Skye

Cabinet 11

Although numbers are on the decline, there has always been a strong presence of Gaelic speakers on Skye, known in Scottish Gaelic as An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or Eilean a’ Cheò.

In the 1921 census, all parishes in Skye were reported to be over 75 per cent Gaelic speaking; in 1971, only the Kilmuir parish had more than 75 per cent Gaelic speakers, with the rest of Skye ranging from 50-74 per cent; and in 2001 Kilmuir had 47 per cent Gaelic speakers, with Skye overall having an unevenly distributed 31 per cent.

The ‘peculiar beauties’ of ‘Galic’ captivated William Shaw, and the end-result was one of the first grammatical accounts of the language, one that has only 18 letters.

William Shaw, An Analysis of the Galic Language. Edinburgh: Printed by W. and T. Ruddiman; for R. Jamieson, 1778.