Saint Mary MacKillop
Sometimes we hear false information connected to the heritage of the Gaels. For example, there is a loch in the Trossachs called Loch Drunkie. Drunkie is spelt D-R-U-N-K-I-E.
There is a story that the name commemorates how some people put barrels of whisky into the loch. They were making whisky illegally. The excisemen were pursuing them. Those people were the ‘drunkies’.
Fortunately, this name appears on the website of the research body, Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba. They translate it as ‘loch of the place called Drongaidh’; the name is Loch Drongaidh in Gaelic. Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba tell us that it first appears as Lochdrungy in the fifteenth century. That was long before the excisemen existed.
And Drongaidh itself? According to Iain Taylor, in ‘Place-Names of Scotland’ perhaps it means ‘ridge place’.
What story do tourists hear about the name, however? I suspect that at least some of them hear that it is an English name and that it is connected with an alcoholic drink.
That brings me to a new book. It is full of information of the sort that tourists should be hearing. Correct information. Appropriate information. The book was written by Coinneach Maclean. Coinneach belongs to a famous Gaelic family. He has been involved in tourism. He saw how tourists were sometimes getting false information about the Highlands.
The name of the book is ‘Travels in Another Country: A Guide to Gaelic Scotland’. It has five hundred pages. It is full of information about the heritage of the Gaels in every part of Scotland where the language was once spoken. Those who serve tourists no longer have an excuse for being ignorant about the heritage of the Gaels in their own patch.
The book begins in Glasgow and takes us throughout Scotland. We’ll take a look at a snippet or two from Travels in Another Country in the next Litir.
Naomh Màiri NicIlp
Tha sgìrean Gàidhealach air tìr-mòr na h-Alba anns an do mhair an creideamh Caitligeach fad ùine mhòr. Tha eisimpleir ann am Bràigh Loch Abar – an dùthaich timcheall Drochaid an Aonachain agus Drochaid Ruaidh.
Bha mi ann an Drochaid Ruaidh as t-fhoghar. Chaidh mi don eaglais Chaitligich – Eaglais Naoimh Mairead. ʼS e eaglais bhrèagha a tha innte. Na broinn, tha ionad coisrigte do Mhàiri NicIlp, an aon naomh Astràilianach. Bha buntanas aig Màiri do dh’Alba cuideachd – agus gu sònraichte don Drochaid Ruaidh.
Bha a màthair – Flòraidh – à Creithneachan ann an Gleann Ruaidh. Bha a h-athair – Alasdair – à Mùrlagan ann an Gleann Spiothain. Chan eil e soilleir an robh iad eòlach air a chèile aig an taigh. Ach thachair iad ri chèile ann an Astràilia. Rinn Alasdair eilthireachd ann an ochd ceud deug, trithead ʼs a h-ochd (1838). Chaidh Flòraidh ann dà bhliadhna an dèidh sin.
Rugadh Màiri faisg air Melbourne ann an ochd ceud deug, ceathrad ʼs a dhà (1842). Mus robh i fichead bliadhna a dh’aois, bha fios aice gun robh i airson a bhith a’ dèanamh ‘obair Dhè’ mar a chanadh i fhèin.
Chuala mi bho dhaoine ann an Astràilia a tha eòlach air an eachdraidh gum biodh Alasdair agus Flòraidh a’ bruidhinn Gàidhlig ri chèile. Mar sin bha an cànan aig Màiri cuideachd. Chan urrainn dhomh sin a dhearbhadh, ge-tà. Ann an ochd ceud deug, seachdad ʼs a trì (1873), rinn i turas a dh’Alba. Chaidh i a chèilidh air na càirdean aice ann an Creithneachan.
Ann an Astràilia, bha Màiri an sàs ann a bhith a’ cur buidheann ùr agus sgoiltean air dòigh. Ge-tà, dh’fhuiling i air sàillibh mì-ghiùlan sagairt agus poilitigs na h-Eaglaise. Chaidh Màiri a chur a-mach às an Eaglais.
Ach dh’aithnich am Pàp – Pius IX – gun robh i a’ dèanamh obair mhath. Choisinn i cliù taobh a-staigh na h-Eaglaise. Fada an dèidh a bàis, bha i air a h-aithneachadh mar ‘bheannaichte’. Chaidh a naomhachadh ann an dà mhìle ʼs a deich (2010). Tha an coitheanal Caitligeach ann an Drochaid Ruaidh, mar a bhiodh dùil, gu math moiteil aiste.
