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Land, Language and Migration: World War II Evacuees as New Speakers of Scottish Gaelic

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New Speakers of Minority Languages

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Abstract

This chapter explores what it terms a ‘liminal’ category of new speaker: World War II evacuees to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Situated in life narrative interviews, the chapter examines why some evacuees acquired Scottish Gaelic and others did not; and also why some new speakers positioned themselves as ‘learners’ despite being socialised in the language in the home as children. The chapter concludes by tying these discussions to conceptions of the relationship of language to place; and in particular, to conceptions of place as embedded in a sociohistorical trajectory of disenfranchisement.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In part due to their remoteness, the Highlands and Islands were not used as ‘receiving areas,’ which were dedicated areas to which evacuees were sent. Their remoteness, however, did make them an appealing place to send boarded-out children, as it meant there would be little chance of the birth parents having access to the children (see Abrams 1998). According to Ethel MacCaluim’s experience (see Bennett 2014), however, the island of Tiree appeared to be used as a receiving area especially for orphans, perhaps because it was already one of the main areas used by the Glasgow Corporation to house boarded-out children.

  2. 2.

    Point is a community in the north of Lewis.

  3. 3.

    One of the aims in establishing the University of the Highlands and Islands in 2011 was to ensure that young people did not necessarily have to leave their home area to receive university education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Culture and Communication, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Cassie Smith-Christmas

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  1. Cassie Smith-Christmas
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Cassie Smith-Christmas

  2. Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Noel P. Ó Murchadha

  3. Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

    Michael Hornsby

  4. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Máiréad Moriarty

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Smith-Christmas, C. (2018). Land, Language and Migration: World War II Evacuees as New Speakers of Scottish Gaelic. In: Smith-Christmas, C., Ó Murchadha, N., Hornsby, M., Moriarty, M. (eds) New Speakers of Minority Languages. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57558-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57558-6_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57557-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-57558-6

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