May 24, 2015

For the first time, we heard Scottish-Gaelic (pronounced "garlic" by the residents here). We attended a Gaelic church service this morning. Before the service, in the front vestibule, the minister asked, "Do you know this is the Gaelic service?" We said yes. "Do you know Gaelic?" he asked. We said no. He gave us a copy of the Bible in English so we could follow along.

Mostly elderly women wearing hats attended the service. After the service, we spoke with a few of them, who told us they had spoken only Gaelic until they started attending school. -- Coincidentally, the minister has been to Livonia before.

If I heard Gaelic out of context, I might guess that it's a Scandinavian language. Although its roots are

Germanic, no doubt the Vikings, who ransacked northern Europe from the 8th to the 12 centuries, influenced the language's evolution.

The Bridge to Nowhere also turns up in Chessmen, but its actual history is at least as interesting. (Okay, I don't mind reality as long as it sounds like a story.) Back in 1918, a rich guy bought the Isle of Lewis, and planned to bring industry to the island. He built the bridge with the idea of developing a road beyond it. He also expected the Isle of Lewis residents to give up crofting because he felt he was offering something better. They didn't see it that way. Rich guy left in 1923.

Of course, we had to see it, and it's true--there's no road beyond the Bridge to Nowhere, just a walking path.

The animal in one of these photos is a "hah-ree koo," as Tom heard a Scot say it. At first I thought it was the name of the species, until Tom pointed out that it's a Scottish pronunciation of "hairy cow."