The Little Letter for Gaelic Learners

This week, Ruairidh continues his quest to find even more place-names with the word torc, the Gaelic for boar, in them. He has plenty of fascinating areas to discuss. He then ponders why there are so many names that are boar-based in Scotland? Find out more in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Ruairidh reaches another milestone with An Litir Bheag 400! In this letter, he is looking at more place names which feature animals that are extinct in Scotland. He looks at the boar this week, find out more in this week's fascinating podcast. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Bones were found in a cave in Inchnadamph in Assynt. The animals died a long time ago. Scotland was cold at the time. What animals were they? Well, the list is interesting. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Ruairidh was on two special small islands this year. One of them was of Gaelic heritage and the other was non-Gaelic.Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Christmas is almost on us again. And here is a Christmas story for you. It’s from Highland Perthshire. Its name is ‘Christmas Dance’. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

To the old Gaels, the hazelnut was the nut of knowledge. Ruairidh has a story from the Isle of Skye about the knowledge that people can acquire from nuts. The tale features Sgàthach and Cuchullin and their battle against each other. Find out how the hazelnut played its part in this week’s letter. Find out more in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Ruairidh continues to discuss the significance to Gaels of the hazel tree. A new book was published recently. Its title is Atlantic Hazel: Scotland’s Special Woodlands. The authors, Sandy and Brian Coppins, say that some woods have existed for centuries. Those woods are very old and that means they are very valuable. Find out more in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

The hazel tree is special to Gaels and has strong folkloric connections. The nuts were popular and the wood was used for many purposes. In this week’s letter, Ruairidh looks at coppicing and how the hazel tree was coppiced and why it was done. Find out more in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Traveller Essie Stewart spent the summer months of her youth living in a tent around the north of Scotland. She explains to Ruairidh how and why they preferred to use hazel wood when creating a rod which was used for supporting the tent. Find out more in this week's letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Referring to a trilingual book titled 'Dùthchas na Màra', Ruairidh explores the definition of the word 'dùthchas'. Find out more in this week's letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Ruairidh was telling us how he saw a lot of fish in Ireland. The fish he saw were sprats, mackerel and saithe. The bay on the shore of Aranmore was full of them. That’s a small island off the north-west coast. Find out more about Ruairidh’s holiday in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Árainn Mhór is a small island in Ireland. It’s off the coast of Donegal. Ruairidh was on that island in the nineties. His family was with him. They were on summer holidays. And an amazing thing happened on Árainn Mhór. Find out what that amazing thing was in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

The Soap Man. A man who made a fortune from soap. Lord Leverhulme. He was at one time the landlord of Lewis and Harris. Why is Ruairidh talking about Leverhulme? Well, several weeks ago, he was on another estate that belonged to the man. But he was in England, near Bolton. Find out more in this week’s letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag

Did puirt-à-beul originate because there was a ban on playing the bagpipes? The “ban” was associated with the Act of Proscription in 1747. Ruairidh investigates this 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 Keith Norman MacDonald. He published the book Puirt-a-Beul: or Songs for Dancing as Practised from a Remote Antiquity by the Highlanders of Scotland in 1901. Was Keith Norman correct? Are puirt-à-beul very old? It’s difficult to be certain. Ruairidh looks at these questions and others in this week's letter. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic at bbc.co.uk/litirbheag