Tag Archives: Folklore

Yellow plant of Beltane

The marsh marigold is a vivid reminder of the close links between Gaelic culture and the Scottish seasons, as Ruairidh MacIlleathain explains. Leugh ann an Gàidhlig The day that starts the summer, now the first of May, is still known … Continue reading

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Lus buidhe Bealltainn

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’ … Continue reading

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Eòin nam Manaidhean

ʼS iomadh eun a dh’innseas dhuinn dè tha romhainn … Read in English Tha na ceanglaichean eadar eòin agus daoine gu math làidir. Nach tuirt ar sinnsearan gum b’ e Linn an Àigh nuair a bha Gàidhlig aig na h-eòin?! … Continue reading

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Warrior’s Friendship

Valerian is a plant long utilised by herbalists in the Gàidhealtachd and beyond. Leugh ann an Gàidhlig I have written previously in this blog about how the meadowsweet is known in Gaelic tradition as a plant that once soothed the … Continue reading

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Carthan Curaidh

Tha an lus seo aithnichte do lighichean luibheach air a’ Ghàidhealtachd agus tìrean cèin. Read in English Tha mi air sgrìobhadh mu-thràth mu dheidhinn an luis ris an canar Crios Chù Chulainn a tha aithnichte mar meadowsweet ann am Beurla. … Continue reading

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

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

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

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’?

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’

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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