Prejudice against Gaelic can be relied on to make occasional appearances in unexpected places. Who would have thought that an intelligent man like Andrew Marr would be moved to express public outrage by a translation of the name Haymarket?

To be fair, and doubtless encouraged by a few friendly flies in his ear, Andrew swiftly recanted, albeit in slightly confusing terms. Anyway, he had come to realise he was “completely wrong” and the signs weren’t really “offensive” or “ridiculous”, so credit where it is due.

I guess Andrew might also have been slightly embarrassed by the calibre of online support his initial remarks attracted. In any other context, they would rightly have been judged racist; the venom of bullies who take pleasure from kicking something they think weak enough not to have a voice.

There is no rational basis for such hostility to a minority language, driven to the edges of survival, which barely impinges upon the life of most Scots. The public money spent in its support scarcely equates to an accounting error. Its public visibility is modest even if some of it, like police cars in Fife, seems a bit pointless. Prejudice towards Gaelic and its use is longstanding and exists solely within Scotland. Nobody else cares. Like many minority languages, it has gradually retreated in the face of hostility and indifference. To the annoyance of its foes, it continues to display resilience.

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The sensible question is how Gaelic can be given a fair chance to survive in those places where it is still in daily use; an objective........

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