Gael of words blows from New Lanark

New Lanark pupils Chris Milloy,Lily Patton and Freddie Lyon with Councillor Marrs and (2nd right) Catriona Zappert

A beginners guide to Scottish Gaelic has been written and illustrated by the parent of a New Lanark school pupil.

Catriona Zappert, whose daughter Lily attends the school in a village which has a strong Highland heritage, wrote the 16-page book to help children easily pronounce and learn Gaelic words.

A family of fairies – called the Gaels – are used to introduce a range of Gaelic words with phonetic pronunciation and Lily’s fellow pupils were the first to get their hands on a copy of her mum’s book and enjoyed a read-through by the author.

Catriona said: “I’m so pleased the pupils seemed interested in the book and how it connected to the English language. Some of them picked it up right away and were shouting out how to pronounce words before me!”

Lanark area councillor Julia Marrs, the council’s spokeperson for youth, said: “Congratulations to Catriona for producing such a well thought out and easy to understand book for Gaelic beginners.”

The book, published with the council’s help, will now be distributed to other schools in the area. To use a word taken from Gaelic - smashing!