Category Archives: Folklore

Traille nam Banarach

Posted on May 28, 2021 by NatureScot

Tha iasg a bhuineas don aiginn a’ nochdadh – gu h-annasach – ann an seann chrònan bleoghainn. Read in English Tha e fìor ri ràdh nach eil an traille – iasg-mara a bhuineas do theaghlach nan langannan agus ris an … Continue reading →

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The Tusk of the Milking Maids

Posted on May 28, 2021 by NatureScot

A deep-water fish appears – rather strangely and inexplicably –  in an old Gaelic milking song Leugh ann an Gàidhlig It is fair to say that the deep-water marine fish known in English as tusk or cusk – traille in … Continue reading →

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An Calltainn – Craobh ar n-Annsachd

Posted on April 30, 2021 by NatureScot

Tha àite sònraichte aig a’ chraoibh-challtainn ann an saoghal traidiseanta nan Gàidheal. Read in English Tha an calltainn (Corylus avellana) na craoibh shònraichte do na Gàidheil mar a tha e do shlòigh air feadh na Roinn Eòrpa agus taobh an … Continue reading →

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The Beloved Hazel

Posted on April 30, 2021 by NatureScot

Gaelic tradition affords the craobh-challtainn – the hazel tree – a special place in people’s affections. Leugh ann an Gàidhlig The hazel tree (Corylus avellana) is a special plant to the Gaels, as it is to many of the peoples … Continue reading →

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Cairt-làir – lus beag le cliù mòr / Tormentil – little plant with a big reputation

Posted on December 11, 2020 by NatureScot

Ged a tha e beag, tha dualchas iongantach aig a’ chairt-làir, gu h-àraidh am measg nan Gàidheal / Tormentil might be small and little celebrated today, but it played a substantial role in the social history of northern Scotland … … Continue reading →

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Eun a’ Chinn Duibh air a bheil ‘Ceann-fionn’ / The Black-headed ‘White Head’ Bird

Posted on September 24, 2020 by NatureScot

Carson a tha na Gàidheil a’ gabhail ‘ceann-fionn’ air eun le ceann dubh? Tha Ruairidh MacIlleathain a’ feuchainn ris an gnothach a shoilleireachadh. / Why do Scotland’s Gaels call penguins ‘white-heads’, despite their being black-headed? Roddy Maclean investigates a nomenclatural … Continue reading →

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Aiteann – ceangal eadar Dà Dheoch / Juniper – a link between Gin and Whisky

Posted on August 13, 2020 by NatureScot

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 – … Continue reading →

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An t-Ùraisg – Mac-meanmnach no Fìor? / The Urisk – Scotland’s ‘Bigfoot’?

Posted on July 21, 2020 by NatureScot

Ma nochdas ainm ‘gnè ainmhidh’ air mapa oifigeil, feumaidh gu bheil e fìor is creideasach … no an fheum …? / If an ‘animal species’ is named on an official map, it must surely be a biological reality …. mustn’t … Continue reading →

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An dreathan-donn – eun beag leòmach / the wren – small and ‘conceited’

Posted on June 26, 2020 by NatureScot

Ged a tha an dreathan-donn beag, gu dearbh chan eil e bog / The wren might be diminutive, but in Gaelic tradition, it has a high opinion of itself… An dreathan-donn – eun beag leòmach Ann am beul-aithris nan Gàidheal, … Continue reading →

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Eilrigean – far an do shealgadh fèidh / Elricks – where deer were hunted

Posted on June 3, 2020 by NatureScot

Tha na h-uibhir de dh’ainmean-àite le ‘Eilrig’ a’ dearbhadh far an robhar a’ sealg nam fiadh / The Scottish landscape abounds in ‘Eilrig/Elrick’ place-names, commemorating great hunts of the past. Eilrigean – Comharraidhean de Shealg nam Fiadh Ann am pàipear … Continue reading →

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