Monday 21 January 2008

Na Beanntaichean Gorma


…de la Cape Breton Post:

Many of Cape Breton’s Gaelic stories will be passed on to a whole new generation through a provincial initiative at high schools across Nova Scotia.

The Office of Gaelic Affairs announced Friday that copies of John Shaw’s most recent book, The Blue Mountains and Other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton:
Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile à Ceap Breatainn — a publication that includes Gaelic texts of the stories and their English translations — will be provided to all high schools in the province.

Lewis MacKinnon, CEO of the Office of Gaelic Affairs, said the book will be an important tool for existing Gaelic language and culture courses and in building awareness among students and staff at schools where Gaelic programming currently isn’t offered.

“The significance of the material is that it’s bilingual. He presents it in a bilingual format and obviously it’s Nova Scotia content. The informants that he presents in his material are Cape Breton Gaelic tradition bearers and therefore I think it’s obviously of local interest,” he said.“Many of the students who will come in contact with this particular publication, probably their grandparents or their great-grandparents had some of these stories. I think that’s the amazing thing, that these stories were passed down generation to generation.”

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