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92,400 people aged three and over in Scotland had some Gaelic language ability in 2001^[2] with an additional 2000 in Nova Scotia. ^[3] 1,610 speakers in the United States in 2000.^[4] 822 in Australia in 2001.^[5] 669 in New Zealand in 2006.^[6]

Scottish Gaelic, a descendant of the Goidelic branch of Celtic and closely related to Irish, is the traditional language of the Scotti or Gaels, and became the historical language of the majority of Scotland after it replaced Cumbric, Pictish and Old Norse. It also replaced English in considerable areas.^[7] It is not clear how long Gaelic has been spoken in what is now Scotland; it has lately been proposed^{[citation needed]} that it was spoken in Argyll before the Roman period, but no consensus has been reached on this question. However, the consolidation of the kingdom of Dál Riata around the 4th century, linking the ancient province of Ulster in the north of Ireland and western Scotland, accelerated the expansion of Gaelic, as did the success of the Gaelic-speaking church establishment. Placename evidence shows that Gaelic was spoken in the Rhinns of Galloway by the 5th or 6th century.^{[citation needed]}

The Gaelic language eventually displaced Pictish north of the Forth, and until the late 15th century it was known in English as Scottis. Gaelic began to decline in mainland Scotland by the beginning of the 13th century, and with this went a decline in its status as a national language. By the beginning of the 15th century, the highland-lowland line was beginning to emerge.^{[citation needed]}

By the early 16th century, English speakers gave the Gaelic language the name Erse (meaning Irish) and thereafter it was invariably the collection of Middle English dialects spoken within the Kingdom of the Scots that they referred to as Scottis (whence Scots). This was ironic as it was at this time that Gaelic was developing its distinctly Scottish forms characteristic of the Modern period^[8]. Nevertheless, Gaelic has never been entirely displaced of national language status, and is still recognised by many Scots,^{[citation needed]} whether or not they speak Gaelic, as being a crucial part of the nation's culture. Of course, others may view it primarily as a regional language of the highlands and islands.^{[citation needed]}

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