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U of T Scarborough linguists have partnered with an Indigenous community member to bring the Munsee dialect back from the brink of extinction

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The Endangered Material Knowledge Programme gives grants to support the documentation of material knowledge systems that are under threat and in danger of disappearing. It also provides free access by stewarding that knowledge in an open access digital repository dedicated to its preservation.

Knowledge holders, practitioners, and scholars can apply for funds to support work that explores knowledge systems associated with the making, use, repair and re-purposing of material objects, spaces, architecture, performances and environments. EMKP strongly advocates for a working approach that centres community epistemologies, close collaborative working and celebration of the diverse knowledge networks that affect the material world.

The Programme was established in 2018 with funding from Arcadia - a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin - and is hosted by the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas at the British Museum.

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The Endangered Material Knowledge Programme gives grants to support the documentation of material knowledge systems that are under threat and in danger of disappearing. It also provides free access by stewarding that knowledge in an open access digital repository dedicated to its preservation.

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Before it disappears: recording endangered practices, skills and knowledge

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Before it disappears: recording endangered practices, skills and knowledge

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We humans like to make things. From lockdown DIY projects to spectacular feats of engineering, we are ingenious when it comes to designing and producing objects. We keep making variations on a theme to get the desired effect - like making adjustments to instruments to get the right sounds, or changes to a recipe to get the taste we're looking for. And we have even made things that make other things.

It is, however, more than just the love of making that keeps us going. We give objects meaning and value and they help us to explore and interact with the world and other people through the possibilities they open. Objects and the making of things, then, is about more than meets the eye. They help us understand and navigate the world we live in and are part and parcel of our pursuit of knowledge.

However, technological advances and global cultural interactions are re-shaping our world and pushing aside practices, skills and traditions that have taken centuries to form and perfect. Many aesthetics, tools and crafts are slowly being abandoned as knowledge is no longer transferred to younger generations. As a result, the diversity of customary skills, knowledge and practices is decreasing - sometimes disappearing altogether.

How can we keep skills and knowledge alive?

In 2018, to help preserve some of that knowledge, the British Museum with generous support from Arcadia - a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin - set up the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme, or EMKP for short. We're pleased to announce that EMKP has been awarded a generous grant from Arcadia which enables us to extend the project for a further seven years (2021-2028).

EMKP awards grants to projects that aim to document how things are made, their cultural-specific background and knowledge, as well as their traditions and practices. It promotes the use of sustainable digital recording techniques in ethnographic research, and as part of the programme, an online repository has been created where audio and video recordings, photographs, 3D models and other data will be made publicly accessible for people to use and study.

The timely and crucial grant we have received from the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme of the British Museum offers us the opportunity to create audio, audiovisual, documentary, and photographic data assets of this disappearing technological tradition to preserve the heritage resource for generations to come.
Bula Wayessa, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota - 2020 grantee

Here is a run-through of six current EMKP projects that showcase the traditional crafts and knowledge that are now being preserved for the future - ranging from elaborate Ghanaian gold to Japanese clothing made from paper.

In Ghana, power and status have been expressed through gold and gold ornamentation for centuries, and this practice has been a central element of Akan chiefdoms and kingdoms. Royalty commissioned goldsmiths to improve forging technology to create evermore elaborate ornamentation. Goldsmiths also produced jewellery for both elites and ordinary citizens to mark different life stages and milestones, creating an environment where artisans could thrive and imbue their gold objects with layers of symbolic meaning. You can see examples of the skills and creativity of the smiths in the Museum's collections of gold weights.

But as locally produced jewellery has become uncompetitive in the market, and as people shy away from traditional culture due to cheaper gilded alternatives and global cross-cultural interaction, the attitude towards local gold forging has changed - fewer people are interested in acquiring these skills and pursuing metalworking as a career. Working together with Agya Kwabena Tawiah, the goldsmith to the Asante royal court, Professor Kodzo Gavua and colleagues will document the remaining goldsmithing industry and the forging process. Their extensive archive will preserve the knowledge of how gold is transformed into ornaments with symbolic and aesthetic value.

Follow the full process in the video below. Find out more about the project.

Honey is one of, if not the, oldest food source of concentrated sugar and is globally valued as a remedy, for making alcohol, as a cooking ingredient, and a trading commodity. The millennia-long history of honey production is not only endangered because of the dying-off of bees. Changing ecologies and the (sometimes forced) disconnect between communities and their environments in which beekeeping was sustainably practiced are contributing factors.

In the Cherangani Hills in the west of Kenya, the Sengwer community's beekeeping practices were closely connected to the ecology of the Embobut forest and the steep slopes of the surrounding mountains, which have changed markedly over the last few decades due to an increase in agriculture. Kenyan and British researchers Sam Lunn-Rockliffe, Timothy Kipkeu Kiprutto and Joseph Kimutai will record local forms of ecological knowledge, focusing on the history of beekeeping, how it helped biodiversity and provided a sense of custodianship, as well as contributing to the diversity and knowledge of apiculture (beekeeping).

Watch how beekeepers char a beehive in the video below. Read more about this project.

The small coral atoll of Rowa in Vanuatu in the South Pacific was once the mint for shell money, or som, a currency that was used in a complex exchange system across northern Vanuatu. People would sail for hundreds of miles to exchange pigs, yams and other valuables for shell money. Som would then continue its journey between islands and it was used as part of ceremonies and to build relationships between communities and individuals.

My mother used to produce shell money. The stones they used are still here. We used the shell money to buy food and to pay the bride price. I paid my wife's bride price with shell money. This was before currency was introduced.
John Rah - project participant

While som continues to be used in ceremonies, the knowledge of making it was thought to have died out sometime in the 20th century. However, ni-Vanuatu community leaders have recently come across a small number of elders in the Banks Islands in the north of Vanuatu who continue to make them. This unique opportunity is a chance for a team of ni-Vanuatu and Australian researchers Thomas Dick, Sarah Doyle, Sandy Sur and Dely Roy Nalo to finally study the production and use of som, and understand the complexity of an exchange system that shaped travel and production for centuries.

