Bidh daoine a’ ceangal aiteann ri sine ach air a’ Ghàidhealtachd tha am preas cuideachd ceangailte ri uisge-beatha / Juniper is intimately linked with gin but, in the Highlands of Scotland, it also has connections to whisky …

Aiteann – ceangal eadar Dà Dheoch

Anns na làithean seo, nuair a tha tòrr thaighean-staile beaga gan cur air chois air a’ Ghàidhealtachd, bidh an fheadhainn a tha gan ruith gu tric a’ dèanamh sine, oir bheir i airgead a-steach fhad ’s a tha an t-uisge-beatha a’ tighinn gu ìre ann am baraillean daraich. Ge-tà, chan e rud ùr a th’ ann gu bheil ceangal ann eadar sine agus uisge-beatha. Ged as iad staoineagan (dearcan aitinn) a chuireas am blas àraidh ann an sine, bhiodh na Gàidheil, gu h-àraidh ann am meadhan na Gàidhealtachd, a’ losgadh fiodh a’ phris seo nuair a bha iad ris a’ phoit-dhuibh sa mhonadh, agus e an aghaidh an lagh. Carson? Uill, cha tig toit mhòr sam bith às an fhiodh agus chan fhaigheadh na gèidsearan lorg orra. ’S e sin as coireach gur e ‘connadh nam mèirleach’ a chanas feadhainn ri fiodh an aitinn (cho math ris an droigheann-dubh).

©Laurie Campbell/SNH

Thathar a’ cumail a-mach gun do chaill an dùthaich tòrr dhen aiteann aice bho dheireadh an ochdamh linn deug a-mach, agus am poball a’ dèanamh an uisge-bheatha fhèin leis gun robh deoch-làidir cho daor, taing do chìsean is laghan riaghaltais. Roimhe sin, biodh Gàidheil a’ cruinneachadh staoineagan anns na coilltean airson an cur a-null don Òlaind, far an robhar a’ dèanamh sine leotha. Tha ceangal inntinneach eile ann eadar an dà dheoch – bhiodh na Gàidheil aig aon àm a’ cur dearcan is duilleagan de ghrunn sheòrsachan ann an uisge-beatha airson a bhlasachadh. Nam measg, bhiodh staoineagan.

Tha an t-aiteann a’ nochdadh ann an grunn ainmean-àite, leithid Tom Aitinn, deas air Inbhir Nis, far a bheilear a’ dèanamh uisge-beatha, Caochan Aitinn agus Ruigh Aiteachain (coille bheag aitinn) anns a’ Mhonadh Ruadh, agus Ruighean an Aitinn ann an Asainte. Thathar a’ dèanamh dheth gun tàinig am facal aiteann bho fhreumh Ind-Eòrpach a’ ciallachadh ‘biorach’, mar thuairisgeul air cumadh nan duilleagan. Ann an Gàidhlig na h-Èireann, tha aiteann a’ ciallachadh ‘conasg’.

Cnap Chaochan Aitinn ann an àite iomallach sa Mhonadh Ruadh. Saoil an robh poitean-dubha air an obrachadh faisg air làimh?! Cnap Chaochan Aitinn ‘the lump of the juniper streamlet’, is named from the burn to its immediate west – Caochan Aitinn – whose name is an indication of a past ecology and might suggest the possibility of nearby whisky distilling! Detail from OS One inch map (pub. 1927). Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Bhathar a’ cur an aitinn gu feum ann an dòighean eile cuideachd, leithid mar stuth brodach agus airson a dhol ann an cungaidhean. Bhathar cuideachd ga chur gu feum airson casg-breith adhbharachadh, agus bhathar a’ cleachdadh staoineagan briste ann am fuar-lite mar leigheas air bìdeadh nathrach. Ann an Srath Spè, bhite ga losgadh air Latha na Bliadhn’ Ùire ann an bàthaichean, stàballan is taighean mar dhòigh gus na h-àiteachan ùrachadh. ’S dòcha gun robh e uaireigin air a chur gu feum ann an taighean airson an deathachadh às dèidh do ghalar a bhith ann.

