Talk:East Lothian

Gaelic name

Including the Gaelic name for East Lothian seems completely ridiculous to me - it's like giving the Welsh name for Norfolk! john k 17:07, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Wrong. Gaelic is an official language in Scotland.--Mais oui! 17:36, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

I suppose, but Gaelic has never, ever, ever, been spoken in East Lothian - no native of Haddington has ever called his county "Lodainn an Ear" in his native language. My understanding was that for geographical place names we give a) the name used locally; and b) any other names in some common use in English. I've never heard a "use every name in an official language of the country" convention. The implication of giving the Gaelic is that East Lothian is a Gaelic area, which it isn't, and has never been. john k 17:47, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

On the other hand, we do give "Columbie-Britannique", and so forth, and the German and Italian names for Geneva, and the Dutch names for Walloon cities, so whatever. john k 17:48, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Seems like bureaucracy gone daft, ironing out local heritage and traditions. Gaelic was the ruling classes language briefly, around 11th to 12th centuries, then back to Inglis. It seemed rather nice having CalMac ferries with names in two languages to honour the west coast connections, but if it becomes universal it'll just be boring. And here I was today, pointing out the butter mountain (Ben Ime) to a visitor. ....dave souza, talk 18:01, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

I was a proud member of the Mod winning North Berwick Junior Gaelic Choir in 1990... Not that we ever exactly spoke the language, but it exists in one form or another throughout Scotland. Deizio 00:19, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Did you know?

Two articles from the places of interest section - North Berwick Harbour and Seacliff were in the "Did you know?" section on the main page on March 27th and March 24th repectively. I'm hoping for other E.L. coverage, and encourage others to submit any articles they create (within 5 days of creation) about the county at Template talk:Did you know. Deizio 00:20, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Neighbouring 'counties'

I imagine the local government county bordered also on the county of city of Ediburgh. Laurel Bush 10:44, 23 August 2006 (UTC).

Perhaps this
Although border changes saw several villages on the outskirts of Edinburgh (e.g. Whitecraig) transferred to the city, most residents of the "old Haddingtonshire" do not regard them as part of the same county.
should read
Border changes saw several villages on the outskirts of Edinburgh (e.g. Whitecraig) transferred to the city, and most residents of the "old Haddingtonshire" do not regard them as part of the same county.
Even so, I am not sure what it is intended to mean.
Laurel Bush 14:35, 31 August 2006 (UTC).

Gaelic

Slightly laughable giving a Gaelic name for this county. It has not been spoken in the Lowlands for the best part of 1000 years, and today less that 10% of Scots can effectively speak it, and they are all closetted in Highland outposts. Unlike the Irish, the Scots have never asserted Gaelic was their official language, so why this barmy (SNP?) insistance on giving county names in Gaelic? Why not, say, give them in French? David Lauder 10:06, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Slightly laughable that you bothered ever sharing your ignorance on Gaelic while exemplifying the anti-Scottish cause for "Lowland" attitudes towards it. George Buchanan was a native Gaelic speaker from Stirlingshire (as late as the 16th century!) and Lothian was the only part of Scotland that remained non Gaelic although names such as "Craigmillar" suggest that Gaelic was spoken even in Edinburgh. The SNP go out of their way not to promote Gaelic precisely because they are aware of the entrenched and biggoted negative attitudes that have developped (and been strengthened by unionism and the unionist ambitions of the Stuarts) which would lose them the Lowland anti-Gaelic ignoramus vote. Without an understanding of Gaelic, Midlothian names such as Inchcolm and Balerno would remain seemingly meaningless. 92.235.178.44 (talk) 22:32, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

I concur. Although to be fair they should be in Norðhymbrisc. Brendandh 20:43, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Local media

The Courier and EL News should be split into individual articles, ditto East Lothian Life if it is notable, with the articles bluelinked from the county page. It's not appropriate to use the county page for unsourced paragraphs about local media. Deiz talk 14:48, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Innerleithen is a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders.

The name "Innerleithen" comes from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "confluence of the Leithen, because it is here that the river joins the Tweed rivers. The prefix "Inner-/Inver-" (Inbhir-) is common in many Scottish placenames such as Inverness. At this confluence the Tweed flows approximately west-east, and the Leithen flows from the north. (If Gaelic was spoken in the Borders (and by the Kings of Northumbria thanks to the influence of Iona over Christianity on Lindesfarne,) how likely is it that Gaelic was never spoken in East Lothian? Besides which, its one of the three national languages of scotland!)92.235.178.44 (talk) 22:56, 11 August 2009 (UTC)