Tha am facal eilid a’ nochdadh gu tric ann an ainmean-àite air a’ Ghàidhealtachd, mar a tha Ruairidh MacIlleathain a’ mìneachadh / The Gaelic name for the red deer hind appears frequently in the Highland landscape, as Roddy Maclean explains.

Èildean ann an Ainmean-àite

Tha am facal eilid gu math cumanta mar eileamaid ann an ainmean-àite, gu h-àraidh ann an sgìrean monadail, agus e a’ dearbhadh cho cudromach ’s a bha am fiadh do na Gàidheil thar an eachdraidh. Na chruth bhunaiteach, tha e a’ nochdadh mar ainm a’ chnuic as àirde ann an Eilean Ghruinneirt ann an Ros an Iar (‘An Eilid’); bha an t-àite sin uaireigin air a chur gu feum mar dheuchainn-lann airson armachd bhith-eòlasach, agus cha robh e fàilteachail do dh’èildean idir!

©John MacPherson/SNH

Na chruth ghinideach iolra, bidh e a’ nochdadh cuideachd mar eilid – mar sin tha Creag nan Eilid ann (Ros an Iar cuideachd), Druim nan Eilid (Na Tròisichean) agus Sgeir nan Eilid (Loch nan Uamh, Àrasaig). Ge-tà, nochdaidh e cuideachd anns a’ chruth èildean, leithid ann an Cnuic nan Èildean (Cnòideart) agus Eilean nan Èildean (Loch Teacuis làimh ri Loch Shuaineart); tha an t-eilean a’ faighinn ainm bho chnoc air tìr-mòr – Tom nan Èildean.

Anns an tuiseal ghinideach shingilte, ’s e (na h-)èilde a chanas sinn, agus tha e anns an dreach sin ann an Cnoc na h-Èilde ann an Ìle, Làirig Èilde (deas air Gleanna Comhann) agus Tom na h-Èilde (Gleann Shannda). Agus tha am buadhair brèagha eilideach (‘làn èildean’) ri lorg ann am Beinn Eilideach (no Beinn Eildeach gu h-ionadail) a tha os cionn Ullapuil ann an dùthaich far an lorgar an ‘damh donn ’s na h-èildean’ fhathast.

©Laurie Campbell/SNH

Hinds in Place-names

The word eilid (‘AY-litch’) is common, not only in Gaelic nature poetry, but as a naming element in the Highland landscape, referring to the hind (female) of the red deer, and demonstrating the animal’s importance to the Gaels throughout their history. In its basic form An Eilid ‘the hind’, it is the name of the highest hill on Gruinard Island in Wester Ross, a location once infamous for being a testing site for biological weaponry, and not a happy place for hinds!

©Lorne Gill/SNH

In the plural possessive (genitive) form, it can also be eilid – thus we get hill names such as Creag nan Eilid ‘the crag of the hinds’ (also in Wester Ross), Druim nan Eilid ‘the ridge of the hinds’ (Trossachs) and Sgeir nan Eilid ‘the skerry of the hinds’ (Loch nan Uamh near Arisaig). However, it can also appear as èildean as in Cnuic nan Èildean ‘the hills of the hinds’ (Knoydart) and Eilean nan Èildean ‘the island of the hinds’ (Loch Teacuis); the last takes its name from an adjacent mainland hill – Tom nan Èildean.

The singular possessive form ‘of (the) hind’ is (na h-)èilde as in Cnoc na h-Èilde ‘the hill of the hind’ (Islay), Làirig Èilde ‘hind pass’ (Glencoe) and Tom na h-Èilde ‘the knoll of the hind’ in Glensanda. And the lovely adjectival form eilideach ‘abounding in hinds’ is to be found in Beinn Eilideach (locally Beinn Eildeach) above Ullapool in country still inhabited by red deer.