Gaelic Signs in Nova Scotia

Parts of eastern mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island have a large part of their population boasting Scottish heritage. It is evident in the local culture, with traditions such as the use of fiddling in local folk music are still widely observed in this part of the province. In Sydney, there is the World's Largest Fiddle located along the waterfront. There are also some speakers of the Gaelic language in Nova Scotia; enough where the province has decided to put up bilingual signs in English and Gaelic for the different towns that you pass along the way. Nova Scotia government encourages that the signs be posted, in honor to preserve and promote the Scottish heritage that many Nova Scotians claim.

In 2006, the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works started a policy that allows for community boundary signs to be posted in both the English and Gaelic languages. Some of the places on the signs may be direct translations between Gaelic and English, but other places may be the former names in Gaelic used for different communities. I think that the signs are a nice addition to the landscape and a great way to honor a special place that is unique for eastern North America.


Bilingual signage for South Haven in English and An Acarsaid A Deas in Gaelic on TCH 105 in South Haven.

Bilingual signage for Ashdale in English and Loch A' Ghaspereaux on NS 7 northbound. Loch A' Ghaspereaux looks like a hybrid of Gaelic and French, to be honest.

Bilingual signage for Saltsprings in English and Na Tobar Shalainn on NS 7 northbound.

Sources and Links:
Nova Scotia Canada - Gaelic Communities To Get Road Signs
Gaelic Revitalization - Top 10 Differences between Gaelic in Nova Scotia and Scotland
Contrarian - Those Gaelic Road Signs: an interactive map, and a few questions
BBC News - Keeping Canada's unique Gaelic culture alive

Comments

Paper Highways: The Unbuilt New Orleans Bypass (Proposed I-410)

There are many examples around the United States of proposed freeway corridors in urban areas that never saw the light of day for one reason or another. They all fall somewhere in between the little-known and the infamous and from the mundane to the spectacular. One of the more obscure and interesting examples of such a project is the short-lived idea to construct a southern beltway for the New Orleans metropolitan area in the 1960s and 70s. Greater New Orleans and its surrounding area grew rapidly in the years after World War II, as suburban sprawl encroached on the historically rural downriver parishes around the city. In response to the development of the region’s Westbank and the emergence of communities in St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parishes as viable suburban communities during this period, regional planners began to consider concepts for new infrastructure projects to serve this growing population. The idea for a circular freeway around the southern perimeter of t

Hernando de Soto Bridge (Memphis, TN)

The newest of the bridges that span the lower Mississippi River at Memphis, the Hernando de Soto Bridge was completed in 1973 and carries Interstate 40 between downtown Memphis and West Memphis, AR. The bridge’s signature M-shaped superstructure makes it an instantly recognizable landmark in the city and one of the most visually unique bridges on the Mississippi River. As early as 1953, Memphis city planners recommended the construction of a second highway bridge across the Mississippi River to connect the city with West Memphis, AR. The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge had been completed only four years earlier a couple miles downriver from downtown, however it was expected that long-term growth in the metro area would warrant the construction of an additional bridge, the fourth crossing of the Mississippi River to be built at Memphis, in the not-too-distant future. Unlike the previous three Mississippi River bridges to be built the city, the location chosen for this bridge was about two

Huey P. Long Bridge (New Orleans, LA)

Located on the lower Mississippi River a few miles west of New Orleans, the Huey P. Long Bridge is an enormous steel truss bridge that carries both road and rail traffic on an old-time structure that is a fascinating example of a bridge that has evolved in recent years to meet the traffic and safety demands of modern times. While officially located in suburban Jefferson Parish near the unincorporated community of Bridge City, this bridge’s location is most often associated with New Orleans, given that it’s the largest and most recognizable incorporated population center in the nearby vicinity. For this reason, this blog article considers the bridge’s location to be in New Orleans, even though this isn’t 100% geographically correct. Completed in 1935 as the first bridge across the Mississippi River in Louisiana and the first to be built in the New Orleans area, this bridge is one of two bridges on the Mississippi named for Huey P. Long, a Louisiana politician who served as the 40th Gove

Gribblenation

Search This Blog