Isle of Lewis Gaelic

[The Q]

Having lived in the Hebridies in the 70 s and 80s for the most part i'd agree with Figheadair. However I did come across the elderly who after leaving school never had to use English again and effectively had lost the use of the English.

In the 70s you could only get BBC1 TV (405line black and white) and BBC radio 2 longwave (247metres) . Mains Electricty was not in Every home, and for the majority had arrived in their lifetime. So there was little exposure to the English. You would also find the odd one who refused the talk the English to the English and by their definition the English are any English speaker.
This definition is also why many hebrideans say the English carried out the Highland clearances when it was Scots police / hired men from Glasgow.

In 1976 when I joined the Royal Air Force one of the other recruits was from north Wales, Welsh being his first language. When marching it was like Corporal Jones in Dads Army on every command he was always late carrying it out as he translated it to Welsh in his head. I'll admit he wasn't the brightest of recruits but he just wasn't used to the English.
I'll also admit I can't speak any other language other than English as much as I have tried. Unlike my brother brought up with the English at home and the Gaelic at school, he can now speak half a dozen languages.

Michael
The most likely ferry if you went directly to Stornoway would be that from Ullapool, however there is a ferry from Uig on Skye to Tarbert on Harris and then you drive to Stornoway.

[Michael Weatherhead]

I can't remember all the details, of where we left from, or where we exited the ferry. All I remember is being really sea-sick, on the way out there. On the way back to the mainland, I was fine. But visiting Harris and Lewis was a once in a lifetime experience. Also met a guy, there, (in our church) who was a crab fisherman. He had the STRONGEST handshake, was built like sold rock. He gave us some king crab, which we boiled up for dinner. He also gave us some fish. The fish was the BEST I ever tasted. (didn't like the crab so much)

[The Q]

That crossing can be very rough, on the way to school, on one occasion we took 5 hours for a two hour crossing from Lochmaddy to Uig. The ferry from Stornoway that day partly tipped over and vehicles on board smashed into each other.