Annoying as it can be to hear someone claim that 'Gaelic was never spoken here' when referring to Lowland Scotland, perhaps it's best to persist with celebrating our Gaelic past while ensuring that future generations can not only understand our place-names but can converse in the tongue in which they were first coined.
Activists and activism are sought by many organisations, be they political, social or environmental. With minority languages, the best activism is to use it. Speak it, write it and consume it. If you have kids, speak it to and with them.
I involve my kids when talking about these designs and as a local to the Edinburgh region it gives a fair bit of satisfaction to talk about local place-names and their stories in Gaelic. Many of the place-names in the Lothians are from Gaelic and therefore can tell us something of past generations of Gaelic-speaking who lived and worked here.
This design celebrates two such names that are well known in Edinburgh and beyond. They are Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags - part of the extinct volcano that lies within the city itself. Arthur's Seat apparently does not take its name from a king that may have never existed - in an English language sense anyway. The likely source is Àird nan Saighead or 'height of the arrows' and a possible reference to the area's past use as hunting park for Kings of Scots. Salisbury Crags appears in old documents as 'Craggenemarf' - an Anglicisation of Creag nam Marbh. Surely inspiration for some Scottish Noir?
Some reading:
Gaelic in Edinburgh
Edinburgh Gaelic Week
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