Anns na h-Eileanan an Iar, bhiodh daoine a’ cumail pìos aitinn a-staigh airson an taigh a dhìon bho theine. Ge-tà, chan e ‘aiteann’ a chanar ris mar as trice anns na h-eileanan, ach iubhar-beinne no iubhar-talmhainn, oir bidh e a’ fàs gu h-ìosal, faisg air an talamh. Agus tha fiosrachadh àraidh aig Eideard Dwelly anns an fhaclair aige fo ‘Failceadh de dh’iubhar-beinne’. Tha an abairt sin a’ ciallachadh ‘amar air a dhèanamh le snodhach aitinn’ – agus a rèir Eideard còir, bha e air leth math mar leigheas airson ceann goirt!

Juniper – a link between Gin and Whisky

Heather, juniper and birch, Glenmore, Cairngorms National Park. ©Lorne Gill/SNH

In these modern days, when Scotland’s new whisky distilleries often turn to gin production while awaiting the maturation of their primary product, it will perhaps come as a surprise to some that there is an older relationship between the plant that provides the flavour for gin and our country’s national alcoholic drink. While juniper berries – called staoineagan in Gaelic – give gin its unique flavour, the wood of the juniper bush (which reaches the size of a small tree in the Central Highlands) was one of the smokeless fuels of the Gaels, known as connadh nam mèirleach ‘the fuel of the robbers’. It was not only robbers that made use of the wood, knowing they would not be located by the smoke, but also illegal distillers of whisky who were operating a poit-dhubh (illicit still) despite the close and energetic attention of excise officers.

It is reputed that Scotland lost much of its juniper cover when illicit distillation increased, following attempts by the government to more closely regulate the whisky industry in the Highlands in the late 18^th century. Prior to that, there had been a trade in juniper berries from the Highlands to the Netherlands – for the production of gin. One other interesting link between juniper and whisky is that the Gaels at one time added various ingredients to flavour whisky, one of which was juniper berries.

 ©Lorne Gill/SNH

The Gaelic for juniper is aiteann, which some will recognise in the name of a well-known distillery (and village) south of Inverness. Tomatin is from Tom Aitinn, meaning ‘hillock of juniper’. Aiteann appears in other place-names across the Highlands, such as Caochan Aitinn ‘juniper streamlet’ and Ruigh Aiteachain ‘juniper wood slope’, both in the Cairngorms, and Ruighean an Aitinn ‘the small slope of the juniper’ in Assynt. The word aiteann is likely to derive from an ancient Indo-European root meaning ‘sharp’, in reference to the leaves; in Irish Gaelic, the same word generally refers to whin (gorse).

 

Ruighean an Aitinn faisg air an Druim Bheag ann an Asainte. Ruighean an Aitinn ‘the small slope of the juniper’ in Assynt. The loch also carries the name of the plant. Detail from OS Six inch map (pub. 1907). Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

 

Juniper had other uses as well, being employed as a stimulant, an ingredient of lotions and ointments, and as a means of causing abortion of a foetus. A poultice of bruised berries was reckoned a good treatment for adder bite, and in Strathspey it was burned on New Years Day in byres, stables and house fireplaces, perhaps an echo of an earlier use in fumigation following the presence of an infectious disease. There is also a Christian legend that the Holy Family hid in a juniper bush while being pursued.

On the west coast and islands, the shrub has a low, creeping habit and is often referred to as iubhar-beinne ‘mountain yew’ or iubhar-talmhainn ‘ground yew’. In the Western Isles it was sometimes kept in the house as a protection against fire, and Dwelly’s Gaelic Dictionary has this fascinating entry: ‘Failceadh de dh’iubhar-beinne “bath of the juice of the juniper” – a popular remedy for headache’. Most people would consider paracetamol to be a more straightforward treatment today!

Bha am blog seo air a sgrìobhadh le Ruairidh MacIlleathain, a tha na sgrìobhadair, craoladair, eòlaiche-nàdair is sgeulaiche, stèidhichte ann an Inbhir Nis.

This blog was written by Inverness-based writer, broadcaster and storyteller Roddy (Ruairidh) Maclean, whose work highlights the connections between the Gaelic language and Scotland’s environment.