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

Chowchilla Mountain Road to Yosemite National Park

Chowchilla Mountain Road of Mariposa County is one of the oldest roadways servicing Yosemite National Park. As presently configured this fourteen-mile highway begins at California State Route 49 near Elliot Corner and terminates at the Wawona Road in Yosemite National Park. Chowchilla Mountain Road was constructed as a franchise toll road over Battalion Pass circa 1869-1870. The highway was built at behest of Galen Clark to connect the town of Mariposa to his property near the South Fork Merced River at what is now Wawona. In late 1874 the highway along with Clark’s Station would be purchased by the Washburn Brothers. The Washburn Brothers would continue to toll Chowchilla Mountain Road as part of their Yosemite Stage Route lines. The highway would ultimately become a Mariposa County public highway in 1917. Mariposa would later be more directly linked with Yosemite Valley in 1926 following the completion of the Yosemite All-Year Highwa...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog