From E-mails from two friends of mine in the last couple of days:

1. "When I was in the Glasgow city centre branch of HSBC [Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation - used to be The Midland Bank] I found a particularly poignant sign of the progress the Gaelic language lobby are making in Scotland: the envelopes provided for paying in cheques were bilingual....in Welsh and English! Good news for the Welsh, as it came first and English was relegated to second place, but a slight slap in the face for Gaelic. Did HSBC just think 'any old Celtic language will do'?!"

2. "This may not be as unusual as you might think. In Aberdeen last week I walked past a building site with health and safety notices both in English and Welsh. Whats going on? or in my best Doric fits gaan oan?"

And Tony Blair says that both Welsh and Gaelic are foreign languages as he has to refer to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for translations!

Through the Looking Glass, anyone? :confused: