Here is a challenge to make a Scotland that is predominately Gaelic speaking in the modern day.
Scotland never conquers Edinburgh and the rest of the lowlands. Perhaps it ends up getting conquered by England (likely I think) but then it could be in much the same position as north Wales and Gaelic could survive.
The other point probably would be to have Harold defeat William. That means England would be less expansionist with a foreign military elite in charge. Especially with a south dominating monarchy as they would be looking south and east more and only really paying strong attention to the north if either an invasion or a serious rebellion was under way.
There are now less than 50,000 Gaels in Scotland. Outside the islands I doubt one in ten in most Highland towns would even speak Gaelic, let alone know it as a first language. I used to go out with a girl from Fort William, in the Highlands who took Gaelic in School. Out of a school of hundreds of children, four were in her class.Like everyone else had said, keep the Scottish Kingdom stuck in the highland areas where even now there's a large Gaelic-speaking population.
I think a big part of the problem is that the population in the north is and has been pretty small with few economic opportunities, so there has long been an incentive to leave the area to seek opportunity. In this situation there is a constant export of people to other locations, where they probably will have trouble maintaining their distinct language and culture.
Any POD is going to require either addressing this economic issue or creating another area where this population can transfer to that has this opportunity but where the culture can continue without being subsumed.
On a personal note, a fair proportion of my ancestors were such immigrants, either by way of the Lowlands or Northern England, or directly to the Colonies. My great grandmother was by all accounts fluent in Scots Gaelic (or some Orkney flavour of such) and I think she may have been born in New Zealand, her parents possibly as well. The whole area that they are from is to this day heavily Highlands/Isles Scottish.
So it would appear that a working understanding of Scots Gaelic lasted two generations from immigration, which I find interesting
I dont understand why Scot Gaelic has not really survived. Welsh has survived and is increasing in use I think. Around about 500,000 people speak Welsh compared to 60,000 in Scotland when Scotland has 2 million more people!
Also Wales has had much more English influance and was annexed by England 200 years odd earlier than Scotland was united with England. So why didnt Scot Gaelic really survive as a major language in Scotland?
Firstly, outside the highlands, Gaelic was not really the language of Scotland, the common folk spoke Lallans, or Scots, now Scots English.I dont understand why Scot Gaelic has not really survived. Welsh has survived and is increasing in use I think. Around about 500,000 people speak Welsh compared to 60,000 in Scotland when Scotland has 2 million more people!
Also Wales has had much more English influance and was annexed by England 200 years odd earlier than Scotland was united with England. So why didnt Scot Gaelic really survive as a major language in Scotland?
hmm...I'm not so sure there.
IMO a likely thing to happen given William being defeated is that England will seek to take back the English lands under Scottish occupation.
At the least the lords in the north would.
But this could well lead to much the same place as Lothian never being lost in the first place.