This review considers the revitalisation programme for Scottish Gaelic (referred to simply as `Gaelic' [galik] by its speakers) which has gathered pace since the 1980s. Gaelic is a minority Celtic language with approximately 58,000 speakers in Scotland (Scottish Government, 2015) and 1,500 speakers in Canada (Statistique Canada, 2016). Gaelic in Scotland developed from the Old Irish spoken by people moving back and forth between Ireland and Scotland in the 4th-5th centuries and eventually became the language spoken across almost all of Scotland in the high medieval era (11th-12th centuries). Since this time, language shift has been taking place in Scotland and locations where the majority of the population speak Gaelic are now confined to north and west Highland areas such as the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides). Frequent waves of migration from Scotland have led to diasporic populations of Gaelic speakers including the substantial settlements in Nova Scotia, Canada, where many Gaelic speakers emigrated in the late18th and early 19th centuries.