A Gaelic map of Scotland

albarevisedWell, I promised you merchandising this year because I have a wedding to pay for and need to make some money.  First up is a Gaelic map of all of Scotland.  I’ve been doing regional maps of parts of Scotland, but people always want a map of their own area, so thought it best to produce a revised and corrected version of a map I originally did for Newsnet Scotland about six years ago.  So here is a Gaelic map of the entire country.

This Gaelic map shows the whole of Scotland at a scale of 1:660,000 or 1 cm to 6.6 km. Shetland and Orkney are shown in their correct geographical location and not in an annoying wee box.  It’s a high quality glossy wall map printed in Glasgow on heavy paper.  It is suitable for framing or display.  The map measures 84cm by 119cm, or 33 inches by 47 inches in old money.  This map would be an ideal present for yourself, or for a friend.

dundeeThe map contains five insert maps of the large conurbations at a scale of 1:140,000 or 1 cm to 1.4 km.  These maps show Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Falkirk and Stirling areas in much greater detail.  Most of us live in Scotland’s large urban areas, and the main map of these districts can appear a bit cluttered.  The regional insert maps mean that if you live in one of the big conurbations of Scotland, you can see your own area a lot more clearly.

shetlandDoing a Gaelic map leaves you open to charges of Gaelic imperialism, and it’s true that some parts of Scotland have a distinct linguistic tradition.  Although Gaelic was never the majority language of the Borders, it was once present there.  However Gaelic was never spoken in Shetland and Orkney, where until relatively recent times a dialect of Norse was spoken.  Unlike the rest of the map, which is entirely in Gaelic, the place names of Orkney and Shetland are given in Old Norse.

The map can be yours for the bargain price of just £15.  As it’s such a large map it needs to be posted out in a heavy cardboard tube, and the size means it must be posted as a medium sized parcel.  I’m afraid that means P&P will be an additional £7 within the UK making a total cost of £22.  The map is currently at the printers, but I expect to have copies within two weeks.  Please note that if you order now I won’t be able to post your map out to you for at least two weeks.

You can either pay by Paypal by clicking the button on this page, you can use this even if you don’t have a Paypal account.  Or if you prefer not to pay by Paypal, please email me at weegingerbook@yahoo.com for alternative payment methods.  Please do not use the Paypal button if you want the map posted outwith the UK as P&P will be significantly more expensive, please email me for postage costs instead.

Unfortunately WordPress seems to object to the dedicated Paypal button I was planning to use, so I need to use the donate button instead. Please enter the amount of £22 and make sure that you give the address to which you want the map posted. If you have any difficulties using the button, please email me at weegingerbook@yahoo.com

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48 comments on “A Gaelic map of Scotland

  1. Cathy says:

    I love your map of Glasgow and of Edinburgh…will you have the Scotland map at your talks up and down the country? I vote we have street parties when it’s your wedding!!

  2. Beautiful Paul just beautiful – oh and the map is too xx

  3. hettyforindy says:

    Ooo, that looks nice. Fabulous, reckon it will sell out fast.

    Yes to a big party for THE wedding! 🙂

  4. Robert Graham says:

    Oh Paul you do know you are going to send many frothing at the mouth Unionists completely over the edge , boycotts will be organised to prevent any commercial outlet actually stocking or attempting to offer it for purchase.

    A wee comment if I can, at the moment I don’t have the room , is it possible to produce a Digital version , I understand you can make it copyright protected to stop the reproduction of your work , just like a photograph .

    Anyway just a thought .

  5. Joan Macdonald says:

    Sgoinneil! Fabtastic!

  6. Ulysses says:

    That looks like a nice piece of work. Tell me the worst – how much would P&P to Dublin cost? Email supplied, cheers.

  7. Stoops says:

    Hi Paul, if I buy 2 maps can I save on postage or will it still be £22 each?

  8. Krista Casada says:

    I donated because I’d like a map. I’m in the US; what else do I need to do?

  9. DJ says:

    Hi Paul

    Can I order 2 of these maps and an Edinburgh map please??

    Tapadh leat

  10. Liz g says:

    Will you have any at the Dunfries March?

  11. broadbield says:

    What about a jigsaw?

    • astytaylor says:

      A jigsaw of a picture of Wee Ginger would be brilliant!
      A jigsaw of the Gaelic map of Scotland would also be fantastic.
      It would be a great educational tool.
      Every primary school in Scotland could have one.
      (och, i know, It would all fall to pieces wouldn’t it…but we would back together again, Ha.)
      Anyway, brilliant map, Paul. I’ll buy one when i see you next. Happy wedding.

  12. Sooz says:

    Fabulous. Great job, Paul.

  13. Michael Newton says:

    It’s too pessimistic to say that Gaidhlig was never spoken in Orkney and Shetland, even if we shouldn’t overstate the case either. Most of the pre-Norse names were wiped out, but besides a few surviving Celtic names, there are also ogham inscriptions as well as the fact that some of the medievals rulers had Gaelic names and retainers.

  14. bigjon999 says:

    Ordering one as soon as home from the west coast (roasting hot and sunny!)

