HOLIDAYS NEARER HOME
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—In an article entitled " Holidays Nearer Home," pub- lished in The Spectator of April 8th, Mr. Anthony Blunt writes : " And after all if we stay at home we are not limited to England. For those who can understand the language there are the High- lands of Scotland. . . ."
Lest the suggestion that non-Gaelic speakers will find it difficult to make themselves understood in the Highlands may damage our growing tourist traffic, permit me to assure your readers that in the towns, at least, most hotel proprietors and shopkeepers have a smattering of English ; and even in the remoter villages the schoolmaster or minister is generally capable of acting as interpreter.
Education has been compulsory throughout the Highlands since 1872, but, although the native children are taught exclu- sively in English, few of them in their ten years' schooling acquire sufficient of the language to be able to converse intelligi- bly with strangers. The local newspapers (written entirely in English) which are published at Oban, Campbeltown, Dingwall, Wick, Inverness and Stornoway are not, of course, read by the native population, being purchased by about a hundred thousand subscribers merely for such domestic purposes as lighting the fire.
In conclusion, Sir, might I plead for a Gaelic edition of The Spectator, as many of us find it difficult to read your excellent paper even with the help of the best English-Gaelic dictionaries?—Yours faithfully, SEUMAS GRANND. Steonabhaigh, Eilean Leodhais.
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