Louis Lucien Bonaparte learning Gaelic
A linguist's enthusiasm for the Gaelic language

Louis Lucien Bonaparte learning Gaelic

Louis Lucien Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon, was a linguist whose who is mainly remembered today for his work on the Basque language. It is perhaps less known that he has been engaged in learning a number of other languages, including Gaelic. According to a contemporary news lead (5 September 1858) during his visit to Scotland he actively worked on acquiring Gaelic and managed to achieve some level of fluency in it: "Yesterday, Wick was visited by no less a personage than Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte, on a tour through the north and islands of Scotland. The prince arrived at the Caledonian Hotel, after visiting Thurso, and left this morning for Shetland, purposing on his return to visit Kirkwall and Stromness, and then to proceed to the Hebrides. During his stay in Inverness and neighbourhood, Prince Bonaparte made great progress in leaning the Gaelic language, which he already speaks with considerable fluency. During his brief stay here, Provost Waters attended on the prince, and gave him all necessary information regarding the locality and the district to which he purposes travelling. The prince travels incognito and unattended." Irish efforts at learning Gaelic Origins of the English breakfast tea North polar exploration Father Hyacinthe, a scholar of Chinese Tragedy in Klondyke The Long Walk of the Navajo Sir Douglas Forsyth