The Little Letter for Gaelic Learners

Ruiairidh was in Flodigarry on the Isle of Skye recently. It’s on the east side of the Trotternish Peninsula, in the north of the island. He was down on the shore, looking for fossils along with Dugald Ross, an expert on fossils. Ruairidh’s son, Calum, wanted to go to the island opposite them, Eilean Flodigarry, but he had no boat. How did he get there? Find out in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Do you know Loch Cuithir? It’s on the east side of Trotternish in the north of Skye. It’s near a crofting village called Lealt. The loch is situated on the moorland under Sgùrr a’ Mhadaidh Ruaidh. It’s beautiful. Loch Cuithir today is very peaceful and quiet. But it wasn’t always like that. Find out about its hidden history in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Ruairidh starts the letter with a question. What is the link between Gaelic, a university college in Oxford, an old abbey in the south of Scotland, and a King of Scotland? Find out the answer to this interesting question and more in this week's letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

I was telling you about the famous bard, Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, and how he wrote Birlinn Chlann Raghnaill. He was under the hull of an upturned boat in Canna.Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Do you know the ceud-chasach? The centipede. According to oral trad-ition, a centipede inspired a Gaelic poet to write a famous poem. Who was the poet and what was the poem? Find out in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Ruairidh is telling us about The Seven Men of Knoydart. They wanted the land for themselves in Knoydart, in the West Highlands. They were opposing the landlord, Lord Brocket. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Have you ever heard these names? Alexander Macphee, Donald Macphee, William Quinn, Jack McHardy, Duncan Macphail, Archie Macdonald and Henry Macaskill? You’re not sure?

Ruairidh finishes the story The Man Who Got the Three Pieces of Advice. The third piece of advice was not to do anything on an evening or night without contem-plating whether you might regret it on the next day. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Ruairidh is telling the story The Man Who Got the Three Pieces of Advice. The first piece of advice was – take the long clean road, rather than the short dirty road. There was a fork in the road. The horse rider took the short road. But he met robbers. They stole every penny he had. The other man took the long road, and he had no trouble. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

The long clean road, and the short dirty road. That’s a Gaelic proverb. Perhaps the long road is the best one, although it is longer. The long clean road, and the short dirty road. That proverb appears in an old Gaelic story – The Man Who Got the Three Pieces of Advice. Here is the story. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Ruairidh continues telling us about The Aberdeen Breviary. There are a few stories in it about the life and miracles of St Brigit/Bride. Here are examples from the book. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

The Aberdeen Breviary is the first major book that was printed in Scotland.Ruairidh will tell you all about this book in this week's letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

How many Gaelic words do we have for ‘snow’? They’re not at all as plentiful as the words for high ground or boggy ground. But there’s a few. Ruairidh looks into the words for snow in this week's letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

On the 12th of July 1746, there was an important interview on board a ship. The vessel was anchored off the shore of Applecross. Asking the questions was General John Campbell. He was in charge of the search for Charles Edward Stuart, after the Battle of Culloden. The woman answering the questions was Flora MacDonald. The pair were on board HMS Furnace.

We’re still in the Great Glen this week. Ruiairidh will tell you about a guy who was living in Fort Augustus. He was famous as the ‘lion-hunter’. Find out about this most interesting of characters. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag