Letter To Gaelic Learners

The Battle of Bannockburn took place in June 1314. A Scottish army defeated an English army. Some people say that the Scots had a special force of knights. They were extremely skilful at fighting. They were the Knights Templar. Ruairidh can’t say that if the story is true, or not … Why not listen in this week’s letter to find out more? Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir

Ruairidh was talking about Iain Geal Donn from Lochaber. He was plundering cattle in Ross-shire in the seventeenth century. Alasdair Breac of Gairloch was out to stop him and hired Alasdair Buidhe MacAoidh from Strath Oykell. Alasdair Buidhe shot Iain in a shieling bothy in Scardroy in Strathconon. Find out more about this exciting tale in this week’s letter. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

Ruairidh has a story about how a farm in Ross-shire got its name. The name is Scardroy, or Sgàrd Ruaidh in Gaelic. Ruadh refers to red and according to folklore, it’s the colour of blood. Ruairidh has the full story in this week’s letter.Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

Ruairidh was in Strathconon in Ross-shire recently. The English name Conon. Part of the River Conon flows through Strathconon into the Cromarty Firth. There are bridges across the river there. When the first bridge was built, people called the place “Conon Bridge”. There is a town there today. Its name in Gaelic is not “Drochaid Chonainn”, it’s Drochaid Sguideil. It doesn’t mean what Gaelic speakers might first expect, Ruairidh ponders the name in this week’s letter. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

I was telling you about a Gaelic proverb in the book by Thomas Garnett: Is mairg a loisgeadh a thiompan ris. Pity the man who'd burn his harp for him. The proverb is based on an old story. Here's how Thomas Garnett reported it. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

Here is an interesting place-name from Mull – Maol Tobar Leac an t-Sagairt. The bare hill of the well of the flagstone, or gravestone, of the priest. But who was the priest? And why was the well named for him?

There is a statue of Donald Dewar, Scotland’s first First Minister, at the top end of Buchanan Street in Glasgow. But more than two hundred years ago, a memorial was nearly erected there to somebody else. Who?

Thomas Garnett wrote the book Observations on a Tour Through the Highlands and Part of the Western Isles of Scotland. He was on a journey in the Highlands in 1798.

Do you know Loch Innis mo Cholmaig? It’s an unusual place. Why? Well, the name of the loch in English is the Lake of Menteith. “The only lake in Scotland” as people often say – although it’s a “loch” in Gaelic. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir

Roddy was thinking about Thomas Garnett the other day. Garnett was in the Highlands at the end of the eighteenth century. He wrote a book about his journey – Observations on a Tour Through the Highlands and Part of the Western Isles of Scotland. But why was Roddy thinking about Thomas Garnett? Find out in this week’s podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir

There is a seiche in Loch Ness from time to time. Seiche is a word from Swiss French. It looks like seiche in Gaelic. But it doesn’t mean an animal’s hide. It means big waves in a loch. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir

Roddy was looking at old newspapers the other day. They were on the internet. He saw this from the Derby Mercury in November 1755. The report was from Amsterdam. What was in the report? Why did it interest Roddy? Find out in this week's letter! Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir

Roddy has traditional story for us in this week's letter - The Old Woman of the Nuts and the Tailor of the Boards. An evil Cailleach (old woman )was living in the Highlands. She got her nickname, 'The Cailleach of the Nuts' because she would always have a bag full of nuts.Find out more in this week's letter. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir

Have you ever heard the English word – graddaning? It comes from the Gaelic gradan. It means a method of making flour. Do you know the old ways of making flour? People were flailing the corn. They were winnowing it. In addition to the grain, they were getting chaff and straw. The straw was useful as food for cattle. It was also useful for bedding and house thatch. Find out more in this week's letter. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir

Blessed silverweed of spring, the seventh bread of the Gael. Blessed silverweed of spring, the seventh bread of the Gael. The old Gaels used to eat it regularly. Sometimes they cultivated it. The silverweed is the seventh bread. What are the other six? Find out in this week’s letter. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/liti