http://hal_macgregor.tripod.com/gregor/IrishPicts.html 

My friend Ruairí Ó Bléine writes: “This site is most interesting and informative. I have seen two items that need correction. The word “Uladh” is the genitive of “Ulaidh”. For example we say Cúige Uladh – the province of Ulster, but Ulaidh Abú – Hurrah for Ulster. The other problem is that Firbolg is already in the plural and does not need to have an “s” added for Fir is Men and  Bolg is a version of Belgae.”

Today at our Beakfast meeting of the famous Ullans Academy promoting Common Identity, our chair Helen Brooker introduced Prof Alison Henry, School of Linguistics, University of Ulster, and Fearghal McKinney MLA, invited by myself, and Dr Ofrit Leviatan, Lecturer, Department of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts, USA, invited by Sammy Douglas MLA. Prof Henry wished to talk about some ideas she had about using study of local Belfast English to improve educational performance in deprived areas in Belfast, particularly among Working Class Protestants. 

In the eighteenth century Belfast was a small town on the West Bank of the River Lagan; on the East Bank lay the neighbouring small town of Ballymacarret.  By 1821, the population of Belfast was still only 37,000, but by 1861 it had more than trebled to 121,000.  By the end of the century the population was 350,000 and in 1951 it had risen to 443,000.  After that, the city population began to decline and that of adjacent areas began to rise. 

The rapid rise in population in the second half of the nineteenth century was due firstly to the influx of rural people after the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s, but chiefly to the rise of the linen and shipbuilding industries.  The growth of Belfast as an industrial city seems to have been rather later than the growth of similar cities on the British mainland and its relatively recent growth is evident in its language.

Academics distinguish three language areas in Ulster – the Ulster-Scots area (which is mainly along the northern and eastern coastal areas but which also extends into central areas of County Donegal), the Ulster-English area( which consists of central, southern and south-western Ulster) and the Ulster-Gaelic area of Donegal and scattered areas of Northern Ireland including Belfast.  In the Ulster-Scots areas there are a great many rural speakers who speak a variety of Scots rather than of English, and in its strongest forms it is almost indistinguishable from the Scottish language of western and central Scotland.  The Scots character of these Ulster language varieties is most apparent in the pronunciation of common words such as night, stone, soft, die, down, as nicht, stane, saft, dee, doon, and so forth.  Ulster-Scots is a stigmatised language of low status.  The development of a literary form “Ullans” has been hampered by an academic indifference or outright hostility and by anti-Unionist prejudice.

The areas to the north and south-east of Belfast are Scots and it can therefore be suggested that the Scots area in east-Ulster was at one time continuous, running from south-east Down, northward through the Belfast area and linking up with Antrim Scots.  Academics usually argue that the growth of Belfast has brought about an intrusion of Ulster English into what was formally a Scots area.  It is true, of course, that Belfast does not have the broad Scots word forms we have discussed above (nicht, saft, doon, etc) and that immigration to Belfast has been largely from the Ulster-English area.  However, it would be a mistake to believe that Belfast speech has no Scots features, for it is very much a mixed language form.  It is also true that there is a strong similarity between Belfast English and that of the several towns of the Lagan Valley to the southwest of Belfast.  But within the city there is some difference between east and west Belfast and the Lagan Valley speech is similar to west Belfast rather than the east.  The east of the city has a language that has something in common with the rural varieties of north Down which are, of course, Ulster-Scots in type, while the Lagan Valley is more English.

In 1860, Belfast was quite a small city with its population of 121,000.  We know to some extent what the language was like then as a result of a small book by David Patterson, The Provincialism’s of Belfast Pointed Out and Corrected.  Patterson’s aim was to correct some of the broader pronunciations of the city as well as some of the word forms and uses of grammar, but in order to do this he had to describe these usages.  Thus the main value of the book is not its recommendations to correct the English but the information it gives us about Belfast speech in 1860.  Patterson describes pronunciation very clearly and it is apparent that there have been changes since 1860.  Words he wished to correct such as ‘deef’, (deaf) and ‘rideekilis’, (ridiculous) were actually of Ulster-Scots origin.  One of the first features that outsiders notice about Belfast speech is the use of ‘aw’ for the ‘a’ sound as in ‘haun’, ‘maun’, ‘bawd’, for hand, man and bad.  This occurred with the spread of Ulster-Scots from north Down into east Belfast and then into the west of the city, through the Shankill.

Language is a living thing.  Patterson’s attempt to “correct” the Belfast speech towards the standard were not successful.  The people of Belfast, particularly of the Shankill Road did not want to correct their speech and those who go to elocutionists for social reasons today are still in a small minority.  Belfast English is, in fact, a distinctive form of English, which should be promoted, rather than changed. One of its distinctive features is the use of the double negative, such as ‘I didn’t do nothing’ instead of ‘I didn’t do anything’.  There is nothing inherently wrong with this, since the same features occur in Spanish.  Belfast English should indeed be cherished and conserved.

