Hielan Man's Umbrella

This is one of the famous landmarks in Glasgow city centre. I heard about it long before I moved down from the islands.
In the 19th century tens of thousands of Highlanders were evicted and forced to move south to the cities or abroad.
The dispossessed who came to Glasgow arrived in an alien city with a strange English tongue that was foreign to most of them.
When they could, the Gaelic speaking Highlanders and Islanders sought each other out in their adopted city, often meeting under the rail bridge from Central Station. Through time it became known as the Hielan' Man's Umbrella.
In later years, sailors who had returned from sea would make their way here to meet other Islanders and Highlanders - my own father was one of them - maintaining a long tradition.
Nowadays, people from the north enjoy each others company and listen to Gaelic songs and music in more comfortable surroundings in the city like the Park Bar, the Islay Inn and the Snaffle Bit - an area known as the Gaelic triangle.
And the Hielan Man's Umbrella?
Well, when I saw it for the first time I can remember being a bit disappointed - the area was definitely down at heel and not very welcoming.
You don't meet many Gaelic speakers there any more but the name survives.