Caithness

The Way we Are

Visit Caithness and notice the difference. Enter a land of long long views and huge skies. High cliffs, sandy bays and a rim of mountains enclose crofts and farms, moors and straths, two towns Wick and Thurso, and the flows. We look outwards to the sea.

Listen to us speak. Our ‘tongue’ is so distinctive. Our accent quite unique. Scattered among our words are Old Norse, Scots Gaelic, Scots English and English. At the end of the Norse Earldom, the Scottish Crown dominated Caithness with their place-men, whose followers came with their Gaelic language to overlay what came before. Perhaps some areas never spoke Gaelic and their dialect continued through Scots English. Today, we speak a ‘mongrel’ tongue, and our Caithness Gaelic is gone. Our road signs are not bi-lingual like other Highland areas.

We feel different from them. Our place-names illustrate our mixture and are unlike anywhere else. Perhaps Latheronwheel illustrates the fascination of the mingling of languages at work. Pictish ‘lath’ is a muddy pool, Gaelic ‘faedhail’ (pronounced fuil) is a ford but is borrowed from Old Norse ‘vathill’ a wading place. English speaking O.S. map surveyors supplied the spelling ‘wheel’ but our old folk said ‘ph’ not ‘wh’.

There has always been a tradition of local arts, poetry and writing. Our own tongue is alive and well in contemporary writers and poets. There are events and festivals throughout the year.

Our two British Legion Pipe Bands grace our parades, Gala Weeks, Highland Games and Agricultural Shows. Wick has a Pipe Band Week and both bands provide evening shows. The Junior Pipe Band, as part of Highland Year of Culture 2007, are touring the village halls to play and encourage traditional dancing.

Other forms of music abound, from the Wick and Thurso nightclubs to the fiddlers, dance bands and folk artists who perform as always. We even have a ‘Big Band’! One annual highlight is the Country and Western Festival – usually a sellout. Tractor drivers are tuned into Nashville. The Dance Schools and Performing Arts are of the highest standard but let their hair down in the pantomime season. Old and new exist today in tandem

Our older folks play whist in the village halls. Our youngsters tell urban myths, listen to pounding music and drive in circuits round our towns and villages. They are like young people all over the world.

By looking outward but keeping our traditions, Caithness is itself. Check out caithness.org.uk for events or read the John O’Groat Journal, another Caithness tradition.

Written by A.M. Bethune (Nan), Dunbeath.