Read more about this project.

Glassblowing and glass bead making was once a thriving craft in the medieval kingdom of Ile Ife in the south west of modern-day Nigeria, and could rival the copper-alloy casting and iron working for which the city is famous. Glass and glass beads were important trade items in the region, and the patron deity of glassmaking, Olokun, ensured that glass bead makers and traders would prosper.

Practiced since the 11th century, glass and glass bead making has now almost completely disappeared. The skills, practices and beliefs around the craft remain strong in the community, making it possible for researcher Babatunde Babalola and his colleagues to record bead making with the few remaining practitioners and understand how it connects to other beliefs and the archaeology of this major city.

Find out more about the project.

Paper may not seem like the best material to make clothing, but prepare and treat the fibres correctly and it makes a strong and durable fabric. It was first made by Buddhist monks in Japan at the end of the first millennium and was later worn by everyone, from elites to farmers.

Paper clothing has, however, slowly been replaced by cotton, wool and newer fabrics. Shiroishi, a small town in Japan's Miyagi prefecture in the north east of the country, was synonymous with paper textiles and paper clothing. Today, only four people continue to make sheets of specially treated handmade paper ( washi) and paper clothing ( kamiko). Researcher Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran will record the knowledge needed to make kamiko and create a library of swatches in order to preserve and disseminate the history and techniques of this disappearing practice.

Read more about this project.

EMKP also encourages researchers to include existing museum collections in their research to help illuminate and add context to objects that were acquired long ago. A Cambodian mouth harp ( Angkuoch) by an unknown maker and donated to the British Museum in 1966 now finally has the name of Mong Koeuy associated with it. Locals working with Catherine Grant and her colleagues from Cambodian Living Arts identified the unique style of the mouth harp made by Mong Koeuy and with the help of his family were able to find out the history of this particular object.

I am very happy that I get to share my knowledge about Angkuoch with other people. When I can demonstrate how to make Angkuoch, I am very excited. Extremely excited! I feel happy about this project because I think the research team will spread this information widely. To let other people know more about Angkuoch!
BIN Song, Angkuoch maker

In this short documentary by Catherine Grant, listen to a mouth harp being played and hear from the family of harp-maker Mong Koeuy about the instrument in the Museum's collection. Read more about the project.

EMKP's aim is to make the results of these projects available in perpetuity for the communities and researchers to consult, as well as making it possible for anyone with internet access to explore the global diversity of crafts and practices. Many projects will also help enliven museum collections across the world, imbuing static objects with beliefs, meanings, and heritage, demonstrating how they are made and used in everyday circumstances. You can read more about past, present and future projects on the dedicated EMKP website, as well as read, watch and listen to sources collected by researchers.

EMKP also provides new opportunities to explore what museums can be, what digital collections they can include, and how they engage with source communities and global audiences through new digital technologies. Through EMKP the British Museum can continue to share knowledge openly and continue to showcase the world's diversity.
Read more stories from the programme. If you're a practitioner or a researcher, you can find out more about how to get involved with the programme and apply for a grant to start an associated project.

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Before it disappears: recording endangered practices, skills and knowledge

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We humans like to make things. From lockdown DIY projects to spectacular feats of engineering, we are ingenious when it comes to designing and producing objects. We keep making variations on a theme to get the desired effect - like making adjustments to instruments to get the right sounds, or changes to a recipe to get the taste we're looking for.

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COMHARRADH NA CROISE
SIGN OF THE CROSS
An ainm an Athar, agus a Mhic, agus an Spioraid Naoimh. Amen

URNAIGH AN TIGHEARNA
A'PHAIDIR
THE LORD'S PRAYER
OUR FATHER
Ar n-Athair, a tha air neamh,
gum bu naomh a bhios t'ainm ;
gun tigeadh do rioghachd,
gun deanar do thoil air talamh
mar a thathas ga deanamh air neamh.
Thoir dhuinn an diugh ar n-aran lathail
math dhuinn ar fiachan,
mar a mhathas sinne do luchd ar fiach.
Agus na leig ann am buaireadh sinn.
Ach saor sinn bhon olc. Amen.

BEANNACHADH MOIRE
HAIL MARY
Failte dhut, a Mhoire,
tha thu lan de na grasan
tha an Tighearna maille riut
is beannaichte thu am measg nam mna,
agus is beannaichtc toradh do bhronn, Iosa.
A Naomh Mhoire, a Mhathair Dhe,
guidh' air ar sonne na peacaich
a nis agus aig uair ar bais. Amen.

GLOIR DON ATHAIR
GLORY BE TO THE FATHER
Gloir don Athair,
agus don Mhac,
agus don Spiorad Naomh.
Mar a bha, 's mar a tha, 's mar a bhitheas,
fad shaoghal nan saoghal. Amen.

TOBHARTAS MAIDNE
MORNING OFFERING
O Iosa, troimh chridhe gun smal Moire, tha mi a' tairgsinn Dhuit m'urnaighean, m'oibrichean, agus mo sholasan air an latha 'n diugh air son uile bheachdan Do chridhe uile-naomh, agus gu h-araid air son beachd ar n-athar naomh am Papa.

CREUD NAN OSTAL
APOSTLES' CREED
CREIDEAM ann an Dia, an t-Athair uile-chumhachdach, Cruthadair neimh agus talmhuinn. Agus ann an Iosa Criosda, 'aon Mhac-san, ar Tighearna ; a ghineadh leis an Spiorad Naomh, a rugadh le Moir' Oigh, a dh'fhuilig fo Phontius Pilat, a cheusadh, a fhuair bas, is a thiodhlaiceadh; a chaidh sios a dh'ifrinn, a dh'eirich an treas latha bho an mairbh; a chaidh suas air neimh. a tha na shuidhe air deas laimh Dhe an t-Athair uile-chumhachdach ; a sin thig e rithis a thoirt breitheanais air bheo is air mhairbh. Creideam anns an Spiorad Naomh,, an Eaglais naomh Chaitliceach, co-chomann nan Naomh, mathanas nam peacannan, aiseirigh na colainne, is a' bheatha shiorraidh. Amen.

