Tannas sings a version of Cànan nan Gaidheal. What kind of Gaelic is
this; Irish, Scottish or some other form?

Hello summer95

It's Scottish Gaelic. 

Once I'd found the lyrics I was fairly sure the song was in Scottish
Gaelic. I also noticed some Scottish themes in the song. Tannas itself
was founded by a Scot, in Scotland.

I checked individual Gaelic words in dictionaries. As you will know,
some words are written the same in both Ireland and Scotland, but
there are still plenty of differences.

The lyrics are here:
http://www.geocities.com/celticlyricscorner/tannas/oighreachd.htm

The album title is Oighreachd, meaning Heritage. This would be
Oidhreachta in Ireland. Other differences include:

snow       sneachda (Scotland)        sneachta (Ireland)
island     eilean (Scotland)          oileán (Ireland)
(isles = eileanan)


The song mentions places in Scotland like Drumochter and the Western
Isles. It says 'down to Drumochter', because the Drumochter Pass is
sometimes thought of as the entrance to the southern part of the
Gaelic-speaking Highlands.

'Cànan Nan Gaidheal' also refers to a malady or blight (galair) from
the south (deas) which has caused Gaelic culture to decline, and this
suggests an English influence coming northwards into the once
all-Gaelic Highlands and Islands.

Tannas originally met in Edinburgh, and their record company is based
near Glasgow. The two vocalists, Sandra and Doreen Mackay, are both
from the Isle of Lewis, where there is a strong tradition of singing
(and speaking!) in Scottish Gaelic. Sandra is the founder member of
the band.

The links below lead to some of my sources for this. 

I hope this answers your question fully, but if anything is unclear
please let me know so I can do my best to help.

Best wishes - Leli


Scottish Gàidhlig-English dictionary
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/faclair/sbg/lorg.php

Irish Gaeilge-English dictionary
http://www.englishirishdictionary.com

Gaelic dictionaries
http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/

It can also be helpful to compare searches on Google UK and Google
Ireland to see how often certain words appear.

Heritage Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Oidhreachta
http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/

Tannas
http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/webrevs/cdldl1217.htm

Their record company
http://www.lochshore.com/kframes.html
Click "artists" on the left to find Tannas. 

Sandra Mackay - vocalist
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:TydkhZdp7mQJ:www.northbeat.co.uk/sandra_mackay.htm+tannas+edinburgh&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=34

Sandra Mackay
http://www.footstompin.com/artists/scottish_stepdance_company

"Most of the Highlands fall into the region known as the
Gàidhealtachd, pronounced roughly Gailtahk, which was, within the last
hundred years, the Gaelic speaking area of Scotland. "
"Highland council signs in the Pass of Drumochter, between Glen Garry
and Dalwhinnie, saying "Welcome to the Highlands", are still regarded
as controversial."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlands_of_Scotland

---

Clarification of Answer by leli-ga on 16 Feb 2006 04:50 PST

summer95 - 
When I posted my answer, I hadn't realised hardtofindbooks-ga had
added a comment one minute earlier. It looks as if the answer and the
comment come at your question from different angles, but both arrive
at the same conclusion!
 - Leli

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

It is Scottish Gaelic. 
I believe the Tannas version is s slightly cut down cover of a song by 
Murdo MacFarlane, the Melbost Bard (Murchadh MacPhàrlain, Bàrd Mhealaboist) 
from the Isle of Lewis. The song has been covered by quite a few Scottish artists.
A full version of the lyrics and an English translation can be found here:
http://www.elvendale.de/songs/canan.html
more on MacFarlane:
http://www.hebrides.com/culture/murdo_macfarlane.htm
http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-hianewkvn.RefLocID-hiacg5005001.Lang-EN.htm

hardtofindbooks-ga, Thank you again. That's the second time in as many
weeks that you've been of assistance to me.

Thank you very much, summer95!

I enjoyed working on this, and am glad you found it helpful.

Leli

Thanks summer95

always a pleasure to be of assistance,

slàinte!