- author, Ruairid Mashibel
- role, BBC Naidheedan
Gaelic scholars have called for greater recognition of the contribution Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew has made to the study of Gaelic.
Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte traveled to Scotland in 1858 and gathered information about the Gaelic language and the Scots.
Rob O Maoraray, professor of Gaelic at the University of Glasgow, said Mr Bonaparte was a pioneer because he was early on in fieldwork in language research.
He visited a Gaelic chapel in Perth and attended a sermon at Kilmurry in Lochaber to hear Gaelic being spoken.
His uncle Napoleon was one of history’s greatest military commanders, winning battles across Europe, and was Emperor of France.
His French army was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 by an allied force that included British, Dutch, German, and Prussian soldiers.
Napoleon surrendered and was exiled to the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died in 1821.
His nephew Louis Lucien was a philologist who studied the history of languages.
Professor O. Maolallai said the prince was admired in Wales for his work on the Welsh language, but was little known in Scotland.
He traveled to Scotland in 1858, visiting Gaelic and Scots acquaintances. Among them was the pastor of the church.
Professor O. Maolarai said the prince traveled incognito, the general public did not know who he was, and that his tours visited the Isle of Skye and the Shetland Islands.
In Inverness, Louis Lucien searched for a Gaelic translation of the Biblical text, and then attended a sermon by the Reverend Archibald Clark in Kilmurry.
Professor O. Maoralai said: “He was clearly interested in sounds and had acquired some kind of language fluency.
“He was a pioneer in emphasizing fieldwork and actually speaking to native speakers rather than relying solely on the written word. He was ahead of his time.
“I think this deserves to be recorded in history.”
The prince’s fluency in Gaelic is unknown, although some accounts claim that he was very fluent.
“I think the truth lies somewhere in between,” Professor O Maolalaigh said.