The marsh marigold is a vivid reminder of the close links between Gaelic culture and the Scottish seasons, as Ruairidh MacIlleathain explains. Read the full Gaelic version below.

Buidhe aig a’ Bhealltainn.  Bha, and tha, lus buidhe Bealltainn a’ comharrachadh toiseach an t-samhraidh ann an inntinn nan Gàidheal. The yellow Beltane plant. To Scotland’s Gaels, the marsh marigold in bloom is a traditional symbol of the start of summer.  ©Lorne Gill/SNH

The day that starts the summer, now the first of May, is still known in Gaelic as latha buidhe Bealltainn – the ‘yellow day of Beltane’. Buidhe, however, doesn’t just mean ‘yellow’. It also has suggestions of good fortune. This plant, which bears yellow flowers at the time of Beltane (the English word came from Gaelic), is lucky – its blooms would often be tied above doorways or to the tails of horses or cattle to bring good fortune. The Gaelic name for the species is lus buidhe Bealltainn (sounds like ‘looss boo-yuh BYOWL-tin’) or the ‘yellow plant of Beltane’.

Another species named for this season is the whimbrel – eun Bealltainn (‘eeun BYOWL-tin’), actually meaning ‘bird of Beltane’. And Tullybelton in Perthshire would have experienced the fires through which cattle and other goods were passed as part of the purification rites of this pre-Christian festival. Its name comes from the Gaelic Tulach Bealltainn or ‘Beltane hill’. The two greatest festivals in the old Gaelic calendar were Bealltainn and, six months later, Samhain – the start of winter. The first day of Samhain is still widely celebrated in Gaelic Scotland, as it is in the English-speaking world, where it’s called ‘Halloween’.

Eun Bealltainn / Whimbrel ©David Whitaker

Tha na Gàidheil fhathast a’ comharrachadh na Bealltainn, co-dhiù le bhith ag ainmeachadh a’ chiad latha dhen Chèitean mar ‘Latha Buidhe Bealltainn’. Tha ‘buidhe’ an dà chuid na chomharra de dhath agus de dheagh fhortan (canaidh sinn ‘nach buidhe dhut’ gu cumanta fhathast). Bha Bealltainn bhò thùs na fèill phàganach a bha na inntrigeadh don t-samhradh. Bha e aig ceann eile na bliadhna bho ‘Shamhain’, fèill phàganach eile a bha a’ comharrachadh toiseach a’ gheamhraidh. Chanadh na seann daoine ‘bho Shamhain gu Bealltainn’ nuair a bha iad a’ ciallachadh an leth fuar dhen bhliadhna.

Tha Bealltainn air a comharrachadh ann an lus dùthchasach air an nochd dìtheannan buidhe mun àm sin dhen bhliadhna. ’S e sin Caltha palustris, lus ris an canar marsh marigold ann am Beurla. Ann an Gàidhlig, ’s e ‘lus buidhe Bealltainn’ an t-ainm a th’ air. Bhiodh daoine a’ cur dìtheannan an luis seo os cionn an dorsan airson droch gheasan a sheachnadh; uaireannan bhite gan ceangal ri earbaill cruidh air an dearbh adhbhar. Is cinnteach gu bheil dath an luis co-cheangailte ris mar a bha daoine ga thomhas mar fhortanach.

©Lorne Gill/SNH

Tha e mar as trice blàth gu leòr aig a’ Bhealltainn ach corra uair cuirear an sneachd mu dheireadh dhen gheamhradh aig an àm sin. Thathar a’ gabhail ‘sneachd mu bheul na Bealltainn’ air a leithid. Agus bhiodh na balaich ag èisteachd airson na cuthaig air latha na Bealltainn. Nan cluinneadh iad i, dh’èigheadh iad “‘Gug-ùg!’ ars a’ chuthag Latha Buidhe Bealltainn”. Agus mhothaich na seann daoine gum biodh an t-eun beag ris an canar a whimbrel ann am Beurla a’ nochdadh aig an àm sin a h-uile bliadhna (coltach ris a’ chuthaig, bidh e a’ cur seachad a’ gheamhraidh ann an Afraga). Mar sin thug iad ‘eun Bealltainn’ air mar ainm.

B’ e an seann chleachdadh a bhith a’ togail dà theine air Latha na Bealltainn tron chùirte sprèidh is iomadh rud eile airson an ùrachadh is dìon an aghaidh droch bhuidseachd. Thathar a’ smaoineachadh gu bheil Tullybelton/Tulach Bealltainn ann an Siorrachd Pheairt am measg nan àiteachan anns an tachradh a leithid. Ged nach eil an t-seann fhèill Cheilteach seo air a comharrachadh gu mòr ann an Alba an-diugh, tha i air beatha ùr fhaighinn anns na bliadhnaichean a chaidh air an oidhche mu dheireadh dhen Ghiblean air Cnoc na Calltainn ann an Dùn Èideann. Ged a tha dreach rudeigin ùr-nòsach oirre, tha teine aig meadhan a’ ghnothaich fhathast.

Gheibhear tuilleadh sgeulachdan air ar làraich Ghàidhlig.

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