GNIOMH AITHREACHAIS (GOIRID)
(ACT OF CONTRITION - SHORT)
O mo Dhia,
a chionns gu bheil thu cho math, tha mi duilich gun do pheacaich mi nad aghaidh, agus le comhnadh do ghrasan cha pheacaich mi tuilleadh. Amen.

FAILTE DHUT A BHANRUINN
HAIL HOLY QUEEN
Failte dhut a Bhanruinn, a Mhathair na trocaire, ar beatha ar solas, is ar dochas, failte ort. Riutsa tha sinne, sliochd seachranach Eubha, a togail ar gutha. Riutsa tha sinn ag osnaich, a caoidh is ag acain, ann an gleann so nan deur. Thoir, mata, iuchair nan gras, suil fhial oirne. Agus an deidh dhuinn a chein- thir seo fhagai1, feuch dhuinn toradh beannaichte do bhronn, losa. O Mhoire Oigh bhaidheil, ghradhach chaomh!
Guidh' air ar son, a Mhathair Naomh Dhe.
Los gun toill sinn gealladh Chriosda.
Amen.

SUB TUUM PRAESIDIUM
WE FLY TO THY PATRONAGE
Tha sinn a ruith fod dhion, a Mhathair naomh Dhe, na diult ar n-iarrtas an am ar feuma ; ach saor sinn daonnan bho gach cunnart, 'Oigh ghlormhor agus bheannaichte.

MEMORARE
CUIMHNEACH a Mhoir' Oigh uile chaomh, nach cualas riamh gun deachaidh aon sam bith a ruith fod dhion, a ghrios do chomhnadh, agus a dh'iarr t-eadarghuidhe, a threigsinn. A' glacail misniche is earbsa a seo tha mise 'Oigh nan oighean, a' ruith gad ionnsuidh, A Mhathair, gud ionnsaidh tha mi a tighinn, agus a caoidh mo pheacannan 'nad lathair. A Mhathair Iosa, na cuir suarach mo bhriathran, ach eisd gu trocaireach agus freagair m'achanaich. Amen.

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COMHARRADH NA CROISE SIGN OF THE CROSS An ainm an Athar, agus a Mhic, agus an Spioraid Naoimh. Amen URNAIGH AN TIGHEARNA A'PHAIDIR THE LORD'S PRAYER OUR FATHER Ar n-Athair, a tha air neamh, gum bu naomh a bhios t'ainm ; gun tigeadh do rioghachd, gun deanar do thoil air talamh mar a thathas ga deanamh air neamh.

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Gaelic song : Tony Cuffe : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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From the TV broadcast of the stage show There is a happy land. With Simon MacKenzie and Cathy Ann MacPhee. Part of the Raretunes Archive- see...

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The songs of the Gael : a collection of Gaelic songs : Macbean, Lachlan : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Songs of the Hebrides : Folk Songs, Scottish : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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A line drawing of the Internet Archive headquarters building façade.

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The Sea as an Emotional Landscape in Scottish Gaelic Song

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The Sea as an Emotional Landscape in Scottish Gaelic Song

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This is a preview. Log in through your library.

Journal Information

An annual publication containing selected papers from the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, an international conference on all aspects of Celtic Studies organized annually since 1980 by the graduate students in the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University.

Publisher Information

The Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University publishes the Proceedings of its annual colloquium. PHCC is distributed in print by Harvard University Press.

Rights & Usage

This item is part of a JSTOR Collection.
For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions
Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium © 2002

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The Sea as an Emotional Landscape in Scottish Gaelic Song on JSTOR

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This is a preview. Log in through your library. Journal Information An annual publication containing selected papers from the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, an international conference on all aspects of Celtic Studies organized annually since 1980 by the graduate students in the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University.

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History and Heritage of Scotland’s Seaweed Industry - Holley McCoy

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The audio material available on this website comes from three major collections, namely: The School of Scottish Studies (University of Edinburgh); The National Trust for Scotland's Canna Collection; and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal.

The School of Scottish Studies Archives is located at 29 George Square, Edinburgh

The majority of the recordings on this website are from the School of Scottish Studies Sound Archives at the University of Edinburgh. The School of Scottish Studies was set up in 1951 to collect, archive, research and publish material about the cultural life, folklore and traditional arts of Scotland. Oral content includes songs, stories, verses, customs, beliefs, biographical information, place names, local history and instrumental music. The recordings were made all over Scotland and its diaspora and, as a result, contain a diverse range of dialect and accents in Gaelic, Scots and English.

The early collectors, who included Hamish Henderson and Calum Iain Maclean, visited farming, fishing, and crofting communities and obtained information about their working and domestic lives, beliefs and customs. Urban life is also documented, with recollections of working in mills, schooling, street songs, and social activities. The oral tradition was rich among Scottish Travellers and this community was widely recorded by the School, singing songs, telling stories, and also talking about their way of life.

Instrumental music from the School includes an extensive range of recordings of individual pipers and their repertoires, different styles of fiddle music, ceilidh and dance band music; and accordion playing.

Not all material from the School is available on the website as cataloguing and permissions work is ongoing.

Curated Examples

John Lorne Campbell was the pioneer of the modern collection of Gaelic stories and songs. He and his wife, Margaret Fay Shaw, purchased the island of Canna in 1938 and together they amassed a collection of audio recordings, photographs, papers and publications which celebrate Gaelic culture and traditions.