There is, of course, also in Belfast a revival of interest in the Gaelic language.  The variety used in Irish Medium schools is essentially Donegal Gaelic, which is a variety of Ulster Gaelic.  The original Gaelic spoken in the Belfast area would have been east Ulster Gaelic which is now obsolete but had characteristics similar to that of the island of Islay, north of Rathlin in the southern Hebrides.  Belfast Gaelic is presently developing independently of Donegal Gaelic itself.  Originating in language classes held in Her Majesty’s Prisons it is presently known by its detractors as Jailic rather that Gaelic.  Belfast Gaelic is heavily influenced by English. Ulster Gaelic as a whole shows many differences with that of the standard Irish developed by de Valera in Dublin, which was based on the Gaelic of Munster and Connaught and largely ignored that of Ulster .

Many people often ask if the communities of Belfast can be defined by their language.  For the moment we must draw the conclusion that there is as yet no persuasive evidence to show that they can.  The differences that do exist are mainly regional.  There is of course the difference between east and west Belfast, east Belfast having more Ulster-Scots words and phrases.  There may be some difference in the pronunciation of the names of the letters of the alphabet, especially ‘h’.  It is true that in Belfast most Catholics pronounce this letter name as ‘haitch’ and most Protestants as  ‘aitch’.  This, however, has absolutely nothing to do with language as such, the preferences are a result of two separate school systems.  Most Catholic school children are taught to pronounce the names of letters in a traditional way that is probably influenced by the letter names in the Gaelic language; Protestant children and any Catholic children who attend State schools learn the normal British pronunciations, however, as the schools become more and more integrated such differences are fast disappearing.

Acknowledgements: This article is based on the work of James Milroy, former Senior Lecturer in English at the Queen’s University of Belfast, 1981

Tennessee Resolution of Restoration

October 2, 2013

Whereas, the great State of Tennessee has a proud and successful heritage of playing significant roles in the recorded history of the United States of America.

Whereas, the first independent democratically governed communities in the United States were four settlements located in what is now East Tennessee, one of which was known as the Watauga Settlement.

Whereas, reconciliation has occurred between the descendants of these settlements through the passage in Carter County of Resolution 516 on April 19^th, 2010, and subsequently accepted by members of the Cherokee Nation on April 24,2010.

Whereas, we, the citizens of Tennessee, acknowledge the significant role that the Native American people have played in allowing the birth of American freedom to first take root with tribal approval in East Tennessee, such as the efforts of Nancy Ward who saved the lives of many at the French Lick settlement in which our petition for statehood would emerge.  Because of her diplomatic role, Nancy saved the lives of many Cherokees by preventing further bloodshed of her tribe.  

Whereas, in subsequent years prior to 1830, relationships with all Native American tribes deteriorated dramatically, leading up to the tragedy of the forced removal of the native people and subsequent confiscation of their homes and lands through the passage of the Removal Act of 1830. 

Whereas, Tennessee has a duel role in both the passage of the Removal Act by President Andrew Jackson, and its historic opposition through the efforts of House of Representative member, David Crockett, representing the 9^th District in Tennessee. 

Whereas,on this the 175^th anniversary of the Trail of Tears, the State of Tennessee, wishing to both acknowledge this tragedy and renounce any role it may have played in what is a stain on our collective histories

Now therefore be it resolved, we, the citizens of the State of Tennessee, stand with our Statesman, David Crockett, on a national level in acknowledging the tragedy of this act that took place in defiance of the Supreme Court ruling by Chief Justice John Marshall in Worcester vs. Georgia.

We, the citizens of the Volunteer State, following the example of David Crockett, offered up our lives in the ultimate sacrifice in defense of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of all people. The global battlefields are stained with the blood of many Tennesseans.

We, the citizens of the Tennessee, wish to close this chapter in our collective history so that our past does not cast a shadow over our future.  Tennesseans stand against acts of injustice perpetrated against any people group regardless of race, gender or religion. Therefore, we offer our sincere regret to all Native American groups who were tragically and unjustly confined and removed from their lands by our participation in the Removal Act of 1830 and the subsequent death march known as the Trail of Tears.  Greed and prejudice have no part of play in the future of Tennessee.  We stand today as David Crockett stood, prepared to lay down our lives in defense of freedom for all people in this great nation.

The Dalaradia community organisation  was formed in County Antrim several years ago as a way of engaging working class loyalists in the peace process. Although key members were involved in enabling the peace process to occur and in facilitating decommissioning, many members and associates had not bought into the process and saw no benefits to their community.

