Cò Mheud? / How Many?

Bithear a cantainn gu bheil timchioll air còig ceud duine ann an Ceap Breatainn aig a bheil  Gàidhlig. Chan eil dad a dh' fhios 'am dé cho ceart no ceàrr a tha sin, ach tha mi cinnteach gu bheil e uamhasach duilich a bhith cinnteach ás an àireamh sin.

Tha fhios 'am air cuid de sheann daoine aig a bheil Gàidhlig nach tig gu ceilidh no gu clas. Tha fhios 'am cuideachd air daoine a thig gu luaidhean nach gabh pàirt ann an seinn 's nach bruidhinn 'sa Ghàdhlig uair sam bith, ach tuigidh iad gach uile facal dhe na h-òrain.  'S dòcha gu bheil e air a bhith cho fada o 'n a bhruidhinn iad 'sa Ghàidhlig 's nach eil féin-spéis aca ann an cainnt na 's mo.

Bhruidhinn neach ionnsachaidh a 's aithne dhomh ri fear ás a' Chladach a Tuath anns a' Ghàidhlig turus, 's dùil aice gum biodh cuid bheag aige co dhiùbh. Fhuair i amach gur ann fileanta a tha e 's thuirt i ris nach robh fios aice gu robh e làn Gàidhlig. Fhreagair e, " Ciamar nach biodh? Nach deach mo thogail 'sa Ghàidhlig?"  Agus chan eil e ach beagan seachad air trì fichead bliadhn' a dh' aois.

Tha cuid de dhaoine ann aig an robh Gàidhlig gu leòir 'nan òige ach air a bheil i air dol air chall air sgàth cion-chleachdaidh. Thachair mi ri boireannach ann am Bàgh Naoimh Loireans nach bruidhneadh rium ach beagan 'sa Ghàidhlig ach thuig i a h-uile facal a bh' agam.

Thàinig boireannach eile gu clas a bh' agam ann an Eilean na Nollaige nach do bhruidhinn ach Gàidhlig gus an robh i seachd bliadhn' a dh' aois, agus Beurla a mhàin  'mach á sin. Cha robh cuimhn' aice air móran ach an ceann beagan sheachdainnean chaidh i seachad orm ann an tuigse 's am bruidhinn. Thàinig i air ais thuice, agus co mheud eile a th' ann mar sin?

Tha rud brònach eile ann – daoin' a fhuair am magadh 'nan òige 'sna sgoiltean ( àm gu sònraichte dona ) airson 's gu robh blas na Gàidhlig ann an cainnt Beurla, mar a bha e gu ro làidir ann an cainnt am pàrantan aig an robh Gàidhlig bho 'n ghlùin. Air sgàth a' mhagaidh sin, thionndaidh iad gu tur an aghaidh na Gàidhlig 's chan aidich iad idir gu bheil an lide a's lugha aca. Ach ma bhruidhneas tu Gàidhlig  riutha 'nuair nach bi cothrom ac' a bhith smaointinn orra fhéin, gheibh thu 'mach gu bheil iad 'gad thuigsinn!

Bidh daoine ann aig a bheil Gàidhlig gu leòir nach sgrìobhas ann an cunntas-sluaigh sin o 'n nach eil iad 'ga mheasail cudtromach, no nach eil iad airson aideachadh, no nach eil Gàidhlig gu leòir aca 'nan réir fhéin. Mar sin, ciamar is urrainn dhuinn a bhith cinnteach air àireamh nan daoine aig a bheil Gàidhlig ann an Ceap Breatainn?

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How Many?

It's being said that there are about five hundred Gaelic speakers in Cape Breton. I have no idea how right or wrong that is, but I'm sure that it's terribly difficult to be sure of that number.

I know some of the older people who have Gaelic don't come to the get-togethers or to a class. I also know of people who come to the millings who don't take part in the singing and don't ever speak in Gaelic, but they understand every word of the songs. Perhaps it's been so long since they spoke Gaelic that they no longer have confidence in their ability to speak it.

A learner I know spoke to a man from the North Shore in Gaelic once, expecting he'd have a little anyway. She found out he's fluent and she said to him that she didn't know he was full of Gaelic. He answered, "How couldn't I be? Wasn't I raised in it?" And he's only a bit over sixty years old.

There are some people who had lots of Gaelic in their youth who have lost it because of lack of use. I met a woman from Bay St. Lawrence who would only speak a little Gaelic to me, but who understood every word I spoke.

Another woman came to a class I had in Christmas Island who had spoken only Gaelic until she was seven years old, and only English after that. She didn't remember much, but after a few weeks she surpassed me in understanding and speech. It came back to her, and how many others are there like that?

There's another sad situation – those who were mocked in their youth in school ( an especially bad time ) because the rhythm of Gaelic was in their English speech, as it was very strongly in the speech of their parents for whom Gaelic was their first language. Because of this ridicule they won't admit to having the smallest syllable of Gaelic. But if you speak to them in Gaelic when they don't have time to think, you find out that they understand you!

There are people who have Gaelic who don't write it in the census because they don't think it's important, or they don't want to admit it, or they think they don't have enough Gaelic. In this situation, how can we be certain of the number of Gaelic speakers in Cape Breton?