 This was followed in 1616 by an act of the privy council which included a requirement that the children of the Highland nobility must be capable of speaking, reading and writing English if they were to be recognised as heirs.The history of Gaelic language schools (in the modern sense) in Scotland can be traced back to the early 18th century and the schools of the Scottish Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge or SSPCK.Ironically, one of the primary aims of the society was the de-Gaelicisation of the Highlands and initially its schools taught exclusively through the medium of the English language with the equivalent use of Gaelic prohibited.