Nova Scotia
Sometimes you set your sights on learning a text by heart that is not repeated very often in your immediate environment. For someone who is new at learning the Scottish Gaelic language, and is of Christian belief or heritage, the sacred symbolic text of the Lord’s Prayer might seem like a natural thing to learn. I’ll explain why that isn’t necessarily a good idea, and talk about when and how to learn the prayer.
In Nova Scotia, you might have noticed that we have a Gaelic flag. The Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia, in cooperation with the Nova Scotia Office of Gaelic Affairs, developed and presented a new Gaelic symbol and flag on behalf of the Gaelic community in 2008. A flag for the Gaelic community might seem odd from an “old world” Scottish perspective. The pan-Celtic flag incorporating flags of the “six Celtic nations” uses the Scottish saltire. So why does it make sense to have a separate Gaelic flag here in Nova Scotia?
May is Gaelic Awareness Month in Nova Scotia. In May 2013, Sgoil Ghàidhlig an Àrd-Bhaile, the Halifax Gaelic Society, worked together with the Halifax Public Libraries to plan a series of free public workshops on various aspects of Gaelic language and culture. Members of the Gaelic community in Halifax were asked to propose workshop presentations on topics with which they were familiar, and the various library branches selected ones to host and promote. I co-presented a workshop on Celtic Spirituality.
The month of May in Nova Scotia is Gaelic Awareness Month, or Mìos na Gàidhlig. For me, every day is Gaelic day, but if you speak Gaelic and live in Halifax, May is a busy month! In May 2013, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, the viceregal representative in Nova Scotia of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, held a reception in honour of Mìos na Gàidhlig at his official residence, Government House in Halifax. Take a look inside Government House with me in this post, including some surprising Gaelic touches.
Although Gaelic-speaking ministers and priests were once plentiful in Nova Scotia, only a precious few church services now take place through the medium of Gaelic each year in the province. One of them is the annual ecumenical Gaelic service held in Cape Breton each May in conjunction with Gaelic Awareness Month in the Province of Nova Scotia. In this blog post, describe the May 2013 service.
My chapter on Nova Scotia Gaelic, published in the book Celts in the Americas, describes and analyzes the current state of the Gaelic language and the Gaelic community in Nova Scotia, and makes recommendations about revitalization priorities for the near future.
A group of Nova Scotia Gaels smuggled a wool blanket into a downtown Halifax shopping mall — you won’t believe what happened next! Learn this one weird trick for feeling proud of your minority language and culture!
Farmer’s Dairy released some new ice cream flavours for summer 2013. The names of the flavors were inspired by distinctive cultural, culinary, and natural features of Atlantic Canada. The first one that grabbed my attention was “Fiddler’s Reel Brownie” – a “blend of ooey-gooey fudge brownies and thick marshmallow swirl, wrapped in a rich chocolate ice cream. A reel treat for taste buds.” Thinking about the short Nova Scotia Gaelic film “Fiddler’s Reel” and Nova Scotia’s Gaelic culture, I got to wondering what it would be like if this ice cream had a trilingual label in English, French, and Gaelic?
