The Little Letter for Gaelic Learners

Creag nam Ban is near Balmoral. That’s in Aberdeenshire. It’s beside the River Dee. And it’s above Abergeldie Castle. Creag nam Ban means “the rocky hill of the women”. People say that witches were burned to death there. People still remember the name of one of the witches – Kitty Rankine. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

Archibald Menzies was from near Aberfeldy in Perthshire. He was born in 1754. He spoke Gaelic. Archibald’s father was a gardener. He was working in Castle Menzies. Archibald was also interested in gardening. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

This week, Ruairidh explains the association between John Fraser and Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

There are plants called Frasera – for example Frasera speciosa. They are named for a guy John Fraser. He was good at collecting plants. He was very famous. And he was a Gael. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

There are a few types of plant called Mahonia. If you are a gardener, you'll know them, perhaps. For example, there is Mahonia aquifolium. That's a beautiful plant with the English name Oregon Grape. It's native to the western side of North America. Ruairidh discusses these plants this week.

Ruairidh is going to finish the story The Black Bodach of Morven. It’s from Braemore in Caithness. The men were in pursuit of the Bodach. That was on the seventh of July. The Bodach disappeared into an opening on the mountainside. He was shouting strange things in Gaelic. He was trying to bring down the mist. But, on the seventh day of the seventh month, he didn’t have that capability.

Braemore is in Caithness. It is near the highest mountain in Caithness – Morven. It’s a crofting settlement. Here is a story from Braemore – The Black Bodach of Morven. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

There are two villages in Caithness called Ballachly - the township of the cemetery. There is a Ballachly near Dunbeath. There is another Ballachly between Dunbeath and Watten. It's from that wee settlement that the story comes this week. Here it is "The Witch of Ballachly". Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

We’re still in Caithness this week. We’re looking at the Gaelic heritage of that area. Here is advice from Caithness about alcoholic drink. It tells about the influence one glass, two glasses and three glasses of whisky have on a person.

Ruairidh has a story from Caithness for you this week. It’s from the Dunbeath area. It’s called The Three Knots. It starts in Liabost – that’s the Gaelic for Lybster – a village in the south-eastern part of Caithness. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

Last week we were in Helmsdale. That’s in [East] Sutherland. We’re staying in that area today. Ruairidh wants to tell you about something that happened in the Strath of Kildonan. He's not sure when it happened. It comes from oral tradition. The crofters weren’t using coal in their fires. They were using peat. They were cutting the peat. They were keeping the “peats” – the dry pieces of peat – in stacks. The stacks were near their houses. But one crofter was a thief. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

I was in Sutherland recently. I was in Bun Ilidh. That’s the Gaelic for Helmsdale. I heard about a tree in the area. The name it has, or had, is The Làmh Tree. You’ll know the Gaelic word làmh. The Làmh Tree – Craobh na Làimhe. It’s interesting that it’s The Làmh Tree that people say in English, rather than The Hand Tree. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

On the Isle of Canna there is the Corra-dhùn. It is next to the shore. In English its name is Coroghon Castle. It’s a small stone building, at the top of a hill. According to oral tradition it was a prison. A clan chief of Clan-ranald kept his wife there. She was a prisoner. Learn more in this week’s podcast. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

There is a place in Canna called Coroghon Castle. It’s not a normal castle. In Gaelic it’s called the Corra-dhùn. The steep fort or hill. Although it is not big, it is steep. The building is next to the shore. It is very old. It is in a poor condition. If somebody doesn’t do something soon, it won’t be there long. Find out more about Coroghon Castle in this week’s podcast. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.

Why is Eigg’s nickname the Isle of the Big Women? Isle of the Big Women. According to oral trad-ition, it goes back to the Seventh Century. The island was still under the control of the Picts. Indeed, it was under the control of a Pictish queen. Find out more about Eìgg’s nickname and this Pictish queen in this week’s podcast. Accompanying text in both English and Gaelic can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/litirbheag.