There are around 2,000 items in the Canna Collection Sound Archive, with the earliest ones dating back to 1937. The collection consists of songs, tales and oral history from Gaelic speakers in Scotland and Nova Scotia, Canada. The Scottish recordings were primarily made in Barra, South Uist, Argyll and Canna.

The couple gifted Canna to National Trust for Scotland in 1981 and continued to live on the island until their deaths, leaving an internationally important legacy of Gaelic language and culture.

Curated Examples

National Mod recordings and recordings from some of BBC Radio nan Gàidheal's output make up the majority of the BBC ALBA content on the website, with the earliest Mod recordings going back to 1946.

Recordings from Radio nan Gàidheal programmes include a large number from 'Prògram Choinnich', a magazine-style programme in which Kenneth MacIver interviews guests on a diverse range of topical themes, many of which will become social history items for future generation

There are also recordings from the programme 'Dealan-dè' which features interviews with people on both topical and historical subjects. 'Dèanamaid Adhradh' is a series of church services of different denominations recorded in various parts of Scotland and broadcast on Radio nan Gàidheal.

Curated Examples

Margaret MacLeod Nicolson from Point in Lewis sings the waulking song ' Is e Mo Ghràdh na Gamhna Geala ' at the National Mod in Stirling in 1960.

Bowmore Gaelic Choir sings ' A Ghràidh an Tig Thu? ' at the National Mod in Edinburgh in 1960.

Kenneth MacIver interviews Dolina Wallace and Norman MacLean about Hallowe'en customs in days gone by, in an item from 'Prògram Choinnich' on Hallowe'en in 1994.

Lachlan MacDonald is interviewed by Katie Anne MacKenzie about his young days in St Kilda, in an episode of ' Dealan-dè ' from 1985.

This ' Dèanamaid Adhradh' service was recorded in Barra in 1997 and is led by Father Calum MacNeil.

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The audio material available on this website comes from three major collections, namely: The School of Scottish Studies (University of Edinburgh); The National Trust for Scotland's Canna Collection; and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal. The majority of the recordings on this website are from the School of Scottish Studies Sound Archives at the University of Edinburgh.

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Who was Angus Macleod?

Born in the then populous and overwhelmingly Gaelic-speaking but now almost deserted rural settlement of Calbost, Angus left school at 14. During his long life he was a crofter, seaman, Harris Tweed manufacturer, founder of the Scottish Crofting Union, and the driving force behind the memorials to the heroes of the Land Struggle. His passion was the history and culture of his people, many years before this became fashionable, and his collections of stories, objects, and recordings are a remarkable record of one man's vision and a most valuable resource for future generations.

What topics does the Archive cover?

It reflects Angus's encyclopaedic interest in crofting, fishing, genealogy, place-names, settlement history, the Clearances, the Land Struggle, ceilidh-house stories, and every facet of social, religious, and economic life which contributed to the rich Gaelic-speaking environment in which he was brought up. While much of the material is about South Lochs, the themes covered are of much wider relevance.

Who is the Archive for?

For everyone with an interest in the history and culture of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, whether as a resident, visitor, or researcher. The Archive simultaneously embodies the values and beliefs of a distinctive but rapidly changing way of life, while offering a unique resource for education and research in schools, colleges, and Universities. This website gives access to large parts of the Archive, making it available to all.

Type of material in the Archive. The Archive collection includes manuscripts, books, maps and charts, oral history records, videos, recordings of traditional music, and old photographs of island life. Much of the material is in Gaelic. The Calbost Collection of physical artefacts collected by Angus Macleod does not form part of the Archive and is currently on loan to the Museum in Stornoway.

Topics. The material in the Archive relates to a variety of subjects such as crofting history, genealogy, fishing, the tweed industry, local place-names, settlement history (including township records, the Clearances and Land Struggle), ceilidh-house stories, and every aspect of the social, religious and economic life of rural communities in Lewis during the 19th and 20th centuries. A catalogue of the Archive has been prepared.

Access. The Archive has been catalogued and made available for reference and research at the Ravenspoint Centre, Kershader, South Lochs, Lewis, where there is also a shop, Café, and hostel run by the local community. Visitors to the Archive and Ravenspoint Centre are welcome (phone 01851 880236). This website has significantly widened access to the Archive. It is used by schools, colleges and universities as well as for private research.

Organisational Arrangements. The Archive is owned by Angus Macleod's family, who have asked Comunn Eachdraidh na Pairc (the local historical society for Pairc) and The Islands Book Trust to oversee the conservation of and public access to the Archive. Funding for the project so far has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (the Western Isles Council), and HIE Innse Gall (formerly Western Isles Enterprise). The various stages of the project have created several full-time and part-time posts based at the Ravenspoint Centre, and there is substantial involvement by the local community on a voluntary basis, including a significant number of Gaelic speakers. The Archive project has also published several books and prepared exhibitions based on the Archive, arranged Gaelic story-telling evenings and other events, and organises an annual Angus Macleod memorial lecture.

Cò bh' ann an Aonghas Macleòid?

Rugadh Aonghas ann an Calbost, baile dùthchail a bha an uairsin dlùth le luchd-bruidhne na Gàidhlig ach a tha an-diugh faisg air a bhith bàn. Dh'fhàg e an sgoil aig 14 bliadhna a dh'aois. Rè a bheatha faide, bha e na chroitear, na mharaiche agus na shaothraiche clò-mhòir. B' esan a chuir Aonad nan Croitearan air bhonn agus a stiùir iomairt Cuimneachain nan Gaisgeach. Bha e dìorrasach a thaobh eachdraidh agus cultar a mhuinntir fhèin, fada mus robh sin san fhasan. Tha na sgeulachdan, nithean agus clàir-fhuaim a chruinnich e a' toirt dhuinn cunntas sònraichte air lèirsinn aon duine agus stòras luachmhor dha na ginealaichean ri tighinn.

