684: Taigh Mòr na Seilge 684: The big house of the hunt

B1 - Intermediate - The Little LetterB1 - Eadar-mheadhanach - An Litir Bheag

Litir shìmplidh sheachdaineach do luchd-ionnsachaidh le clàr-fuaime, tar-sgrìobhadh is eadar-theangachadh. A simple weekly letter to Gaelic learners with audio, transcription and translation.

Tha an litir bheag ag obrachadh leis an fhaclair. Tagh an taba ‘teacsa Gàidhlig’ agus tagh facal sam bith san teacsa agus fosglaidh am faclair ann an taba ùr agus bidh mìneachadh den fhacal ann. The little letter is integrated with the dictionary. Select the tab ‘Gaelic text’ and choose any word and the dictionary will open and you will see the English explanation of the Gaelic word.

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Gaelic & English Text Teacsa Gàidhlig & Beurla

The big house of the hunt

Gaelic Gàidhlig

Deas air Gleann Afraig, tha beinn le ainm annasach – Taigh Mòr na Seilge. Tha i letheach-slighe eadar Loch Afraig agus Loch Cluanaidh. Taigh Mòr na Seilge – the big house of the hunt. Carson a tha ainm cho annasach air beinn?

An robh daoine a’ sealg an sin anns an t-seann aimsir? No an e mearachd a tha ann? Anns na leabhraichean-ainm aig an t-Suirbhidh Òrdanais tha pìos sgrìobhte ann am peann dearg. Tha e ag ràdh gur e an t-ainm ceart air a’ bheinn Tom Mòr na Seilge. Agus tha e ag ràdh ‘ Altered by authority of Mr. Mackay, Inverness’.

Ach tha nota eile anns an aon leabhar a tha ag ràdh gu feumar tuilleadh rannsachaidh a dhèanamh air an ainm air òrdugh an ‘Director General’. Bha a’ chùis air a dhol gu mullach an OS!

ʼS e Tom Mòr na Seilge a tha air a’ mhapa aon-òirlich a chaidh fhoillseachadh anns a’ bhliadhna naoi ceud deug (1900). An-diugh, ʼs e Taigh Mòr na Seilge a tha air na mapaichean.

ʼS e an rud a tha iongantach mun bheinn sin, gu bheil ‘taigh’ oirre. Tha an togalach faisg air mullach na beinne aig àirde naoi ceud meatair. Cha robh mi fhìn ann, ach bha mi a’ bruidhinn ri fear a bha ann, agus a chuir dealbhan dhen structar thugam. Tha e faisg air Loch a’ Chòinnich.

Tha an togalach còrr is seachd meatair ann am fad agus ceithir meatair ann an leud. Tha e na thobhta a-nise.

An e taigh seilge a bha ann? Mas e, carson a bhiodh e cho àrd air a’ bheinn? Rinn mo charaid rannsachadh air a’ chùis agus cha do lorg e iomradh sam bith air an togalach.

Ach thàinig aon bheachd inntinneach thuige – gur e taigh a chaidh a thogail leis an fheadhainn a bha a’ dèanamh nam mapaichean anns an naoidheamh linn deug. Bha an luchd-obrach sin a’ campachadh a-mach am measg beanntan na Gàidhealtachd nuair a bha iad ag obair. Canaidh daoine ‘Colby Camps’ ri a leithid, an dèidh fear Tòmas Colby. Innsidh mi dhuibh tuilleadh mu dheidhinn-san anns an ath Litir.

Taigh Mòr na Seilge

English Beurla

South of Glen Affric, there is a mountain with an unusual name – Taigh Mòr na Seilge. It’s halfway between Loch Affric and Loch Cluanie. Taigh Mòr na Seilge – the big house of the hunt. Why does a mountain have such an unusual name?

Were people hunting there in olden times? Or is it a mistake? In the Ordnance Survey name books there is a piece written in red pen. It says that the mountain’s correct name is Tom Mòr na Seilge. And it says ‘Altered by authority of Mr. Mackay, Inverness.’

But there is another note in the same book which says that more research must be done on the name by order of the ‘Director General’. The matter had gone to the top of the OS [Ordnance Survey]!

Tom Mòr na Seilge is what is on the one-inch map that was published in the year 1900. Today, it’s Taigh Mòr na Seilge that is on the maps.

It’s the amazing thing about that mountain that there is a ‘house’ on it. The building is close to the mountain’s summit at an altitude of 900 metres. I haven’t been there but I was speaking to a man who was, and who sent me photos of the structure. It’s near Loch a’ Chòinnich [the loch of the moss].

The building is more than seven metres in length and four metres in width. It’s now a ruin.

Was it a hunting lodge? If so, why would it be so high on the mountain? My friend researched the matter and he never found any mention of the building.

But he received one interesting opinion – that it is a house that was built by the people who were making the maps in the nineteenth century. Those workers were camping out among the mountains of the Highlands while they worked. People call such places ‘Colby Camps’, after a certain Thomas Colby. I’ll tell you more about him in the next Litir.

Gaelic TextTeacsa Gàidhlig