

Gaelic-English road signs and the hazard they pose

(Please see the UPDATES and the NB/ at end)

Efforts by the [self-]important Gaelic Committee on Highland Council to spread the use of bilingual Gaelic-English road signs on trunk routes into and out of the area are being called into question, at long last, by evidence (so far anecdotal) that they impede driver understanding of the directions being given and may lead to accidents. Before ploughing on with installing more of these bilingual signs into and throughout the region, studies are being called for by Stewart Stevenson, Scottish transport minister, to determine what problems, if any, can be quantified.

I tried to make the last part of the previous paragraph as 'neutral' as possible, but let me be clear - I consider some of the bilingual Gaelic-English signs a positive menace and have on occasions 'whizzed' past an example of these signs at 50 or 60 MPH in my car and questionned whether I was on the correct road, mostly roads with which I am perfectly familiar. The problem is that the Gaelic version appears above the English version in the same [or larger?) size of typeface and in a brighter and more prominent colour, which possibly only makes it appear bigger.

Unfortunately Highland Council's Gaelic committee chairman, Hamish Fraser, has 'form' on this issue, receiving criticism from a Caithness councillor as long as three years ago for arrogantly riding roughshod over criticism of the road-sign language policy he advocates.

(Other articles I have written about Gaelic language issues may be found here and here, both written during 2005 when a Gaelic Language Bill was being debated by the Scottish Parliament.)

UPDATE: (Wednesday 18MAR09 09.30 RST) Very interesting comments to this article; commenters have flung the term 'racist' in my direction - specifically commenter 2 ("Mac 'ic Iain") and commenter 4 and 6 (both by "AaronK"). Whilst I dispute the use of the term 'racist' in this context in relation to the opinions I have expressed (perhaps a 'linguistic imperialist' might be a better term to use as although that is not true either at least it bears some relation to the matters under discussion), I decided to do a little research to try and identify who these two for all intents and purposes 'anonymous' commenters are.

"AaronK" seems to be in Calgary, Alberta (Canada) and using a Shaw Communications Inc internet connection, with IP 96.49.138.145.

"Mac 'ic Iain" seems also to be in Calgary, Alberta (Canada) and using a server at "Calgary Roman Catholic School" as the internet connection, with IP 139.142.154.129.

Interestingly, a couple of moments before the timestamp of "AaronK's" first comment (comment 4) there was a visit from another western Canadian origin based on searches involving this blog article seemingly from Richmond, British Columbia (Canada), also using a Shaw Communications Inc internet connection, with IP 24.78.150.173.

What seems clear, therefore, is that I have offended one or perhaps two "Gaels" in western Canada. Tough! I do wonder if the offence taken may have causes in addition to the purported 'racism' with which I am charged, given that I am gay and that one of the commenters, at least, seems either to teach at or attend the "Calgary Roman Catholic School"; I will fling around a term of my own - the Catholic Church is not known as tolerant in its attitudes towards human sexuality and I believe it is institutionally 'homophobic' and has historically, in many different countries, connived at covering up the sexual misdemeanors of priests in its service involving child molestation. The very recent comments of the Pontiff in relation to homosexuality highlight just what a sick organisation the Roman Catholic Church is; it is not alone as a religious organisation in having 'weird' views about human sexuality, of course. I consider myself an atheist, although my family background is mixed Protestant (Scottish) and Catholic (Republic of Ireland).

Finally, I have observed in my site visit statistics that this article has been viewed both by people in Nairn (where I have my Scottish home) and by people visiting from the Scottish Parliament and from Scottish Media Group, none of which have resulted in the hysterical reactions, or any reaction, of my correspondents from Calgary, Alberta (Canada). I think that factor is quite telling.

2nd UPDATE: (Wednesday 18MAR09 10.20 RST) In "AaronK's" latest comment, full of the usual pseudo-scientific linguistic/racial mumbo-jumbo, he comments: I am not the one making racial categories, whereas he stated earlier that I exhibit 'racist' views and in an earlier comment made this remark: Just because you're Scottish does not mean you are not hostile and yes racist towards Gaels and Gaelic, presumably because he considers use of the word 'Gael' to be a racial category. His comment that he is not the one making racial categories is demonstrably not in accordance with the facts.