Dè na cuspairean a th' anns an tasglainn?

Tha an tasglann a' taisbeanadh na h-ùidh farsaing a bh' aig Aonghas ann an croitearachd, iasgach, sloinntearachd, ainmean àite, eachdraidh tuineachaidh, eachdraidh nam Fuadaichean, Strì an Fhearainn, agus sgeulachdan an taigh-chèilidh. Leis an fhìrinn innse, ghabh e ùidh anns a h-uile taobh air beatha shòisealta, beatha chreidmhich agus beatha eaconamaich nan daoine a bha a' fuireach taobh a-staigh na h-àrainn beartaich Gàidhlig anns an do thogadh e. Agus ged is ann mu Thaobh Deas nan Loch a tha a' chuid mhòr den stuth a tha am broinn na tasglainn, tha e buntainneach dha ceàrnaidhean eile den Ghàidhealtachd agus fiù 's dha àiteachan nas fhaide air falbh.

Cò dha a tha an tasglann?

'S ann dhan a h-uile duine aig a bheil ùidh ann an eachdraidh agus cultar Gàidhealtachd na h-Alba a tha i, eadar gu bheil iad nan luchd-còmhnaidh, nan cèilichean no nan rannsaichean. Air an dàrna làimh tha an tasglann a' cur an cèill luachan agus chreideamhan a tha ceangailte ri dòigh-beatha shònraichte a bha ag atharrachadh gu luath, agus air an làimh eile tha i a' tairgse goireas gun shamhail dha sgoiltean, colaisdean agus oilthighean airson foghlaim agus rannsachaidh. Tha cuid mhath den tasglainn fosgailte dhan a h-uile duine air an làrach-lìn seo.

Na th' anns an tasglainn. Tha làmh-sgrìobhainnean, leabhraichean, mapaichean, clàir bheul-aithris, bhideothan, clàir chiùil thradaiseanta, agus seann dealbhan-camara a tha a' taisbeanadh beatha eileanach uile rim faighinn am broinn na tasglainn. 'S ann sa Ghàidhlig a tha cuid den stuth seo. Chan eil Cruinneachadh Chalboist, cruinneachadh de dh'fhuighill a chaidh an tional le Aonghas Macleòid, na phàirt den tasglainn. Tha an cruinneachadh seo air a thoirt an iasad do Mhuseum nan Eilean ann an Steòrnabhagh.

Cuspairean. Tha an stuth anns an tasglainn a' buntainn ri iomadh cuspair, mar eachdraidh croitearachd, shloinntearachd, iasgach, ghnìomhachas a' chlò-mhòir, ainmean àite na sgìre, eachdraidh tuineachaidh (a' gabhail a-steach clàir bhailtean, nam Fuadaichean, agus Strì an Fhearainn), sgeulachdan às an taigh-chèilidh, agus a h-uile taobh air beatha shòisealta, beatha chreidmhich agus beatha eaconomaich choimhearsnachdan ann an Leòdhas anns an 19mh agus an 20mh linn. Tha catalog na tasglainn ri fhaotainn.

A' tadhal air an tasglainn. Gus fiosrachadh a lorg no rannsachadh a dhèanamh, faodar tadhal air an tasglainn aig Ionad Rubha an Fhithich, Cearsiadar, Taobh a Deas nan Loch, Leòdhas (fòn 01851 880236), far a bheil cuideachd bùth, cafaidh agus ostail air an cur air dòigh leis a' choimhearsnachd ionadail. A bharrachd air sin, tha an làrach-lìn seo a' toirt cothrom dha daoine air feadh an t-saoghail an tasglann a chur gu feum mar thùs fiosrachaidh no mar ghoireas rannsachaidh-mar a tha sgoiltean, colaisdean, oilthighean agus sgoilearan neo-eisimileach air a bhith a' dèanamh.

Eagrachadh. 'S ann aig teaghlach Aonghais Mhicleòid a tha an tasglann, ach tha an teaghlach air iarraidh air Comunn Eachdraidh na Pàirce agus Urras Leabhraichean nan Eilean uallach a ghabhail airson a gleidheadh agus a fosgladh dhan mhòr-shluagh. Gu ruige seo, fhuaras taic airgid bho na buidhnean a leanas: Maoin Dualchais a' Chrannchur Nàiseanta, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, agus Iomairt na Gàidhealtachd agus nan Eilean (IGE) Innse Gall. Aig gach ìre den phròiseact, chaidh dreuchdan làn-ùine no pàirt-ùine a chruthachadh, suidhichte ann an Ionad Rubha an Fhithich, agus tha a' choimhearsnachd ionadail air a bhith an sàs gu saor-thoileach anns a' phròiseact cuideachd. Tha pròiseact na tasglainn air leabhraichean fhoillseachadh agus air taisbeanaidhean, feasgairean seanchais agus tachartasan eile a chur air dòigh. Thathar cuideachd a' cumail Òraid Chuimhneachaidh Aonghais Mhicleòid a h-uile bliadhna.

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Angus Macleod Archive - About the Archive

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Born in the then populous and overwhelmingly Gaelic-speaking but now almost deserted rural settlement of Calbost, Angus left school at 14. During his long life he was a crofter, seaman, Harris Tweed manufacturer, founder of the Scottish Crofting Union, and the driving force behind the memorials to the heroes of the Land Struggle.

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Bagpipe History - Scotia Pipers Scotia Pipers

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The Bagpipe is one of the most ancient instruments in the world, its history spans back to the beginnings of civilization. Contrary to some people's belief, the Bagpipes were not first heard in Scotland. No one knows for certain where the history of the Bagpipe began.

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Gaelic History / Highland Council Gaelic Toolkit / The Highland Council / Welcome to Northern Potential - HighlandLife.net

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A single source for information on, and discussion about, living and working in the Highlands of Scotland, part of the Northern Periphery.

