Inbhe Thèarainte le Tònaidh Dilworth	Secure Status by Tony Dilworth
Bha sinn 'nar suidhe còmhla aig doras an taighe aig' ri cùl gaoithe 's ri aghaidh grèine urard aig Both Easbaig. Esan air a leth-chois 's le feusaig dhùinte, 's mis' mar gum b'ann aig glùn mo sheanar a' sùghadh dom inntinn phàiteach beartas Gaidhealach Srath Teimheil a bh'ann, agus h-iolar fodhainn sa ghleann Loch Teimheil.	"But for the supports," said Donald Dow, "the rafters would fall." We were sitting together at the door of his house, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun up at Bohespick. He had one leg and a full beard and I was as it were at my grandfather's knee absorbing with my thirsty mind the Highland riches of a past Strath Tummel, and down below us in the glen Loch Tummel.
"Thall an t-sin aig Droch'd Choinn'chan," thuirt e, "Bha Stance nan Drobhan far 'm bioch 'n crodh 'g ionaltr' air 'n slighe da Chraoi'. Tha 'm Power Station air 'n làraich nis far 'n robh e."	"Over there at Tummel Bridge," he said, "was the stance of the droves where the cattle used to graze on the way to Crieff. The Power Station is on the site now where it used to be."
"An robh Gàidhlig aig a h-uile neach an uair sin?" dh'fhaighnich mi. "Bha! O, bha! 'Chud 's muth' dhiubh, cha bhioch Biaur'l ac' dar rach'ch aid na sgoil."	"Did everyone speak Gaelic then?" I asked. "Yes! Oh, yes! Most of them wouldn't know English when they went to school."
Ach bha inbhe thèarainte aig a' chànan eile 's chaidh cur as don Ghàidhlig le fòirneart anns na sgoiltean le foghlam an tao' deas, proganda an nàmhaid.	But the other language had secure status and Gaelic was killed off violently in the schools with southern education, the propaganda of the enemy.
Agus tha "cabair" na Gàidhlig a' sìor thuiteam 's an "tugha" a' mùchadh anail a' Ghaidheil, oir chan eil factairean 's uachdarain na Beurla - an Riaghaltas 's Roinn an Fhoghlam - ag ath-nuadhachadh suidheachain na Gàidhlig, 'siad na suidheachain sin Inbhe Thèarainte, bun-stèidh gach cultair, agus as a h-aonais cha bhi ann am foghlam, ged a chanar e trì tursan, ach fraoch gun fhreumhan	And the "rafters" of Gaelic are constantly falling and the "thatch" is smothering the breath of the Gael, for the factors and lairds of English - the Government and Education Department - are not renewing the supports of Gaelic, those supports are Secure Status, the foundation of every culture, and without it education, even if said three times, will be nothing but rootless heather.
Agus cha bhi fo bhreacan an fhèilidh ach cnàimhean 's iad a' dìosgail mar chnàimhneach Seumas a' Ghlinne 'na chèidse aig fur an rathad eadar Bail' a' Chaolais 's Srath na h-Apann.	And there will nothing inside the kilted plaid but bones creaking like the skeleton of James of the Glen in his cage at the edge of the road between Ballachulish and Strath of Appin.
Nach èirich ur cabar oirbh a shliochd nan cas-bheann, 's iad creagach, aigeanta, neo-eisimeileach.	Will you not be aroused, you descendants of the steep mountains, rocky, spirited, independent?

You can find more articles in the archive under Gaelic Column and information on the organization at C.L.I.