3rd UPDATE: (Wednesday 18MAR09 10.30 RST) In "AaronK's" latest comment (he really is obsessed!) - I always tell my family and friends that I'd love to see some of the Gael-haters attempt to get away with some of their comments in North America. This idiocy about Gael-haters is complete rubbish, unless you want me to agree that I hated the grandfather that I loved (the Scottish one) or the other grandfather that I loved (the Irish one). Ah yes, gun-toting North America - perhaps that kind of reaction to 'dissident viewpoints' goes in the US and even in western Canada, but I doubt if it would have much traction in Ottawa at federal level, from what I know of Canadian politcs. Most amusing - you seem to have no sense of irony "AaronK" - lol.

4th UPDATE: (Wednesday 18MAR09 10.45 RST)Did I use the word 'obsessed' in relation to "AaronK"? Well, all I'll do now is simply quote his latest comment in full - it's a real yawn-fest - it's like reading some obsessive tract on matters that only a few individuals have the remotest interest in. As for why the people who matter, those who actually live in Scotland, should have the remotest interest in what an anachronistic sect has to say about politics here, it's a mystery to me: No Bill, wrong again. Scottish Anglo society is the one that developed the idea that Gaels are a separate and inferior racial group. You are the one engaging in mumbo jumbo. You have merely assumed the attitudes of the culture you were raised in vis-a-vis Gaels, and the idea that they are an inferior group. In the historical context this has referred to more than just language, but to the very people themselves. The comments that constantly emerge from the Gael-hating community in Scotland is inextricably linked to this ideology. The Irish (South and North) had enough of that partcular kind of interference in their internal affairs from North American IRA-supporters and funders, until the events of 11 September 2001 awakened them to the duplicity (or actually the politically disastrous consequences for them domestically in the US of continuing support for a terrorist organisation) of their historic analyses in relation to their ancestral homeland.

I have decided I have been tolerant long enough - any further comment on this blog article will be deleted.

PS/ I have so far had to delete a further 6 or 7 comments from "AaronK"; I will continue doing so until he gets bored and stops posting his bile here. Luckily we will soon reach the 2-week stage when Blogger automatically asks for blog-owner approval before permitting comments to appear, even in blogs like mine which do not require moderation for recent post comments. PPS/ I am getting fed up of having to delete "AaronK's" increasingly-hysterical comments, so I have altered the default settings for commenting in this blog by reducing the period when unmoderated comments are permitted to appear without my prior approval. PPPS/ I notice that "AaronK" is in the process of deleting many/all of his own comments, which results in the message "Removed by the comment author" appearing where the comment was. I am now deleteing that remaining reference so comments HE has deleted will appear never to have existed in my blog; however, I maintain an offline record of ALL his comments for archival purposes. PPPPS/ "AaronK" seems now to have finished his work of deleting most if not all of his comments, but I plan (when I get a moment) to repost them all, including my own comments interspersed with his, in a new blog article so that he cannot hide from the hysterical tone of all, and the threatening nature of some, of his comments, not to mention the whining "why is the world so cruel to me" tone of one or two of them. (Note added on Wednesday 18MAR09 at 18.37 RST - You can now read that later blog article here.)

NB/ I have just come across an article on this topic in Graisg's (of the Gurn from Nurn blog) in his blog dealing with Gaelic language issues. Obviously Graisg takes a somewhat different view of the issue of bi-lingual roadsigns than I do, but in actual fact there is not so much difference in our views as one might suppose. In fact I have absolutely no 'objection' to having bilingual road signs in Highland Region (or elsewhere in Scotland for that matter, if people want them), however I would like the majority language to be given at least equal prominence on such roadsigns; it is very noticeable that in all the photographs in Graisg's article, the languages used all have very equal prominence, or in a few cases the majority language has greater prominence. The same holds true in Spain where bilingual roadsigns are often used in specific areas, but great care seems to have been taken to ensure that all languages used are given equal prominence.