Celebrating Nova Scotia’s Gaelic Traditions

The history of the Gaelic language is one of immense beauty and sorrow. During the years after the Scottish Highland clearances began in 1762, many highlanders were not only forced from their lands but were also prohibited from practicing their cultural ways. They were banned from wearing tartans, speaking their ancestral language, and even playing the bagpipes. It was an attempt to anglicize and “tame” the “heathen” Scots. If any Scot was caught taking part in their ancient ways, they faced punishment. Due to these laws being hard to enforce at times, as those enforcing them could not have someone watching the highlanders’ every move, some Scots were able to carry on with their traditions. This allowed for the passing down of the Scottish language and customs from one generation to the next. It wasn’t long after the clearances that some of the first colonies of Scots arrived to Nova Scotia on the Ship Hector.

Alexander “Tando” MacIsaac

My father’s side of the family would be one of the colonies arriving years after the clearances had started. They travelled across the Atlantic to Nova Scotia from the area of Moidart in Scotland. Although they had not been affected by the clearances at this time, they could feel the imposing danger slowly creeping upon them. With this some of the families of the area decided it would be best to relocate to Nova Scotia. The first settlers from this area arrived in Giant’s Lake in 1843, which in the Gaelic language would be known as Loch an Fhamhair.  After they were settled for some time, a few returned back to Moidart to bring more settlers over. The remaining settlers arrived in the early 1900’s. With them they brought many of their Scottish customs including the native tongue. The language most times was passed down through the mother as she would be at home with the children while the men of the house would be out working. Singing would be a big part of their lives and helped in keeping the language alive whether it be singing at house gatherings known as cèilidhs or while working in the fields. Every task had a song to go with it. It would not be uncommon to hear Gaelic songs filling the air as the men worked in the field and the women worked around the home. The Gaelic language survived right up until the early 1900s in which then it started to see a rapid decline due to prejudice and lack of opportunities. Parents were discouraged from speaking their native tongue around their children as they were told the only opportunities available for future generations outside of the Gaelic speaking communities would only be available to English speakers.

My grandfather, Alexander “Tando” MacIsaac, was born in Giant’s Lake, Nova Scotia. In his later years he went on to become a well known politician around the area and was the Member of Legislature for Guysborough, Nova Scotia. He spoke only Gaelic up until the age of five. Once he started going to school he was prohibited from speaking the language while he was there, as were the rest of the children. My father tells me that my grandfather could still recall the verbal and physical punishment received at the school house for speaking Gaelic. Because of the ban on the language at schools, many families had children who could still speak the language while the younger ones could not speak it but could still understand it as their elders often still spoke to them in Gaelic. As the older generations began to die off, the language followed them. Giant’s Lake one was on the last fully functioning Gaelic communities on the mainland of Nova Scotia.

Alexander “Tando” MacIsaac and Flora (MacInnes) MacIsaac

My paternal grandmother, Flora (MacInnes) MacIsaac was born and raised in Kin Loch Rannoch, Scotland. She was an up and coming rising star who sang mostly in the Gaelic language when she met my grandfather, Tando, during the Second World War. She was also one of the first female bagpipers and was the only female in an all male band. Flora and Tando lived between Scotland and England for four years after they were married in 1942, as he was stationed in each area for a period of time. In 1946 they moved to Canada and settled in my grandfather’s home province, Nova Scotia. They lived in Antigonish for some time before moving to Giant’s Lake, where Tando was born and raised. In 1960, my grandmother was invited to sing at the Antigonish Highland Games with my mother’s father who was also a Gaelic singer who had just arrived from Scotland the January prior to the games. The two of them sang at the Highland Games for ten consecutive years. Over these years the two families became very close as both families shared a love of their Scottish heritage and its language.

