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Gaelic was discouraged at school in Salen, Loch Sunart and w...

Date 05 October 1968
Track ID 27822
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1968.252.B3

Original Tape ID

SA1968.252

Summary

Gaelic was discouraged at school in Salen, Loch Sunart and was associated with the lower social class.

Alasdair Cameron went to school at Salen, Loch Sunart, four miles from his home. The registration parish boundary between Strontian and Acharacle was marked by a burn [stream] which ran past his house. There were about eighteen children at the school. There were more English-speakers than Gaelic-speakers. The landowner in Ardnamurchan kept two yachts in Salen Bay, and the skipper and the engineer lived there. The skipper and the mate were Gaelic speakers, but their children were not fluent. It was the same with the doctor's children. The engineer came from Greenock and was an English speaker. Gaelic was more or less prohibited in school. Alasdair and his Gaelic-speaking schoolmates of the 'common class' spoke Gaelic in the playground, but the toffs spoke only English.

Item Subject/Person

Cameron, Alasdair

Item Location

County - Argyllshire

Parish - Ardnamurchan

Village/Place - Salen

Language

English

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Fair