Cainnt is Ceathramhan | Language and Lyrics is collaborative project to catalogue, digitize, transcribe and facilitate access to the Gaelic songs and folklore of Nova Scotia.

The initial phase of the project (2018-22) produced a searchable index of over 6,000 Gaelic songs made or known in Nova Scotia with over 1,000 digitized texts. The database was created in close collaboration with the Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic (DASG), and with support from Gaelic Affairs Nova Scotia, the Beaton Institute and the Highland Village Museum. Read more about the project here.

The current phase of the project (2022-2025) is focused on the Cape Breton Gaelic Folklore Collection housed at St Francis Xavier University. Working again in collaboration with DASG, the Cainnt is Ceathramhan team is re-cataloguing, transcribing and improving access to the over 2,000 items which make up this important collection. Other key project partners include Gaelic Affairs Nova Scotia, Highland Village Museum, Colaisde na Gàidhlig | Gaelic College, staff at St Francis Xavier University and the collection’s creator, Dr. John Shaw. Find out more here.

(Photo: ‘North Shore Milling Frolic’ / 1984 / Owen Fitzgerald / item no. 84-426-14526. Used with kind permission of the Beaton Institute)