The dialect of fishermen in Cromarty (2)
A wee book came out recently – The
Cromarty Fisherfolk Dialect. It’s
about the fisherfolk dialect in
Cromarty. That dialect is a dialect
of Scots. Only two people speak it
fluently today.
Some of the words are like
words in other dialects of Scots. For
example bauchles (old slippers),
belligut (a greedy person) and
guloot (a simple man – one who is a
groat short of the shilling). And they
have words which are not in other
dialects, such as sallikatazaar which
means “a skelp”.
But Cromarty was surrounded
by Gaels. And there are words in the
fisher dialect that came from Gaelic.
For example amitan (a fool),
boddach (old man), buss (a mouth),
callach (old woman) and cootyach
(family group, company or clan).
You will recognize the words
amadan, bodach, bus, cailleach and
cuideachd.
Here are some others:
doorcans (fir cones used to smoke
fish), dossan (fringe, forelock), gob
(the opening or mouth of a receptacle), laroch (a house site), ropach
(untidy), and spatyel (grand or well-dressed). You’ll recognize the
Gaelic words durcan, dosan, gob,
làrach, robach and spaideal.
The word they had for
themselves was Croompach – that’s
somebody from Cromarty. That
came from the Gaelic Crombach.
And they called people from
Dingwall Ballachalls. Baile a’ Chàil
(“cabbage town”) was an old
Gaelic name for Dingwall.
There was an old well in Cromarty. It was called The Stroopie
Well. The water was a cure for many
things. Young children took [were
taking] the water home. The
children got a reward – a wee
bannock with a hole in it. In Gaelic
it was called a bonnach fallaid.
Fallaid is the meal and dough which
was not used. In the Cromarty
fisherfolk dialect they called that
bannock the bonnach faaly.
The people were believing that
the bonnach fallaid brought the
house good luck. The Gaels were
believing that. The Cromarty fisher-folk were believing that. They spoke
different languages, but they had
much in common.
Dualchainnt Iasgairean Chrombaidh (2)
Thàinig leabhar beag a-mach o chionn
ghoirid – The Cromarty Fisherfolk
Dialect. Tha e mu dheidhinn dualchainnt
nan iasgairean ann an Cromba. ’S e
dualchainnt de dh’Albais a tha anns an
dualchainnt sin. Tha dìreach dithis aig a
bheil i gu fileanta an-diugh.
Tha cuid de na faclan coltach ri
faclan ann an dualchainntean eile de
dh’Albais. Mar eisimpleir, bauchles
(seann slioparan), belligut (neach
sanntach), agus guloot (fear a tha gròt a
dhìth an tastain). Agus tha faclan aca
nach eil ann an dualchainntean eile; mar
eisimpleir sallikatazaar a tha a’
ciallachadh “deillseag”.
Ach bha Cromba air a chuairteachadh le Gàidheil. Agus tha faclan ann
an dualchainnt nan iasgairean a thàinig
bhon Ghàidhlig. Mar eisimpleir, amitan
(a fool), boddach (old man), buss (a
mouth), callach (old woman) agus
cootyach (family group, company or
clan). Bidh sibh ag aithneachadh nam
faclan amadan, bodach, bus, cailleach
agus cuideachd.
Seo feadhainn eile: doorcans (fir
cones used to smoke fish), dossan
(fringe, forelock), gob (the opening or
mouth of a receptacle), laroch (a house
site), ropach (untidy), agus spatyel (grand or well-dressed). Bidh sibh ag
aithneachadh nam faclan Gàidhlig
durcan, dosan, gob, làrach, robach agus
spaideal.
’S e am facal a bha aca orra fhèin
Croompach – sin cuideigin à Cromba.
Thàinig sin bhon Ghàidhlig Crombach.
Agus bha iad ag ràdh Ballachalls ris na
daoine à Inbhir Pheofharain. ’S e Baile
a’ Chàil seann ainm Gàidhlig air Inbhir
Pheofharain.
Bha seann tobar ann an Cromba.
’S e The Stroopie Well an t-ainm a bha
air. Bha an t-uisge na leigheas airson
iomadach rud. Bha clann òg a’ toirt an
uisge dhachaigh. Bha a’ chlann a’
faighinn duais – bonnach beag le toll
ann. ’S e bonnach fallaid a bha air ann
an Gàidhlig. ’S e fallaid a’ mhin-fhlùir
agus taois nach robh air an cleachdadh.
Ann an dualchainnt nan iasgairean
Crombach, ’s e bonnach faaly a bha iad
a’ gabhail air a’ bhonnach sin.
Bha na daoine a’ creidsinn gun
robh am bonnach fallaid a’ toirt deagh
fhortan don taigh. Bha na Gàidheil a’
creidsinn sin. Bha na h-iasgairean
Crombach a’ creidsinn sin. Bha diofar
chànanan aca, ach bha mòran anns a’
chumantas eatarra.