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01 An Cailín Aerach (The Airy [Light-Hearted] Girl) - Máire Ní Shúilleabháin, Ballylicky, Co. Cork

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Welcome to the official website of Fèisean nan Gàidheal, the organisation which supports the development of community-based Gaelic arts tuition festivals throughout Scotland. You can see where all of the fèisean are taking place by clicking here.

Due to the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) all Fèisean nan Gàidheal staff are working from home. Please use Skype, email and mobile phone to contact them meantime.

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Welcome to Fèisean nan Gàidheal - Fèisean nan Gàidheal

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Welcome to the official website of Fèisean nan Gàidheal, the organisation which supports the development of community-based Gaelic arts tuition festivals throughout Scotland. You can see where all of the fèisean are taking place by clicking here. Due to the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) all Fèisean nan Gàidheal staff are working from home.

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Other songs include more popular, less exalted anecdotes or evocations of wild or domestic animals and birds. "The Song of the Owl" (c.1600) by Domhnall mac Fhionnlaigh nan Dàn is a haunting expression of the idea of unity existing between land, people, all living creatures, nature and culture. The Gaelic word for this is "dùthchas".

In the poem, the owl moves through the air, touching on tree after tree, listening to their murmuring, drinking from rivers and circling the mountains, becoming a connecting witness of land, people, nature, generations living across history and conflict.

READ MORE: How Gaelic legends have inspired great Celtic artists

So the poet and the owl become almost indistinguishable. The owl's inheritance is also the human inheritance, contributing to a shared identity, a creation of culture evoked as the verses are sung: this is a musical composition, a confluence of words, sounds and movement.

The importance of this concept of the connectedness and inter-relationships between land, people and culture, held in the word "dùthchas", cannot be overestimated. It prefigures our 21st-century idea of the need for ecological balance and care and it helps us read more deeply into the literature of Scotland and the social traditions from which it arises.

One example: each of the letters of the Gaelic alphabet is associated with a tree name: Ailm (elm) for A, Beith (birch) for B, Coll or Calltain (hazel) for C, and so on. Like the Scots language, Gaelic puts your body to work as well as your mind. Your intellect is bound up with your physical being: throat, muscles, saliva and lips combine with synapses, insight and structuring intelligence.

Nobody should underestimate a language that has a word like "Bruchlas", meaning the fluttering sound birds make when they land in trees. This is visceral understanding, similar, perhaps, to "twinkling" or "splash" but different. It has its own music. Ignorance of Gaelic is merely an invitation to admit your limitations and try to learn more. And this kind of knowledge always brings profit to the wise.

Up until the 18th century, many Gaelic poets were highly trained and performed a defined social function in Scotland and Ireland, attached to clan chiefs and working through generations in a hereditary role, employing a repertoire of poetic forms, devices and phrases.

READ MORE: Witchcraft, fairies and folklore ... a journey to the Gaelic otherworld

These poets were maintained by the aristocracy (using that term broadly to mean minor or great lairds or chiefs and their families). The poets' job was to praise or dispraise and to act more broadly as civil servants. Among their familiar genres were eulogies, laments, satires and condemnations. These had serious purpose, defining what was socially endorsed, to be celebrated, grieved for, opposed or despised.

They were not merely entertainment (though they had to catch your attention). They were essential to the values and worldview of Gaelic-speaking society. The satires were believed capable of causing physical disfigurement or injury.

In the 17th century, these poets' hereditary places were being taken by untrained poets and by the early 18th century, they had gone.

There were also other poets, however. Some were untrained aristocrats, some were the composers of the ballads of the Féinn and some, predominantly women, were composers of work songs. Women were not prominent among the highly trained bards whose work was routinely put into writing, but were prominent in every other category.

The hierarchy was both social and linguistic, placing the work of the trained poets high and the work songs low. Written, "approved" forms were held in common in Scotland and Ireland. Scottish Gaelic vernacular poetry was not normally written down until the 18th century: the more demotic the work, the more likely it was to be a product of verbal virtuosity, and the less likely to be recorded.

But there are borders and exclusions everywhere: The Book of the Dean of Lismore includes misogyny and obscenity but not work songs; the anthologies of the late 18th and early 19th centuries include ballads of the Féinn but exclude work songs. In 1900, Alexander Carmichael's Carmina Gadelica included work songs but when the work stopped being carried out communally, the songs were lost. All we can retrieve are fragments.

It would be wrong not to emphasise that both women and men composed and created songs and poems in the Gaelic tradition but it would be equally wrong not to acknowledge that there were these distinctions, hierarchies and priorities of function, social recognition and practice.

And material has been lost everywhere. When a culture is under sustained siege on all fronts, reliance on manuscript tradition is no more a guarantee of survival than reliance on oral tradition.

One of the major poets of the 17th century is Màiri nighean Alasdair Ruaidh (c.1615-c.1707), or Mary MacLeod. She was born at Rodel on Harris and spent most of her life at Dunvegan on Skye, in the MacLeod chieftain's household.

READ MORE: From tender intensity to robust ribaldry: The Gaelic literary tradition

For a time she was exiled by her chief to Mull, perhaps for giving too much praise to his relative, Sir Norman MacLeod of Bernera. She was afterwards recalled to Dunvegan and died there. She is known as one of the more "personal" Gaelic poets emerging in the 17th century, who eventually replaced the classical Gaelic bards. Even so, her poems extol the virtues of her clan, the MacLeods and their heroism, including deeply-felt elegies at their passing and celebrations of love of family.

Essential to our understanding of the whole period is Gàir nan Clàrsach / The Harps' Cry: An Anthology of 17th Century Gaelic Poetry, edited by Colm Ò Baoill with translations by Meg Bateman (1994).

This gives us a sense of a coherent tradition in all its complexity. And this tradition was broken in the wake of the Jacobite risings in the first half of the 18th century.