My maternal grandfather, Donald Henderson Gordon, was born in Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. After his father died, my grandfather, his two brothers and mother moved to the city of Glasgow. Donald was a Gaelic tenor singer, a highland dancer, and played the bagpipes as well. He met my maternal grandmother, Mary Cynthia (Marr) Gordon, during the Second World War while he was with the Royal Air Force and training outside of Truro, Nova Scotia. Two weeks after the two had met they were married. After a week of marriage they were then separated for four years due to the war. Their only communication during their separation was through letters. After the war they were reunited and moved to Scotland and lived there for 14 years before moving back to Cynthia’s hometown of Truro, Nova Scotia. Upon my grandfather’s arrival in January of 1960, the Antigonish Highland Society invited him to come and sing at their Robert Burns night as they had heard news of a Gaelic tenor coming to Truro from Scotland. This was where he met Tando and Flora MacIsaac, my paternal grandparents. Donald was very involved in the Scottish community after his arrival to Nova Scotia. He was the founder of both the St. Andrew’s Society in Truro, Nova Scotia and Burlington, Ontario as he and my grandmother moved there some time after living in Truro.

Donald Henderson Gordon

I look back at just how not too long ago, the Gaelic language still survived in great numbers. Around the time of my grandparent’s generation there would still be many fluent Gaelic speakers. After my grandparents had passed, my family has tried it’s best to keep pieces of the language alive whether it be through common phrases or song. However we are not well-versed in the language. Many of the people from my parent’s generation who were of Scottish ancestry can still remember their parents or grandparents speaking the language. Some of these people can also remember the reluctance of their parents to speak their native tongue as prejudice around the ancient language became highly prevalent. The language which was the third most spoken language by 1850 soon became an endangered one due this prejudice and lack of opportunities for monolingual Gaelic speakers. This is what prevented some elders from passing the language down. We have areas in Cape Breton which have still kept the language alive. The St. Ann’s Gaelic College has done a tremendous job in preserving the Scottish Gaelic culture since it was founded in 1938. Most of the singers who carry the language on through song also happen to come from the island of Cape Breton. One of the more well known Nova Scotian Gaelic singers would be the talented Mary Jane Lamond. I can remember growing up listening to her music with songs such as “Horo Ghoid thu Nighean” and her Gaelic rendition of the song “Sleepy Maggie” in which Ashley MacIsaac plays the fiddle. My sister and I would dance around the house trying to mimic the words she sang. The mainland of Nova Scotia, however, has seen a rapid decline in speakers of the language over the years. So what does this mean for the Gaelic language? Is it one which will eventually die off altogether, or is there still hope left to keep this beautiful, ancient language alive?

Flora (MacInnes) MacIsaac

Just recently we have seen a rise of interest in the learning of the language. Over the past few years we have seen Gaelic classes introduced into schools in Antigonish. In 2013, the Casket announced the Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School in Antigonish made history as their students in the Grade 12 Core Gaelic class were the first students in North America to graduate from the language program since it was first introduced. The county of Antigonish also had bilingual signs made in both English and Gaelic in hopes to keep the language alive.

In 2005 The Gaelic Language Society of Halifax (Sgoil Ghàidhlig an Àrd-bhaile) was established in hopes to help preserve the language. The Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia which was established in 1982 has also helped maintain the Scottish culture along with the Gaelic language. We are also starting to see universities in Nova Scotia which offer Gaelic courses; these include St. Francis Xavier University, Cape Breton University and St. Mary’s University. There are also radio shows and newspapers from Cape Breton which are broadcasted and written in Gaelic. The Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia’s website is a great place to look for more information on the language.

So the question stands, is there still hope? I believe there is. Although this language has come close to extinction, I can see the group effort across the province to preserve it. One day I hope to learn the language more extensively myself, but until then family gatherings will still have their Scottish touch with the flow of songs sung in the language along with Gaelic toasts and the sound of the bagpipes. And it will be up to our generation to make sure the efforts of those in this one to preserve the language were not in vain. With this may we make our ancestors proud! Alba gu bràth!

Written by Cairista MacIsaac

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