History of Scottish Gaelic
All surviving dialects are Highland and/or Hebridean dialects. Dialects of Lowland Gaelic have become defunct since the demise of Galwegian Gaelic, originally spoken in Galloway, which seems to have been the last Lowland dialect and which survived into the Modern Period. By the 18th century Lowland Gaelic had been largely replaced by Lowland Scots across much of Lowland Scotland. According to a reference in "The Carrick Covenanters " by James Crichton, the last place in the Lowlands where Scottish Gaelic was still spoken was the village of Barr in Carrick: only a few miles inland to the east of Girvan, but at one time very isolated. Crichton gives neither date nor details.
Gaelic-speaking congregations in the Church of Scotland
The report notes that many former Gaelic-speaking congregations had moved directly from traditional Gaelic services to English only and had not sought to embrace even an element of Gaelic worship. Nevertheless, in Scottish society as a whole, there is a considerable and growing, interest in Gaelic, illustrated by the preparation of A National Plan for Gaelic in response to a Scottish Government initiative; the establishing of Bord na Gàidhlig; the development of Gaelic education; increase in the number of adults learning the language and the development of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye. Two key recommendations are made: