The Little Letter for Gaelic Learners

There is a town in Fife called Cill Rìmhinn. It’s not a big town. But it’s famous. It was important in the history of Scotland. And it’s still important to golf and golfers. It has a link to the patron saint of Scotland – St Andrew.

This week Ruairidh shares an old song with you. The song is old. It’s from the parish of Loch-carron in Wester Ross.

I was telling you last week about the song The Thistle of Scotland. It was the Loch Fyne bard, Evan MacColl, that wrote it. I was in the parish in which he was born recently. There is a memorial to him at Kenmore, on the shore of Loch Fyne. MacColl was born at Kenmore in 1808. The memorial was erected for him in 1930. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

The Thistle of Scotland is a famous plant of virtues, Neat plant of the prickly tufts which are provenly hard; A magnificent emblem of my beautiful beloved land, Often its fame kindled a bonfire in my cheek. Do you recognise that verse? Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

A new book was published recently on "Gnàthasan-cainnt" meaning idioms. Donald Graham, from Lewis, collected the idioms from the Isle of Lewis, North Uist, Harris and Berneray. I'm going to give you one or two examples from the book. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

I'm going to finish the history of the painting The Death of the Stag by the American painter, Benjamin West. Francis Humberston MacKenzie was going to hang the painting in his castle, Brahan Castle in Rossshire. Through the 1790s, however, the castle was being developed. Thus, the painting remained in London, in Benjamin West's studio. It was there for thirty years. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

The painting The Death of the Stag is in the National Gallery of Scotland. It shows Colin Fitzgerald. He is saving the life of King Alexander III. Colin was the progenitor, according to oral tradition, of the MacKenzie clan. The MacKenzies were loyal to the Kings of Scotland. But the fifth Earl of Seaforth, William MacKenzie, supported the Jacobites in their rebellion in 1715. He lost his title and he lost his land. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

The painting The Death of the Stag is in the National Gallery of Scotland. It's a large painting. It shows Colin Fitzgerald saving the life of a Scottish King. That was Alexander III. The King was in danger from an angry stag. But who was Colin Fitzgerald? He was an ancestor, according to oral tradition, of the man who ordered the painting – Francis Humberston MacKenzie. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

Do you know the National Gallery of Scotland? It's in Edinburgh. In the big chamber, on your right, is the largest painting in the gallery. In the picture, a Scottish King has fallen from a horse. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

I'm going to finish the story Great Gulp. The Widow's Son wanted to marry the King's daughter. But the King wasn't willing to give him his daughter. The Floor-Mischief had another plan. "Give him an invitation to dinner," she said to the King. "Make sure that he sits in the great chair. There is a deadly spike in that chair. The deadly spike will kill him." Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

I'm telling the story Great Gulp. The Widow's Son wanted to marry the King's daughter. The King wasn't willing to give him his daughter. The Floor-Mischief came. She was hostile to the Widow's Son. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

I was telling you the old story Great Gulp. The Widow's Son built a vessel. He was hoping to marry the King's daughter. The vessel was good at sailing on sea or land. The Widow's Son was the skipper. He went to look for a crew.

Here's an old Gaelic story called Great Gulp. A king had a daughter. She was exceptionally beautiful. Many men wanted to marry her. But she was only going to marry a man who would build a ship that would sail on sea and on land. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

The Rev James Stuart [also "Stewart"] made the first translation of the New Testament into Scottish Gaelic. He was the minister in Killin in Perthshire. The New Testament appeared in 1767. James Stuart was born in 1700 in Glen Finglas in the Trossachs. He became a minister in Killin in 1737. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

Three people were heavily involved in bringing the Bible to the Gaels of Scotland in Gaelic. The first man was Robert Boyle, the son of the Earl of Cork. The second man was James Kirkwood, a minister who was once living in Perthshire. And the third person? He was Robert Kirk, minister in Aberfoyle in the Trossachs. Kirk brought out the Irish Bible in Latin script for the Gaels of Scotland in 1690. Find out more in this week's podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.