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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 2005 (SND, online supplement).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GAIDHEALTACHD, prop.n. ['gɑəltaxk] The Gaelic-speaking Highlands s.v. Hieland I. 1.Sc. 1983 Derick S. Thomson ed. The Companion to Gaelic Scotland 109:
Early statements about the extent of Gaelic speaking note only the presence of Gaelic in Scotland as a whole, or its existence in certain places, and do not readily lend themselves to a definition of the Gaidhealtachd's actual extent or of the numbers speaking Gaelic ...Sc. 1995 J. Derrick McClure Scots and Its Literature 172:
The effect of this is that the Lowlands, like the Highlands, is still largely a bilingual region; but whereas in the Gaidhealtachd the situation is theoretically comparable to that of Belgium or Quebec, with two distinct languages being used on an 'either-or' basis, in the Lowlands bilingualism operates rather on a basis of 'more-less'.Arg. 1999 Ian A. Fraser The Place-Names of Arran 45:
Casan is certainly an obsolete word in most of the Gaidhealtachd. One of the few instances of its use is in the Gaelic form of the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, which are locally called Casan Ghlinne Ruaidh.Sc. 2000 Scotland on Sunday 26 Nov :
"Far too much of the Gaelic TV money has gone straight to the big companies in Glasgow. Do we really have all that much to show for almost 10 years of funding? We need more and stronger independent companies and more jobs in the Gaidhealtachd."Sc. 2001 Scotsman 12 Dec :
MacPherson makes two principal recommendations — that there should be a "Gaelic or Gaidhealtachd" department within the government, and a public Gaelic agency through which funding for the language should be channelled.Sc. 2002 Scotsman 25 Jul :
Inverness is an English-speaking city on the outer fringes of the Gaidhealtachd. The Gaelic heartland is in the islands, particularly the Western Isles.Sc. 2003 Scotsman 25 Sep :
A new film to be shown tonight examines how photographers have depicted the Gaels and the Gaidhealtachd (Gaelic homelands) since those first images a century and a half ago.Sc. 2004 Wilson McLeod in J. Derrick McClure Scottish Language 23 68:
Gaelic was once spoken throughout almost all of Scotland, but language shift in the south and east of the country during the late Middle Ages meant that Gaelic became largely confined to the north and west of the country (the 'Highlands' or 'Gàidhealteachd') from the fourteenth century onwards.