In the late 1700s, Cape Breton Island was home to a few thousand Mi'kmaq and French Acadians. By 1840 they had been joined by 40,000 Highland Scots. These were Gaelic speakers from the Western Isles and Highlands of Scotland. The establishment of the North American Gaidhealtachd (land of the Gaels) provides the basis for Nova Scotia's claim to be the "New Scotland". Ceilidh (pronounced 'kaylee' in English) is the Gaelic word for 'visit', and given highland hospitality, a visit was an excuse for a house party. The informality of the house ceilidh was the natural setting for the transmission of Gaelic culture. It was this culture that sustained the Highland Scot through the Age of Pillages, the Post Culloden restrictions, the Clearances and pioneer struggles. Today in Cape Breton a 'ceilidh' is a variety concert featuring fiddle and bagpipe music, step dancers, and singers, all the entertainments that would have been expected in Highland society in antiquity.