193: Antonine Wall (4) 193: Balla Antonine (4)

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

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Gaelic & English Text Teacsa Gàidhlig & Beurla

Balla Antonine (4)

Gaelic Gàidhlig

Tha sinn a’ toirt sùil air na dùin air Balla Antonine. An t-seachdain sa chaidh, thug sinn sùil air a’ chiad dhà. B’ iad sin Dùn Chill Phàdraig agus Dùn Tòchair – dà dhùn le ainmean Gàidhlig. Ràinig sinn an treas dùn – Cleddans Fortlet.

Tha cuid ag ràdh gur e Cleddans ainm Gàidhlig. Tha e a’ tighinn bhon fhacal cladhan. Tha sin a’ ciallachadh channel no ditch. Gu sear air Claddens tha Castlehill Fort. An uair sin Bearsden Fort. Tha tobhta an taigh-ionnlaid an sin fhathast.

Tha an t-ainm Bearsden annasach. Ann an Gàidhlig ’s e Cill Phàdraig Ùr a tha air. Agus ’s e New Kirk a bha air an sgìre ann am Beurla. Ach chaidh rathad-iarainn agus stèisean a thogail ann an ochd ceud deug, seasgad ’s a trì (1863). Agus chaidh an stèisean ainmeachadh mar Bearsden Station. Tha cuid ag ràdh gum b’ e Bearsden ainm taigh a bha faisg air an stèisean.

Ma leanas sinn oirnn air Balla Antonine, ruigidh sinn Balmuildy Fort. Tha sin ri taobh Abhainn Chealbhainn. Bha an dùn sin mòr.

’S e an t-ath dhùn – Cadder Fort. ’S ann à canan nam Breatannach – seann Chuimris – a thàinig Cadder. Tha e a’ ciallachadh “dùn”. Às dèidh sin, ruigidh sinn Kirkintilloch no Cathair Cheann Tulaich. Tha an t-ainm sin a’ ciallachadh “fort at the end of the hill”.

Gu sear air sin tha Auchendavy Fort. Tha Auchendavy a’ coimhead coltach ri ainm Gàidhlig. Fhuair sinn ainm fear de na saighdearan a bha a’ fuireach anns an dùn sin. B’ esan Marcus Cocceius Firmus. ’S e centurion a bha ann. Rugadh e ann an taobh sear na Roinn Eòrpa.

Tha Bar Hill Fort a’ tighinn an uair sin, agus Croy Hill Fort. Tha mi an dùil gu bheil Bar ann am Bar Hill a’ tighinn bhon Ghàidhlig bàrr – “the uppermost part”. Tha na tobhtaichean ann fhathast – agus seann tobar Ròmanach.

’S dòcha gu bheil Croy a’ tighinn bhon Ghàidhlig cruaidh. ’S e seo an aon phìos de Bhalla Antonine far nach robh dìg ann. Carson nach robh dìg ann? Bha a’ chlach ro chruaidh airson dìg a chladhach. Cruaidh dha-rìribh.

Antonine Wall (4)

English Beurla

We’re looking at the forts on the Antonine Wall. Last week, we looked at the first two. They were Old Kilpatrick and Duntocher – two forts with Gaelic names. We reached the third fort – Cleddans Fortlet.

Some people say Cleddans is a Gaelic name. It comes from the word cladhan . That means a channel or a ditch. East of Claddens there is Castlehill Fort. Then Bearsden Fort. The ruin of the bath-house is still there.

The name Bearsden is unusual. In Gaelic it’s called Cill Phàdraig Ùr [New Kilpatrick]. And it’s New Kirk that the area was called in English. But a railway line and station were built in 1863. And the station was called Bearsden Station. Some people say that Bearsden was the name of a house near the station.

If we continue on the Antonine Wall, we reach Balmuildy Fort. That’s next to the River Kelvin. That fort was big.

The next fort is Cadder Fort. It is from the British language – old Welsh – that Cadder came. It means “fort”. After that we reach Kirkintilloch. That name means the “fort at the end of the hill”.

East of that is Auchendavy Fort. Auchendavy looks like a Gaelic name. We obtained the name of one of the soldiers that was living in that fort. He was Marcus Cocceius Firmus. He was a centurion. He was born in eastern Europe.

Bar Hill Fort comes next, and Croy Hill Fort. I reckon Bar in Bar Hill comes from the Gaelic bàrr – “the uppermost part”. The ruins are still there – and an old Roman well.

Perhaps Croy comes from the Gaelic cruaidh [“hard”]. This is the one piece of the Antonine Wall where there was not a ditch. Why was there not a ditch? The stone was too hard to dig a ditch. Hard, indeed.

Gaelic TextTeacsa Gàidhlig