Gaelic broadcasting in Scotland
Encyclopedia
Gaelic broadcasting in Scotland is a developing area of the media in Scotland which deals with broadcasts given in Scottish Gaelic and has important links with the efforts of Gaelic revival in Scotland. As well as being informative, Gaelic broadcasting in Scotland has acquired some symbolic importance. Whilst opinion polls show that the vast majority of Gaels
feel they have been ill-served by broadcasting media
, Scotland now has Gaelic broadcasting all over Scotland both on television and radio.
radio broadcast in the Gaelic language was aired throughout Scotland
on Sunday 2 December 1923; this was a 15-minute religious address by Rev. John Bain, recorded in the High United Free Church in Aberdeen
. Two weeks later, a recital of Gaelic singing was broadcast, though it was introduced in English
.
The first regular programme was singer Neil MacLean's Sgeulachdan agus Oran ('Stories and songs'), broadcast from the Aberdeen studio. The first Gaelic radio play, entitled Dunach, was aired in 1933. It is perhaps indicative of the status of Gaelic broadcasting at this time that the producer of Dunach knew no Gaelic.
In 1934 a series of lessons for Gaelic learners was broadcast. In 1936, Scotland's first outside broadcast was a Gaelic service from Iona Abbey
. In 1939 a weekly Gaelic news review was launched.
In 1935, Hugh MacPhee was appointed head of the BBC's first Gaelic department, which moved to Glasgow in 1938; this seems to have been the first attempt to put Gaelic broadcasting on a serious footing.
In 1940, An Comunn Gàidhealach
requested an increase of output to two news programmes and a children's programme each week. This was refused, which resulted in questions being raised in the House of Commons
.
, Finlay J. Macdonald
(later founder of Gairm
) joined Hugh MacPhee in the Glasgow
studios; he was replaced in 1954 by Fred Macaulay. With two full-time producers, the regular programming was expanded to 90 minutes per week. There was a Friday evening news slot which George Orwell
, writing at that time in Jura
, criticised for its "amateurishness". A number of radio plays were produced, including An Tunnag Fhiadhaich, a translation by Lachlan MacKinnon of Henrik Ibsen
's The Wild Duck (1951).
In August 1957, a funding crisis resulted in the weekly news programme being cut back to once a month, but the weekly slot was reinstated as a result of strong protests from listeners. At this point, the first attempt at audience research was conducted, and indicated that a huge majority of bilingual Scots preferred to hear the news in Gaelic, and also that many learners of the language valued Gaelic broadcasts.
. As with radio, Gaelic TV broadcasting began with Gaelic songs introduced in English, such as Ceòl nan Gaidheal ('Music of the Gaels'), introduced by James Shaw Grant
(1962). The first genuine Gaelic TV programme was in the light entertainment category: Se Ur Beatha ('You're welcome') in 1964. The first current affairs television series, Bonn Comhraidh, was launched in 1970. Gaelic schools programmes began in 1975. The first Gaelic children's TV programme, Bzzz was aired in 1981, followed in 1982 by the first programme for pre-school children, Mag is Mog. The pre-school "classic" Dòtaman
was broadcast from 1985.
In 1976, BBC Radio Highland began broadcasting from Inverness
.
In 1979, BBC Radio nan Eilean opened in Stornoway
with Radio nan Gaidheal starting in October 1985.
years saw an increase in funding for Gaelic broadcasting. This was largely because of Scottish Secretary
George Younger's
personal enthusiasm for the Gaelic community.
resulted in policies favourable to Gaelic generally, broadcasting remains the responsibility of Westminster.
. BBC Alba is a joint venture channel between the BBC
and MG Alba. It is the first channel to be delivered under a BBC licence by a partnership. It broadcasts for up to seven hours a day in the evening. BBC Alba is broadcast on Freeview as well as satellite and cable television providers.
is the most widely broadcast Scottish Gaelic radio station and is available on FM frequencies throughout Scotland; webcast on the BBC Website; and on cable and satellite channels in the United Kingdom. Gaelic language programmes are broadcast during the day from Monday to Saturday and the channel joins BBC Radio Scotland
after closing transmission. Gaelic and bi-lingual programmes also feature on several north-west coast local radio stations, including Two Lochs Radio
, Isles FM
and Cuillin FM
. A bi-lingual Scottish Pop Chart show, produced to commission by MFR (Moray Firth Radio) in Inverness is also broadcast each week on several of these stations.
