Gaelic in the Landscape

Overview

From place-names to folklore, Callander has a rich Gaelic heritage that is familiar to locals and visitors alike, but not always well understood. This project aims to harness the community’s interest in the Gaelic language through artistic engagement, local place-name research, and a range of volunteering opportunities.

Aims & Objectives

This project will:

• Provide training in the Gaelic language for local volunteers, helping them to lead guided walks on place-name trails around Callander;
• Work with the community and local schools to create artistic interpretations of Callander’s Gaelic heritage;
• Preserve locally important Gaelic words and place-names through the creation of a Gaelic Word-Hoard;
• Promote the use of Gaelic as an active living language.

Project updates

• The launch of this project in July 2019 with an introductory training workshop at Callander’s Summerfest was featured on BBC Alba.
• In August 2019, our Gaelic volunteer guides completed a five-day training programme in August 2019 and are preparing a series of guided walks around Callander for late 2019 and early 2020. Find out more about Callander’s Gaelic heritage by reading this blog post by our course tutor, Roddy MacLean (Ruairidh MacIlleathain).
• In October 2019, a blog post by our Cultural Heritage Adviser discussing Callander’s Gaelic place-names was featured as part of the John Muir Trust’s “Wild Words” campaign.
• Our Gaelic Guides led three guided walks sharing their knowledge and stories of the local area in November and December 2019.
• In December 2019, Dr Peter McNiven delivered a Gaelic place-name research workshop for our volunteers. A group of volunteers are working alongside Peter helping with local place-name research.
• On World Book Day in March 2020, we launched a brand-new comic – made with local primary school pupils – that retells Gaelic legends from the Callander area. You can find out more about the project and read the comic here. The project was featured on BBC Alba.
• In May 2020 we held an online Gaelic Singing Workshop with broadcaster and singer Linda Macleod.
• In June 2020, we published a Gaelic place-name report, researched by Dr Peter McNiven and a small group of our volunteers. Peter also published a blog post for us exploring some highlights from the report.
• In October 2020, our volunteer John wrote a blog post exploring his experience of learning Gaelic with us during lockdown.
• In November 2020, we published a new video by broadcaster and wild-swimmer Calum Maclean (MacIlleathain), exploring the Gaelic heritage of Callander.