  15. I love this, Paul, and would dearly love to buy a copy for Mr MicCoinnich. I’m in Canada … will email you for costs.

  16. EdRobertson says:

    Actually, I think you’ll find that an early form of Gaelic was spoken in the Northern Isles before the arrival of the Vikings.

    • Thegmit says:

      Surprised to hear that. I’d have thought a form of Brythonic or its precursor would have been more likely in Orkney and Shetland. If Gaelic was established in Argyll by around 500 AD it certainly made rapid progress to reach Orkney and Shetland before the Norse.

      • weegingerdug says:

        There is one pre-Viking Ogham inscription from Orkney which is in Gaelic, but that doesn’t mean everyone in Orkney spoke Gaelic before the Vikings. They most likely spoke a form of Pictish.

        From the point of view of a modern Gaelic map, there are vanishingly few Celtic place names in the Northern Islands, the place names are overwhelmingly Norse. Since a form of Norse was spoken in the islands until relatively recent times, it seemed to make more sense to give the Old Norse forms of local place names.

  17. Andrew Braes says:

    Will buy the next time I hear you speak

  18. Judith Reid says:

    Hi Paul, been waiting for this… Can you also bring to the Inverness March on Saturday, 28th July please. We are in the process of organising stalls and I can arrange for these to be on one of them for you.
    Can I suggest you contact all schools and have these displayed for our children to be educated in our wonderful country.
    I will purchase 2 and gift one to our Gaelic School in Inverness.
    Thanks Judith

  19. Brian Fleming says:

    Paul, I’d dearly love a copy or two. I think it’s a fantastic achievement. But I’ll need to email you, for a variety of the reasons you mention above. Unfortunately I do not know your email address. I no longer have a bank account in the so-called UK (finally got the damnable RBS to close my account, and then they send me a cheque for the balance. !9th century banking in the 21st century. Just about sums up the UK.

    I hope to be in Glasgow in September for the march and rally, but I cannot be sure. Hopefully stocks will last until I can figure how to pay for a couple of maps.

    Brian Fleming
    Finland (at the moment)

  20. Craig P says:

    I love the touch of Norse in the nordreys!

  21. Brian Powell says:

    What was the language in Orkney and Shetland before Norse? Up until the 8th Century, before the Norse took hold? Pictish? People were there for thousands of years before the King of Norway finally took control.
    Just curious.

    • weegingerdug says:

      Yes, they most likely spoke Pictish. Some of the island names seem to be pre-Viking, eg Unst, Yell, Fetlar, but it’s unclear what they mean. There are some Norse folk-etymologies for some of them, but these names most likely pre-date the Vikings.

  22. MALCOLM MACINNES says:

    Great stuff.
    What regional maps are ready?

    • weegingerdug says:

      Glasgow & Inverclyde.
      Fife
      Kintyre, Arran & Bute

      And a map of Islay ought to be ready sometime this summer.

      • MALCOLM MACINNES says:

        How much for the Glasgow one?
        Presumably you can send that with the Scotland one to save postage??

  23. colin mccartney says:

    “Free road closures for residents to enjoy street play weekend” – glasgow city knew your wedding was coming soon !!!!!!

  24. Willie D. says:

    Probably one of the best published sources for all the languages that were once spoken in Scotland would be “Scottish Place-Names : Their Study and Significance” by W.F.H. Nicolaisen. He gives maps showing the distribution of Gaelic, Norse, Early English, Cymric and Pictish place-names, as well as looking at Pre-Celtic names. While his maps show a heavy presence of Gaelic place-names in the South-West, they are conspicuous by their absence in the borders and the South East. Most of the Celtic place-names in the latter areas are of Cymric (Welsh) origin and these are far outnumbered by early English names, hardly surprising as this was the area where the language we now call “Scots” made its entry into the country.

  25. […] Source: A Gaelic map of Scotland « Wee Ginger Dug […]

  26. Sal says:

    My lovely maps arrived today, thanks Paul.
    A wee word of advice to any one else getting three in the same tube – wind them tighter and they slide out nice and easy with no damage.
    I was trying to work out how to slice the tube open when it dawned on me how to get them out!👌

  27. Stewart McEwan says:

    Is the Gaelic map of Scotland still available ?

  28. Margaret says:

    What do you charge for shipping a map to the United States?

  29. FlikeNoir says:

    On the offchance you or your readers might be interested in a, non-Gaelic, map of Scotland. I repaired and scanned in one that had become disbound from ‘A General History of Scotland’, vol. 2, by William Guthrie (1767) – https://randomscottishhistory.com/2018/09/10/map-of-scotland-1767/

  30. Eilidh Mackenzie (Barker) says:

    Are the Gaelic maps still available, Paul? And delivered in the for Christmas?

  31. Andrew says:

    Hey, I was just wondering if you still had the map available, im based in Glasgow so it would be domestic shipping.

    Cheers

  32. Sheila Cantlay says:

    Is the Gaelic map still available? I would like to order one to be sent to Durham if possible.

  33. Bob Berrier says:

    I would like the Gaelic map. What would it cost to go to Canada or the US? (I have citizenship in both countries).

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