Among the early BBC TV courses for beginners' Gaelic was Can Seo
(1979). The current series for beginners is Speaking our Language
, which is now repeated regularly on BBC Alba
.
With the spread of Gaelic-medium units in primary schools
, attended also by children from English-speaking households, there was a need for education series aimed at children in the early stages of immersion
-phase language-learning: Baile Mhuilinn (TV) and Fiream Faram (Radio) both appeared in 1988.
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
feel they have been ill-served by broadcasting media
Scottish media
Scottish media has a long and distinct history. Scotland has a wide range of different types and quality of media.-Television:BBC Scotland runs two national television stations...
, Scotland now has Gaelic broadcasting all over Scotland both on television and radio.
Early history
The first BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio broadcast in the Gaelic language was aired throughout Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on Sunday 2 December 1923; this was a 15-minute religious address by Rev. John Bain, recorded in the High United Free Church in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. Two weeks later, a recital of Gaelic singing was broadcast, though it was introduced in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The first regular programme was singer Neil MacLean's Sgeulachdan agus Oran ('Stories and songs'), broadcast from the Aberdeen studio. The first Gaelic radio play, entitled Dunach, was aired in 1933. It is perhaps indicative of the status of Gaelic broadcasting at this time that the producer of Dunach knew no Gaelic.
In 1934 a series of lessons for Gaelic learners was broadcast. In 1936, Scotland's first outside broadcast was a Gaelic service from Iona Abbey
Iona Abbey
Iona Abbey is located on the Isle of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland. It is one of the oldest and most important religious centres in Western Europe. The abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland and marks the foundation of a monastic...
. In 1939 a weekly Gaelic news review was launched.
In 1935, Hugh MacPhee was appointed head of the BBC's first Gaelic department, which moved to Glasgow in 1938; this seems to have been the first attempt to put Gaelic broadcasting on a serious footing.
In 1940, An Comunn Gàidhealach
An Comunn Gàidhealach
An Comunn Gàidhealach , literally The Gaelic Association) is an organisation in Scotland which seeks to promote Scottish Gaelic language and culture, following in the footsteps of the Gaelic Athletic Association or GAA in Ireland....
requested an increase of output to two news programmes and a children's programme each week. This was refused, which resulted in questions being raised in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
.
The post-war years
After the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Finlay J. Macdonald
Finlay J. MacDonald
Finlay J MacDonald was a Scottish journalist and radio and television producer and writer.Born and raised on Harris, Outer Hebrides, and a native Gaelic language speaker, was an important figure in Gaelic radio and television broadcasting, founding the Gaelic Drama Association...
(later founder of Gairm
Gairm
Gairm was a Scottish Gaelic language quarterly magazine, founded in 1951 by Derick Thomson, and Finlay J. MacDonald . Its first issue was published in Autumn 1952. MacDonald served as an editor until 1964; Thomson remained present for decades until it ceased publication in 2004, producing just over...
) joined Hugh MacPhee in the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
studios; he was replaced in 1954 by Fred Macaulay. With two full-time producers, the regular programming was expanded to 90 minutes per week. There was a Friday evening news slot which George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, writing at that time in Jura
Jura, Scotland
Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, situated adjacent and to the north-east of Islay. Part of the island is designated as a National Scenic Area. Until the twentieth century Jura was dominated - and most of it was eventually owned - by the Campbell clan of Inveraray Castle on Loch...
, criticised for its "amateurishness". A number of radio plays were produced, including An Tunnag Fhiadhaich, a translation by Lachlan MacKinnon of Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
's The Wild Duck (1951).
