surprise surprise

[nellie]

I was most surprised to read in the Groat on friday that my Caithnessian fore fathers spoke Gaelic--They were all born and bred in Caithness--I never once heard them say that their fore fathers spoke Gaelic:mad:

[footie chick]

It's only the councillers that speak Gaelic thats why they wanted the sign posts changed.

[Rheghead]

I was most surprised to read in the Groat on friday that my Caithnessian fore fathers spoke Gaelic--They were all born and bred in Caithness--I never once heard them say that their fore fathers spoke Gaelic:mad:

I understand your concerns but have you actually traced your ancestors back to the 1851 census to find out as I believe you can find out from that document whether they actually did speak it or not, provided that you are not from off comer stock mind.

As for me, I'm an Englishman from viking genetic stock both on my paternal and maternal side so nobody can tell me otherwise that I ought to speak anything else than Norwegian...

[nellie]

Oh yes Rheghead:confused

[trinkie]

Hi Nellie,

Like you I never heard any of my family speak Gaelic, but since doing Family History I discover many Caithness folk came up from Sutherland during the Clearances, and they would have spoken Gaelic, so the language would have come with them.
There are several Gaelic words that our folk used at one time, you'll find this in earlier writing, poems etc, but remember that it was strongly frowned on in schools and the children were not encouraged to use their native tongue!
My mother would say 'I'm in a richt boorach'
'You clumsy amaton' 'An ould Gaellach'( phonetically) and several other words, which I cant remember or even spell !

It's sad that we have lost a rich language, but we must try at least to keep the Dialect going.

Best wishes - see if you can find some more words !
Trinkie

[nellie]

Trinkie I do remember my mother using the words you mentioned:lol:

[wifie]

Trinkie is correct - many of the words we use are derived from gaelic so it is very possible. Have to say I can't see the point in bi-lingual signs but I also cannot see the harm - as long as they are being changed only when a sign needs replacing and are hopefully not costing a huge amount more to produce. As the signs, I suppose, will have to be larger and include more words (and those words checked for their correctness) sadly they probably do cost more.
What I do find rather pathetic tho is the apparent time wasted by councillors debating such an issue and accusing each other of using racist terminology.

[trinkie]

Och yur a richt Baglen!

I'm fair Gluffus this Monday mornan'

Yin Rheghead is nae gomeral - mark his words well !

[LMS]

I agree totally with Nellie. On both sides of my family there are no traces of Gaelic. My great-grandmother born in 1890 often mentioned that the only time she ever heard Gaelic in Wick was when the herring fisherwomen arrived from Stornoway for a few months.

If a few pedantic people think that we should be putting up Gaelic signs just because there were Gaelic speakers here several hundred years ago, why not go further and put up Norse signs for our Viking heritage! I am sure most native Caithnessians would associate their distant heritage more with the Vikings than the Gaelic people.

[trinkie]

Be prepared it wont be just traffic signs, but every public notice you can imagine. .... Doctors' prescriptions, library tickets, voting papers, advertising leaflets and all the rest. The extra cost must be horrendous - and think of the waste of paper! It's quite unnecessary IMO, much as I love the language.

[Tighsonas4]

every street in golspie is double signed. gealic may still down embo way
as for me it takes me all my time to speak sense [or spell] as trinkie says there were several words used like boorach[a right ravel] but cant think of them at the moment tony

[cuddlepop]

For what ever reason I cant access the HC website other than the front page so this is what I remember from a Gaelic meeting held by them.

Caithness Councillors(some of them) wanted bilingual signage at the Ord,Wick,Thurso and John Of Groats only.This motion was defeated and a report was request by Hamish Fraser into how the Gaelic lanuage "agenda" was progressing......

Now see what you've done up there.;)

We'll soon be offered incentives to learn the lanuage.After all if you want to access funding for your community project you'll stand a better chance of getting it ,if its delivered in Gaelic.:roll: