The Little Letter for Gaelic Learners

Roddy makes the connection of Gaelic, Scots and Norse words: geodha, geo and gjá. Many of which are prevalent in placenames in Scotland. Roddy recently went back to school to discuss these words with schoolchildren and this day had a very funny conclusion. Fin out more in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Will the soldier ever make his way to the infamous Kingdom of Coldness? Will he meet anymore men preening their beards with odd plants? Will the soldier run out of curry combs to give the bearded men? What will the outcome be? What of the princess, will she and the soldier finally find love together? This epic tale reaches its exciting conclusion. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

The beautiful woman has left the Awisks! The soldier leaves the castle and makes his way to a house owned by a fairy, what happens there? He also finds stwo separate men preening their beards with very strange things. Discover the new twists and turns in this engaging tale. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Will the two soldiers make the same mistake as their predecessor in the mysterious house? Who is the beautiful woman ion the house and why is a dog beckoning the soldiers to this mysterious house? Find out more in this week’s podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

The word "Amhaisg", meaning a wee guy with evil intent, provides the titel for the tale this week - The Awisks. This tale is about three soldiers who fled from the army. They were tired and hungry and confronted with strange things, find out what they were in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Duncan MacRae from Isle Ewe was responsible for the pot of gold that belonged to Bonnie Prince Charlie. How did he keep it out of harm's way? find out tin this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Shortly after the Battle of Culloden, two vessels appeared in Loch Ewe. They were going to meet a messenger. The messenger had French gold. The gold was for the Prince who was hiding in the Highlands. But the messenger didn’t appear. The vessels sailed away.Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

There is a loch in Wester Ross called Loch an Draing on the map. It’s near Loch Ewe. The meaning of the name, Loch an Draing isn’t clear. Local people don’t say “Loch an Draing”. They say “Locha Druing” no “Locha Dring”. Roddy has a story from the area about a fairy, listen to the podcast to find out more. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Papar – Gaelic-speaking hermits – were living in Iceland in the year 870. Íslendingabók tells us that. That’s the year the Norse appeared. The papar left. They did not return. They left bells and books on the island. Were they the only Gaels that went to Iceland and were to be found there? Find out in this week’s podcast? Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

The Norse influenced the Gaelic language. But did the Gaels influence the Norse language? Well, yes, to a small degree. Roddy was in Iceland recently. There is a debate going on there – what effect did the Gaels have on the island? Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

Roddy was in Iceland recently and saw interesting place-names. They reminded me of place-names in Scotland. For example, the capital city, Reykjavik. You’ll know the word in Scots and English – reek. Edinburgh had the nickname Auld Reekie. Reykja-vík means “reeky bay” or “smoky bay”. There are several places in Iceland with reykja- in the name. Those are places where smoke rises from the ground. He's got more information on the place-names of Iceland in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

The Westmann Islands in Iceland are small but rugged. From the mainland, the view of the islands reminded Roddy of St Kilda. It’s submarine volcanoes that made them. That was eleven thousand years ago. Ruairidh has plenty of stories about them. Learn more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

Roddy often goes to Scandinavia. A short while ago, he went to a Scandinavian country that was new to him – Iceland. He really enjoyed it. He found something that surprised him. It was how often he saw and heard things with connections to Scotland. Find out what these where in this week’s podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

I was telling you about cairidhean/yairs. There were lots of them in the Beauly Firth, west of Inverness. In olden times it was called Poll an Ròid in Gaelic. That means “the inlet of the rood or cross”. That’s the same Rood as in Holyrood House in Edinburgh. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

There are cairidhean/yairs in many places in the Highlands. They are all old. People haven’t used them for a long time. Cairidh means a small stone wall that people were building on a beach. Fish were swimming over the wall with the flood tide. When the ebb occurred, the water left; but the fish didn’t leave. It was easy for people to pick up the fish from the sand. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.