The first official representation of Dalaradia was in 2011 at Belfast City Hall when the chairman of the group was co-opted on to the (Grand) Ulster Centenary Committee, of which I myself was founder chairman, to organise the forthcoming decade of events. This has involved the highly successful Balmoral Review and the Centenary of the founding of the original UVF at Craigavon House and the West Belfast UVF at Fernhill House. Key members of Dalaradia were previously involved in founding the Loyalist Commission after the loyalist feud, meeting with all loyalists, MLAs, Clergy and Secretaries of State.

In 2011, members of Dalaradia went on a week-long trip to the Somme on an inter-community basis to try to give everyone involved a deeper understanding of this key period of history. Individuals who took part in that project have remained in touch. Although the Somme was paramount in their minds, they were eager to engage with people from across the board within  a Common Identity logic to move towards a shared future. Thus I have accompanied them both to Crew Hill, Glenavy, to see the site of the inauguration stone of the Kings of Ulster and, in liaison with Brian Ervine, who has a particular interest in the area, came with them on a Caledonian “Scottish” Dalriada Residential, which was inter-community, to Argyll in September 2013.

Similarly, the group, who meet at the Hubb on the Shore Road, North Belfast, have recently visited the Bogside Bloody Sunday Museum, the Orange Museum and Derry’s walls. The Hubb is the last Second World War Civil Defence Hall left in Northern Ireland and was preserved mainly due to the fundraising efforts of local community worker, Jim Crothers.

Dalaradia (Dál nAraidi in Gaelic)— which should not be confused with Dál Riata, Latinised as Dalriada –was a kingdom of the Cruthin ( Cruithni in Gaelic ) in the north-east of Ireland in the first and early second millennia. The lands of Dalaradia appear to correspond with the Robogdii of Ptolemy’s Geographia, a region shared with Dál Riata. Fiachu Araide was their eponymous founder. It was centred on the northern shores of Lough Neagh in southern Antrim and included modern Belfast. Its kings contended with the Dál Fiatach of North Down for the high-kingship of Ulster for some centuries. One of their greatest kings was Congal Clane, who died at the Battle of Moira in 637. Belfast first enters history at the Battle of Bel Feirste in 667 between the Ulidians of Dal Fiatach and the Cruthin, where Cathasach, son of Laircine, son of Congal Clane, was slain. This was an attempt by the Ulidians to encroach on  the Cruthin territory of Trian Congail. the “third of Congal”, which encompassed territory on both sides of the Lagan, corresponding more or less to Upper and Lower Clandeboye, including modern Belfast. Cathasach was Congal’s grandson. The battle was the first mention of Belfast in Irish history. 

Its members see Dalaradia as a broadly Ulster-Scots body open to all aspects of our culture relating to all who share our land. They have moved beyond the two traditions’ frame, developing strong links with the Polish community who have become an integral part of the ever-broadening tapestry of Northern Ireland society. They are also determined to learn from other people’s experience of divided societies. Thus, in 2012 the chairman was one of a small group of senior loyalists who visited Israel to study the conflict there, engaging with Israelis, Palestinians, universities and Kibbutz, military and UN personnel. They will also facilitate the formation of a Dal Fiatach Group in North Down, complimenting their own group as well as the Kingdom of Dalriada group in North Antrim, linked to the Ullans Centre in Ballymoney, County Antrim.

Tony Novacel was our guest at this morning’s meeting of the Academy of Common Identity (Ullans) along with the chairman of the Dalaradia group. Here he talks about his  latest book.

“When I finished writing Northern Ireland’s Lost Opportunity, I hoped it would begin a serious reappraisal of loyalism and move us away from what Graham Spencer calls, “the standard one-dimensional representation of loyalism that so dominates the media and popular imagination” as well as open the door for other researchers to walk through.  I never anticipated that its release would coincide with the crisis that has developed in Northern Ireland over the flying of the British flag at City Hall nor have as much relevance to present day events on the ground in Northern Ireland.  What is particularly relevant to this study of loyalism and today’s problems is the re-enactment of the all too familiar play that is Northern Ireland’s history.