You might say that the battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715 was the beginning of the end, and Culloden in 1746 the end of the end.

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In Gaelic, 'dúthchas' brings together understanding of land, people and culture

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Other songs include more popular, less exalted anecdotes or evocations of wild or domestic animals and birds. "The Song of the Owl" (c.1600) by Domhnall mac Fhionnlaigh nan Dàn is a haunting expression of the idea of unity existing between land, people, all living creatures, nature and culture.

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Women and Gaelic storytelling in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland

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Women and Gaelic storytelling in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland

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Parker, Isla (2022) 'Muc Dhearg!' ors' ise: Women and Gaelic storytelling in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland c.1850-c.1980. MRes thesis, University of Glasgow.

Full text available as:

Abstract

This study explores the hitherto under-researched role of women within the Gàidhlig storytelling traditions of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland between c.1850 and c.1980. Drawing upon secondary sources, original audio material, and interviews with former collectors, this study will examine women's role in and relationship to traditional storytelling events such as the "taigh-cèilidh" and draw attention to the lives and repertoires of eight women storytellers recorded by the School of Scottish Studies (est. 1951) over the time period researched. In so doing, this study demonstrates for the first time the historical importance of women's participation in Gaelic storytelling practice throughout the Outer Hebrides.

Adopting a feminist approach, this study will provide an in-depth analysis of two tales recited by Gaelic women storytellers in the twentieth-century, Peigidh NicDhòmhnaill (Peggy MacDonald) originally from South Uist and Anna NicIain (Annie Johnston) from Barra. Much of the scholarship to date has either omitted or missed the facts of NicDhòmhnaill's familial relations. But NicDhòmhnaill was the sister of celebrated tradition bearer Aonghas 'Beag' Mac 'IllFhialain (Angus MacLellan). This study will make use of these familial relations by comparing the siblings' versions of the same tale and thus demonstrate the value of recognising and utilising women's stories as a source for research. Throughout, this study aims to contribute to a greater awareness and more accurate appraisal of Highland women's role in the oral literature traditions of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Gaelic storytelling culture.

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'Muc Dhearg!' ors' ise: Women and Gaelic storytelling in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland c.1850-c.1980

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Parker, Isla (2022) 'Muc Dhearg!' ors' ise: Women and Gaelic storytelling in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland c.1850-c.1980. MRes thesis, University of Glasgow. Full text available as: This study explores the hitherto under-researched role of women within the Gàidhlig storytelling traditions of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland between c.1850 and c.1980.

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DASG: Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic

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DASG: Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic

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DASG - Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic

Language, interviews

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Scottish Gaelic belongs to the Celtic family of languages and, being of the 'Q' Celtic branch, is closely related to Irish Gaelic and Manx. The other Celtic languages of Welsh, Breton and Cornish, which belong to the 'P' Celtic branch, are more distant cousins.

Settlers brought Gaelic to Scotland from Antrim in Ireland over 1500 years ago and it quickly spread from its initial base in what is now known as Argyllshire. At one time Gaelic was the language of the Scottish court and of the majority of the country's population. Very few parts of Scotland, notably Caithness and the Northern Isles, were not Gaelic speaking at one time or another and placenames of recognisably Gaelic origin abound even in districts where the language was last spoken centuries ago.

But Gaelic began to lose ground in the early Middle Ages as the Scots language made progress in south-east Scotland. Gaelic continued to flourish in the Highlands and Islands, particularly during the heyday of the Lordship of the Isles in the 14 & 15th centuries. But as the power and influence of the Lords of the Isles declined, Gaelic's status also weakened. The Statutes of Iona, enacted by the Scottish Parliament in the early 17th century, even went to the lengths of justifying its measures to undermine the language on the grounds that Gaelic in itself was one of the "chief causes of barbarity" in the Highlands and Islands.

Economic hardship in the late 18th and 19th centuries resulted in both forced and voluntary emigration from the north of Scotland which meant that many thousands of Gaelic speakers left for the industrialising Lowlands or for the New World. This, together with factors such as the failure to give Gaelic its proper place when universal education was established in the late 19th century, caused the number of Gaelic speakers to decline. While Gaelic contacted both in numerical and geographic terms in its native country, the numbers speaking the language in Canada actually rose, due to the influx of so many emigrant Gaels. There remains a Gaelic-speaking community in Cape Breton and while their numbers remain dangerously low, its impact nationally and internationally in terms of music, song and the arts is considerable.

Remarkably after centuries of neglect repression, Gaelic is still spoken by around 65,000 people in Scotland. It is strongest in the Western Isles but there are substantial Gaelic communities elsewhere in the Highlands & Islands and in the nation's cities.

Gaelic is currently enjoying a revival in its fortunes with more interest being shown in the language and its health that at any other time. Crucial to supporting this revival have been developments in education and in promoting Gaelic culture. Gaelic playgroups and Gaelic-medium education at both primary and secondary levels have undergone unprecedented growth in many areas of Scotland. Gaelic is increasingly used on road signs notices and in advertisements, and with the setting up of a fund to provide a Gaelic television service in 1992; more Gaelic television and radio programmes are now available than in the past. At the same time there has been a healthy and growing interest in Gaelic music and arts and such organisations as Fèisean nan Gàidheal, Ceòlas and the Blas Festival have been at the forefront of raising awareness of and skills in Gaelic traditional music and songs. The establishment of Bòrd na Gàidhlig (The Gaelic Board) to promote Gaelic both in Scotland and around the world builds on the work being done in this field by such bodies as An Comunn Gàidhealach (The Gaelic Association), Comunn na Gàidhlig (The Gaelic Council) and many local authorities including Highland Council.

Gaelic has been spoken in Scotland for more than sixty generations and the current generation of Gaels is united in its resolve to ensure that Gaelic remains a vital and vibrant language of the community.