In August 1957, a funding crisis resulted in the weekly news programme being cut back to once a month, but the weekly slot was reinstated as a result of strong protests from listeners. At this point, the first attempt at audience research was conducted, and indicated that a huge majority of bilingual Scots preferred to hear the news in Gaelic, and also that many learners of the language valued Gaelic broadcasts.
Early television and radio
Because few areas of the West Highlands and virtually none of the islands could receive television signals before the early 1960s, Gaelic TV was at first not an issue, though there had been coverage of the ModRoyal National Mod
The Royal National Mod is the annual national mod, a festival of Scottish Gaelic song, arts and culture.The Mod is run by An Comunn Gàidhealach , and includes competitions and awards.-History:...
. As with radio, Gaelic TV broadcasting began with Gaelic songs introduced in English, such as Ceòl nan Gaidheal ('Music of the Gaels'), introduced by James Shaw Grant
James Shaw Grant
James Shaw Grant was a writer and journalist from the Isle of Lewis. He became editor of the Stornoway Gazette in 1932 following on from his father. In 1956 he broadcast A Gaelic capital on BBC Scotland, an audio tour of Stornoway...
(1962). The first genuine Gaelic TV programme was in the light entertainment category: Se Ur Beatha ('You're welcome') in 1964. The first current affairs television series, Bonn Comhraidh, was launched in 1970. Gaelic schools programmes began in 1975. The first Gaelic children's TV programme, Bzzz was aired in 1981, followed in 1982 by the first programme for pre-school children, Mag is Mog. The pre-school "classic" Dòtaman
Dotaman
Dòtaman was the first Scottish Gaelic children's TV programme for pre-schoolers. It began 17 October 1985 and was written by and starred Donnie Macleod, formerly of Na h-Oganaich.-Hats:...
was broadcast from 1985.
In 1976, BBC Radio Highland began broadcasting from Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
.
In 1979, BBC Radio nan Eilean opened in Stornoway
Stornoway
Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...
with Radio nan Gaidheal starting in October 1985.
Conservative policies 1979-97
The ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
years saw an increase in funding for Gaelic broadcasting. This was largely because of Scottish Secretary
Secretary of State for Scotland
The Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...
George Younger's
George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie
George Kenneth Hotson Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie KT KCVO TD PC was a British politician and banker....
personal enthusiasm for the Gaelic community.
Labour policies since 1997
Despite pre-election promises, funding for Gaelic broadcasting dropped in real terms during the years of the Blair government. Although the establishment of the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
resulted in policies favourable to Gaelic generally, broadcasting remains the responsibility of Westminster.
Television
The television channel TeleG was established in October 1999 as the first daily digital Gaelic channel in Scotland. Broadcasts lasted only an hour between the hours of 6:00pm and 7:00pm. The channel stopped broadcasting in May 2011 and was largely replaced by BBC AlbaBBC Alba
BBC Gàidhlig is the department of BBC Scotland that produces Scottish Gaelic language programming. This includes TV programmes for BBC Alba and BBC Two Scotland, the BBC Radio nan Gàidheal radio station and the BBC Alba website.-Television:...
. BBC Alba is a joint venture channel between the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and MG Alba. It is the first channel to be delivered under a BBC licence by a partnership. It broadcasts for up to seven hours a day in the evening. BBC Alba is broadcast on Freeview as well as satellite and cable television providers.
Radio
BBC Radio nan GàidhealBBC Radio nan Gàidheal
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal is a British radio station, broadcasting in Scottish Gaelic. It is operated by the BBC as part of its portfolio of television and radio services broadcasting to Scotland....
is the most widely broadcast Scottish Gaelic radio station and is available on FM frequencies throughout Scotland; webcast on the BBC Website; and on cable and satellite channels in the United Kingdom. Gaelic language programmes are broadcast during the day from Monday to Saturday and the channel joins BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
after closing transmission. Gaelic and bi-lingual programmes also feature on several north-west coast local radio stations, including Two Lochs Radio
Two Lochs Radio
Two Lochs Radio is Britain's smallest commercial radio station, and community broadcaster for the Gairloch, Loch Ewe and Loch Maree areas of Wester Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland...
