Siol nan Gaidheal
Encyclopedia
Name
The name, properly spelled Sìol nan Gàidheal (ˈʃiəlˠ̪ nəŋ ˈkɛː.əlˠ̪) is Scottish Gaelic for Seed of the Gaels. The term sìol has numerous meanings, most commonly translated as "breed, brood, lineage, progeny, seed".. In genealogy, the meaning of "lineage, progeny" is the most common, for example the MacDonaldsClan Donald
Clan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan...
usually being Sìol Dhòmhnaill
Donald
Donald is a male given name. It is an anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic or Irish Gaelic personal name Domhnall, Dòmhnall, Dumhnuil and/or Dónall. This contains the elements dumno meaning "world" and val meaning "rule" . Compare Dumnorix...
in Gaelic.
General overview
Radical nationalism in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
consists of a mixture of Scottish nationalist traditions, which have influenced the creation and development of the movement known as Siol nan Gaidheal.
The Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
, a political party that seeks Scottish Independence
Scottish independence
Scottish independence is a political ambition of political parties, advocacy groups and individuals for Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state, separate from England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
, is made up from a very different mix of nationalist traditions from those that influence Siol nan Gaidheal. Most significantly, Siol nan Gaidheal's concerns are mainly cultural and social
Social
The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...
whereas those of the Scottish National Party are mainly political and economic. Siol nan Gaidheal has stated no interest in contesting elections as it deems electoral politics to be the remit of the Scottish National Party. SnG has always declared itself ultranationalists in the sense that the Nationalist Revolution will start only when a sovereign Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
is set up.
History
In the 1980s, Siol nan Gaidheal produced a detailed magazine called Firinn Albannach (Truth of Scotland), which is described as having a rhetoric which was "anti-communist, neo-fascist and sometimes violent in tone".Jackie Stokes re-established Siol nan Gaidheal in 1997, concentrating mainly on the website and its forum. It was during this period that chapters were set up in the United States of America and in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as a focus for the Scottish diaspora in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. After Stokes's death on 24 July 2001, the projects carried out by SnG have been scaled down, with the website in "Alba" (Scotland) and those in the US and Canada becoming the main focus for SnG members and supporters and other nationalists around the world.
In May 2006, SnG held its first Ard Fhèis (festival) in 14 years, in Dalwhinnie
Dalwhinnie
Dalwhinnie "Meeting Place" is a small village in the Scottish Highlands.-Location:Dalwhinnie sits at an altitude of 351 m. It is one of the coldest villages in the UK, having an average annual temperature of 6.5oC, making it suitable for winter walking and mountaineering.It is north of Drumochter,...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
General views of Siol nan Gaidheal
The Siol nan Gaidheal website sums up its views as follows:- "The Siol nan Gaidheal organisation supports the revival of the Folkic traditions of Scotland and the Gaelic and Scots languages. The land of Scotland from which we as a people and our culture spring, is central to our vision. Sustainable land use is vital for the future of our country. Land must be reclaimed for the benefit of our people. Siol nan Gaidheal seeks to liberate the Scottish people from the worst excesses of English/British Cultural Imperialism and believes that English people resident in Scotland will integrate into and make a full contribution to the community of Scotland. SnG will dedicate itself to fulfilling our commitments to our country and people, we will thus not stand idly by and watch our country being used, abused or betrayed by enemies both internal and external. We are content to leave party political action to the Scottish National Party and the forth-coming Scottish Parliament. SnG exists to promote, safeguard and stimulate a third Scottish Renaissance which will use the best past traditions of Scotland to forge a new Nation which will be an example to the world."