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Scottish Gaelic belongs to the Celtic family of languages and, being of the 'Q' Celtic branch, is closely related to Irish Gaelic and Manx. The other Celtic languages of Welsh, Breton and Cornish, which belong to the 'P' Celtic branch, are more distant cousins.

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The term 'cultural heritage' has changed content considerably in recent decades, partially owing to the instruments developed by UNESCO. Cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.

While fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization. An understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities helps with intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life.

The importance of intangible cultural heritage is not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next. The social and economic value of this transmission of knowledge is relevant for minority groups and for mainstream social groups within a State, and is as important for developing States as for developed ones.

Infokit 2011 - "What is intangible cultural heritage?"
© UNESCO

Intangible cultural heritage is:

Traditional, contemporary and living at the same time: intangible cultural heritage does not only represent inherited traditions from the past but also contemporary rural and urban practices in which diverse cultural groups take part;

Inclusive: we may share expressions of intangible cultural heritage that are similar to those practised by others. Whether they are from the neighbouring village, from a city on the opposite side of the world, or have been adapted by peoples who have migrated and settled in a different region, they all are intangible cultural heritage: they have been passed from one generation to another, have evolved in response to their environments and they contribute to giving us a sense of identity and continuity, providing a link from our past, through the present, and into our future. Intangible cultural heritage does not give rise to questions of whether or not certain practices are specific to a culture. It contributes to social cohesion, encouraging a sense of identity and responsibility which helps individuals to feel part of one or different communities and to feel part of society at large;

Representative: intangible cultural heritage is not merely valued as a cultural good, on a comparative basis, for its exclusivity or its exceptional value. It thrives on its basis in communities and depends on those whose knowledge of traditions, skills and customs are passed on to the rest of the community, from generation to generation, or to other communities;

Community-based: intangible cultural heritage can only be heritage when it is recognized as such by the communities, groups or individuals that create, maintain and transmit it - without their recognition, nobody else can decide for them that a given expression or practice is their heritage.

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UNESCO - What is Intangible Cultural Heritage?

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The term 'cultural heritage' has changed content considerably in recent decades, partially owing to the instruments developed by UNESCO. Cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festi...

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The oral traditions and expressions domain encompasses an enormous variety of spoken forms including proverbs, riddles, tales, nursery rhymes, legends, myths, epic songs and poems, charms, prayers, chants, songs, dramatic performances and more. Oral traditions and expressions are used to pass on knowledge, cultural and social values and collective memory. They play a crucial part in keeping cultures alive.

Some types of oral expression are common and can be used by entire communities while others are limited to particular social groups, only men or women, perhaps, or only the elderly. In many societies, performing oral traditions is a highly specialized occupation and the community holds professional performers in the highest regard as guardians of collective memory. Such performers can be found in communities all over the world. While poets and storytellers in non-Western societies such as the griots and dyelli from Africa are well known, there is also a rich oral tradition in Europe and North America. In Germany and the USA, for example, there are hundreds of professional storytellers.

Hudhud chants of the Ifugao Read more on the element
© Renato S. Rastrollo / NCCA -ICH /UNESCO

Because they are passed on by word of mouth, oral traditions and expressions often vary significantly in their telling. Stories are a combination - differing from genre to genre, from context to context and from performer to performer - of reproduction, improvisation and creation. This combination makes them a vibrant and colourful form of expression, but also fragile, as their viability depends on an uninterrupted chain passing traditions from one generation of performers to the next.

Although language underpins the intangible heritage of many communities, the protection and preservation of individual languages is beyond the scope of the 2003 Convention, though they are included in Article 2 as a means of transmitting intangible cultural heritage. Different languages shape how stories, poems and songs are told, as well as affecting their content. The death of a language inevitably leads to the permanent loss of oral traditions and expressions. However, it is these oral expressions themselves and their performance in public that best help to safeguard a language rather than dictionaries, grammars and databases. Languages live in songs and stories, riddles andrhymes and so the protection of languages and the transmission of oral traditions and expressions are very closely linked.

Palestinian Hikaye Read more on the element
© Rafi Safieh

Like other forms of intangible cultural heritage, oral traditions are threatened by rapid urban isation, large-scale migration, industrialisation and environmental change. Books, newspapers and magazines, radio, television and the Interne can have an especially damaging effect on oral traditions and expressions. Modern mass media may significantly alter or over replace traditional forms of oral expression. Epic poems that once took several days to recite in full may be reduced to just a few hours and traditional courtship songs that were sung before marriage may be replaced by CDs or digital music files.

The most important part of safeguarding oral traditions and expressions is maintaining their every day role in society. It is also essential that opportunities for knowledge to be passed from person-to-person survive; chances for elders to interact with young people and pass on stories in homes and schools, for example. Oral tradition often forms an important part of festive and cultural celebrations and these events may need to be promoted and new contexts, such as storytelling festivals, encouraged to allow traditional creativity to find new means of expression. In the spirit of the 2003 Convention, safeguarding measures should focus on oral traditions and expressions as processes, where communities are free to explore their cultural heritage, rather than as products.

Communities, researchers and institutions may also use information technology to help safeguard the full range and richness of oral traditions, including textual variations and different styles of performance. Unique expressive features, such as intonation and a much larger number of varying styles, can now be recorded as audio or video, as can interactions between performers and audiences and non-verbal story elements including gestures and mimicry. Mass media and communication technologies can be used to preserve and even strengthen oral traditions and expressions by broadcasting recorded performances both to their communities of origin and to a wider audience.

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UNESCO - Oral traditions and expressions including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage

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The oral traditions and expressions domain encompasses an enormous variety of spoken forms including proverbs, riddles, tales, nursery rhymes, legends, myths, epic songs and poems, charms, prayers, chants, songs, dramatic performances and more. Oral traditions and expressions are used to pass on knowledge, cultural and social values and collective memory.