Type | Monthly |
---|---|
Founded | 1925 |
Language | Scottish Gaelic |
Ceased publication | 1927 |
City | Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada |
An Solus Iùil ( lit. 'The Guiding Light') was a Scottish Gaelic-language religious newspaper published in the mid-1920s in Sydney, Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island. The paper's slogan, "Is ann ad sholus dealrach glan, chì sinne solus iùil", comes from Psalms 36:9 and translates into English as 'In a pure shining light, we will see a guiding light'. [1]
When An Solus Iùil launched in 1925, it intended to publish monthly, but after a few months the paper's publication became less frequent. The final issue was published in 1927. Each issue was just eight-pages long and included no advertising, but was apparently supported by the United Church of Canada. It provided significant coverage of church-related news, including ministerial appointments and church meetings. Details of its ownership and editor were not made clear in the paper; the March 1925 issue indicated it was published by authority of the Church Union Council of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, but later issues lacked any such notice. [2]
Among the content published in An Solus Iùil were several còmhraidhean ( lit. 'conversations'), a distinctive 19th-century Gaelic literary device similar to Socratic dialogues. [3] Unlike the còmhraidhean that appeared in other Gaelic-language publications in Nova Scotia, at least two of the An Solus Iùil còmhradhean were clearly written by a Canadian author, not reprints of previous Scottish còmhraidhean, and focused on the creation of the United Church and emigration away from Nova Scotia. [4]