Literature in Gaelic II

Vernacular Gaelic literature through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was almost entirely oral, with a valuing of forms and styles that allowed for memorisation and public performance whether in dun [castle], talla [hall] or ceilidh-house. Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair was one of the last Scottish Gaelic poets – along with his son Raghnall – to write in the centuries-old Gaelic corra-litir hand and continuity to earlier Gaelic traditions can clearly be seen in his poetry, not least in its emphasis on praise. The development of a global Gaelic diaspora with print media that could sustain cultural links over thousands of miles was, of course, a consequence of the large-scale emigration from the Highlands and Islands through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After the Second World War, the promotion of Gaelic literature would be driven on by a handful of key figures, and the institutions they set up and energy they devoted to it.