Why not seek to redress historic wrongs and give Gaelic a hand?

WHAT a remarkable letter from your correspondent Bill Brown (March 13). He claims not to be antigaelic and then proceeds to spend the rest of the letter being precisely that, claiming the mere sight of Gaelic on signage outside the Gàidhealtachd is an act of oppression that is intolerable and will see him forced to wear a kilt and attend the Mod. He goes on to claim that the 2005 Gaelic

Language Act is culturally illegitimate and prejudicial to harmony amongst Scots and harmful to good integration of immigrants. How so?

The fact is, there is absolutely no confusion amongst Scots or immigrants that English is the predominant language of Scotland. There is no threat to the English language from signage or TV and radio in Gaelic. To argue thus is to revel in a rather bizarre inverted victimhood that has no basis in reality.

What there is, is a recognition of Gaelic’s historic importance in Scottish culture and the incredibly damaging and deleterious effects of centuries of suppression of the language. Countries can cope with being multilingual. Given that we can hardly even pretend that Scotland is so with the numbers involved, what great difficulty or challenge is there in seeking to redress historic wrongs and give Gaelic – part of our rich cultural history whether a Gael or not – a helping hand?

Michael Rossi,

66 Canalside Gardens,

Southall,

Middlesex.

I AM not anti-gaelic says Bill Brown in his latest anti Gaelic missive. Well, you could have fooled me.

The problem is not that there is too much Gaelic in public use,but rather that there is not enough.

Note the picture of the Monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie in today’s Herald (Picture of the Day, March 13).

In the Gaelic-speaking stronghold of Lewis the inscription on the monument is entirely in English.

The Gaels are their own worst enemies in the decline of one of Scotland’s national languages.

Willie Douglas,

252 Nether Auldhouse Road, Glasgow.