, Isles FM
Isles FM
Isles FM is a local radio station operating from Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.The station is operated entirely by a volunteer staff, from a building in the Newton area of the town. Isles FM is the trading name of Western Isles Community Radio Limited, which owns all the equipment...
and Cuillin FM
Cuillin FM
Cuillin FM is a radio station which broadcasts to the Isle of Skye and Lochalsh on the Scottish mainland. Cuillin FM also link up with Two Lochs Radio in Gairloch for certain broadcasts, such as Balaich Nam Port, a weekly Scottish dance music programme on Saturday evening from 9 pm to 11...
. A bi-lingual Scottish Pop Chart show, produced to commission by MFR (Moray Firth Radio) in Inverness is also broadcast each week on several of these stations.
Broadcasting for Gaelic learners
The broadcasting media have also carried Gaelic lessons for learners of the language. The first was a short radio series in 1934, six fortnightly Gaelic lessons in Gaelic by J. Nicolson. The weekly series Learning Gaelic by Edward Purcell with John M Bannerman and Archie Henry began in 1949.Among the early BBC TV courses for beginners' Gaelic was Can Seo
Can Seo
Can Seo was a television series teaching Scottish Gaelic that started broadcasting in 1979 on BBC1 Scotland. The programme lasted for 20 weeks and a textbook and a cassette were produced to accompany the series. 'Can Seo' means 'Say This' in Scottish Gaelic....
(1979). The current series for beginners is Speaking our Language
Speaking our Language
Speaking our Language was a Scottish Gaelic learners television programme that ran from 1993 to 1996. Running for 72 episodes through four series, the series was produced by Scottish Television and presented by Rhoda MacDonald, STV's then-head of Gaelic output...
, which is now repeated regularly on BBC Alba
BBC Alba
BBC Gàidhlig is the department of BBC Scotland that produces Scottish Gaelic language programming. This includes TV programmes for BBC Alba and BBC Two Scotland, the BBC Radio nan Gàidheal radio station and the BBC Alba website.-Television:...
.
With the spread of Gaelic-medium units in primary schools
Education in Scotland
Scotland has a long history of universal provision of public education, and the Scottish education system is distinctly different from the other countries of the United Kingdom...
, attended also by children from English-speaking households, there was a need for education series aimed at children in the early stages of immersion
Language immersion
Language immersion is a method of teaching a second language in which the target language is used as the means of instruction. Unlike more traditional language courses, where the target language is simply the subject material, language immersion uses the target language as a teaching tool,...
-phase language-learning: Baile Mhuilinn (TV) and Fiream Faram (Radio) both appeared in 1988.
Sources
- Mike Cormack, ‘Programming for Gaelic Digital Television: Problems and Possibilities’, in Towards Our Goals in Broadcasting, the Press, the Performing Arts and the Economy: Minority Languages in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Scotland, ed. by John M. Kirk and Dónall P. Ó Baoill, 83-87. Belfast: Cló Ollscoil na Banríona, 2003.
- Mike Cormack, ‘Gaelic in the Media’. Scottish Affairs, 46 (2004), 23-43.
- Robert Dunbar, ‘Gaelic-medium Broadcasting: Reflections on the Legal Framework from a Sociolinguistic Perspective’, in Towards Our Goals in Broadcasting, the Press, the Performing Arts and the Economy: Minority Languages in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Scotland, ed. by John M. Kirk and Dónall P. Ó Baoill, 73-82. Belfast: Cló Ollscoil na Banríona, 2003.
- Roger Hutchinson, A Waxing Moon: The Modern Gaelic Revival, Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2005. ISBN 1-84018-794-8.
- William Lamb, 'A Diachronic Account of Gaelic News-speak: The Development and Expansion of a Register', Scottish Gaelic Studies, 19 (1999), 141-171.
External links
See also
- List of Celtic languages television channels
- Scottish Broadcasting CommissionScottish Broadcasting CommissionThe Scottish Broadcasting Commission was established by the Scottish Government in August 2007. Its purpose is to conduct an independent investigation into television production and broadcasting in Scotland, and to define a strategic way forward for the industry...
- List of Irish-language media