The Introduction of English in Gaelic Scotland, Ireland and Wales: They Dynamics of Imposition, Acquiescence and Assertion

Abstract

From the Middle Ages onwards political authorities in Scotland, Ireland and Wales have implemented policies to establish the English language and displace the Celtic vernaculars. These measures have met with varying reactions in Celtic-language communities, although the principal outcome everywhere has been language shift to English. Cultural leaders of different kinds have followed different strategies for language retention over the centuries, typically involving varying degrees of acquiescence, with full-scale rejection of English rarely understood as a viable option. Activists often endeavoured to retain particular spaces and contexts for the Celtic vernaculars, while conceding key public and economic domains to English. These strategies have also developed in different political contexts, so that, in contrast to the situation of Gaelic in Scotland and Welsh in Wales, defence of the Irish language has long been connected to the issue of national independence. In modern times, activists concentrate on seeking viable strategies to support the Celtic-language minorities in the globalised, digital world.