Talk on Gaelic heritage and folklore

A talk which should be of great interest to Arran residents and visitors alike is to take place at 7.30pm on Saturday September 10 in Brodick Church Hall.

Entitled ‘Superstitions – or custom and belief?’, and subtitled ‘From Arran and beyond’, the talk is by David Clement, an old friend of the island who is currently living in Dalry, in his native Ayrshire.

Linguist

David is a linguist by background and studied modern languages at Cambridge, but his interest in Arran stems especially from his time on the staff of the School of Scottish studies in Edinburgh, which took him all over Scotland making recordings in Gaelic as part of the Linguistic Survey of Scotland. His involvement with Arran and its last speakers of Arran Gaelic is deep and of long standing.

While on the island, he usually stayed with Donald Craig of Pirnmill and his wife. Donald was one of the very last speakers of Arran Gaelic, and his daughter Liz Dale continues the tradition with her interest in Gaelic song.

David came to Arran two years ago, and the emphasis of his talk then was on Arran’s Gaelic heritage.

Folklore

This time he will be talking not about the language, but more generally about folklore, of which there is a rich heritage on the island, relating it no doubt to customs and beliefs in the rest of Scotland.

There is absolutely no need to have any knowledge of Gaelic for David’s talk, as it will be in English.

Tea, coffee and snacks will be available after the talk.