	NewBelfast.com Blog of Belfast’s Lord Mayor, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir   There are few things as beautiful as an open peaceline which is what greeted me in Townsend Street,where the Shankill joins the Falls, on Friday.  Courtesy of the Shankill Women’s Centre and An Chultúrlann, residents from both sides of the divide joined to host a colourful street party celebrating the Belfast of yesterday. We had a rag man, a milk man and a fishmonger as well as sweeps and lamplighters.  But the big treat for me was being welcomed into the stunningly beautiful Townsend Street Presbyterian Church by the dynamic Rev Jack Lamb. Once boasting a congregation of 1100, the church had seen its numbers diminish over recent years but, thanks to the efforts of local people, its congregation is on the increase again.   With an imposing organ and old-style pews, the church makes a wonderful community space and indeed the sacred music playing during Friday’s street hooley was Frank Sinatra’s hymn to New York — with the Rev Jack providing harmonies.  This coming together of our community set the scene for my installation dinner — a celebration of all our people — on Saturday night in City Hall when we were graced with the presence of Belfast Poet Laureate Sinéad Morrissey, that giant of poetry Michael Longley, the LGBT Quire choir, the Open Arts Community Choir — complete with napping guide dog — the sublime Joby Fox, ArtsExtra from India and the Methody Harpists. Dr Ian Adamson, former Lord Mayor of Belfast read his powerful ode to the dead of the Somme while Geraldine Hughes, our greatest acting daughter, came home from New York to emcee.  At the dinner and today at the Belfast Day to celebrate our city’s diversity, representatives of the faiths read the Prayer for Belfast. Last night, Sheik Mohammad El Rashidi read the Muslim version of the prayer while Fr Des Wilson in Irish and the Rev Margaret Ferguson in English read the Christian version. Today, at the culmination of Belfast Day, Rabbi David Singer, my Jewish chaplain read the Jewish version of the prayer in both Hebrew and English alongside Fr Des and the Rev Margaret. It was another wonderful moment for a Belfast which embraces its diversity and its wonder, like the open peace line, another sight for long-sore eyes.

Ode to the Somme

On the sacred day of  1st July every year, we commemorate the sacrifice of our loved ones who died for freedom. We do not seek to glorify war but rather to see that it does not happen again.

To the people of France we say:-

“People of France, mother of nations, we thank you for your generosity and kindness to these our children who rest now in peace in the most beautiful gardens on earth. We pray that their sacrifice will not be in vain and that there will be no more war and that the peoples of Europe will walk together in mutual forgiveness, understanding and respect until the end of the world”.

Au people de France nous disons:-

“Peuple de France, mére des nations, nous vous remercions de votre générosité pour nos enfants qui reposent en paix dans les jardins les plus beaux du monde. Nous prions pour que leur sacrifice n’ait pas été vain, pour qu’il n’y ait plus de guerre, et pour que les peuples d’Europe puissent marcher ensemble et se pardonner, se comprendre et se respecter mutuellement jusqu à la fin des temps”.

Zu den Franzosen sagen wir:-

Bevölkerung von Frankreich, Mutter von Nationen, wir danken Ihnen für Ihre Grosszügigkeit und Freundlichkeit für unsere Kinder, die in diesen schönen Gärten in Frieden ruhen. Wir beten, dass das Opfer unserer Kinder nicht umsonst gewesen ist und dass es zu keinem weiteren Krieg mehr kommen wird, dass die Völker Europas in Vergebung, Verständnis und Respekt miteinander in die Zukunft gehen können.

To the sons of Ulster and Soldiers of Ireland we say:-

“Sons of Ulster, Soldiers of Ireland do not be anxious. The war is over – both here and in you beloved Ireland. The Western Front is no more and Ireland at last is at peace with herself and with her people. We will always remember you, so long as the sun shines and the rain falls and the wind blows and the great river Somme runs gently to the sea”.

Innui, deir muid le fir Uladh agus le fir na hÉireann:-

“A Fheara Uladh agus a Shaighdiúirí na hÉireann, ná biodh imni oraibh. Tá an Cogadh thart – ní amháin san áit seo, ach in bhur dtír dhílis féin in Éirinn. Níl an Fronta Thiar ann níos mó, agus, so deireadh, tá tír na hÉireann faoi shíocháin léi féin agus len a pobal. Ach chomh fada is a shoilsíonn an ghrian, agus a thiteann an fhearthainn, agus a shéideann an ghaoth, agus chomh fada is a théann abhainn mhór an Somme go caoin chun na farraige, bedh cuimhne againn araibh go deo”.

And in honour of the brave American and Canadian soldiers who also fought here, I speak in Lakota (Oglala Sioux), the Hymn of the Warriors

Ho Tunkasila Wakan Tanka
Oyate oyasin unsiwicalapo na owicakiyapo
Nahan waci wicasi na waci winyan wopila tanka
Nahan oyate oyasin canku luta ognamani owicakiyapo
Lecel wacin ho hecel lena, oyate kin nipi kte.
Mitakuye Oyasin

 Which in Wasicu(English) is 

Grandfather Great Spirit, Almighty God,

Have pity on and help all the People
Many Thanks for the Performers, male and female,
Help all the People to walk the Red Road of Peace
This I ask so that the People will prosper
You are all my relatives