Letter To Gaelic Learners

In the seventeenth century, many people in the Church in Scotland were opposed to the Gaelic language. Thus, no translation was made of the Bible into Gaelic. But the situation was better in Ireland. In the seventeenth century, the New Testament and the Old Testament appeared in Irish Gaelic. They had surplus copies of the Old Testament. They sent some to Scotland. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

I'm going to read a verse from the Bible. It's from the New Testament. Here it is: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That is a new translation of the Gospel according to John, Chapter 1, Verse 1. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

People ask me, "Is Hogmanay a Gaelic word?" Well, no. Hogmanay came into English and Scots from French. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

The Gaelic for Christmas is Nollaig. We say, "Nollaig chridheil dhuibh" for "Merry Christmas to you". In the old days, there were two Nollaigs – the Nollaig Mhòr and the Nollaig Bheag. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

Have you ever heard of faire chlaidh? Graveyard watch. Faire chlaidh. People believed that the spirit of a person who had been buried kept watch over the dead. He did that until another man was buried. People didn't want that spirit to keep vigil too long. Find out more in this week’s podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

The Lochaber Bard, John MacDonald, was recorded by the School of Scottish Studies. He has stories and anecdotes on the Tobar an Dualchais website. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

Calum Maclean met John MacDonald, the "Lochaber Bard", in January 1951. Calum was famous for collecting Gaelic oral tradition. John was famous, at least locally, as a poet and storyteller. Find out more in this week’s podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir

I'm going to finish the traditional story, Billy. This young guy, Billy, was keen on thieving. The gentleman wanted to set him one more test. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

I'm contining with the story, Bilidh. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

This week Ruairidh has a traditional tale from Barra for you. The name of the story is “Bilidh”. The tale was collected with others in the 19th century. Billy was a farmer’s son who wished to become a master of thievery. Learn more about this character and his wily ways in this week’s podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

We have a nice song in Gaelic. It's a lullaby. It's name is Uiseag Bheag Dhearg. In the song a child is speaking to a lark. The lark tells where it was sleeping. It slept badly in the bramble bush. It slept badly at sea. But it slept well between two leaves. If it works well, the child will be asleep before the end of the song. Find out more in this week’s podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

I was telling you about the Bratach Shìth – or Fairy Flag. It’s in Dunvegan Castle on Skye. People were saying – when it’s raised at a time of conflict, that a fairy host will come. The fairies will give help to the people who have the flag. Find out more in this week’s podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

The Fairy Flag is famous. It’s on the Isle of Skye. It belongs to the Clan MacLeod of Dunvegan. It’s in Dunvegan Castle. In English it’s called the Fairy Flag. The flag is made of silk. It’s very old. And valuable. Learn more about this famous artefact in this week’s podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

The Gaelic for The Milky Way is Slighe Chlann Uisnich [“the path of the children of Uisneach]. Milky Way came into English from the Latin Via Lactea. Many languages took their name for the Milky Way from Latin. The Romance languages themselves are like that. In Italy, for example, it’s Via Lattea. The German Milchstraße and the Dutch Melkweg are trans-lations from Latin. As are the names in the Slavic languages. Find out more in this week’s podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.

The Scot Gregor MacGregor was in France. He had been involved in fraud. Many people went to Poyais in Central America. MacGregor was praising Poyais. But the country didn’t exist. The people lost a lot of money. Find out more about this scallywag in this week's podcast. Accompanying Gaelic text, grammar points and vocabulary are all available at bbc.co.uk/litir.