The year of the mouse
I was telling you about ‘the year of the sheep’. But when was ‘the year of the mice’? You’ve never heard of it? Well, ‘the year of the mice’ was 1815.
It wasn’t recognised as such in Scotland. It was, however, in Nova Scotia in Canada.
In that year, a fantastic number of mice appeared. Nobody knew where they had come from or why they were so numerous. As soon as the wheat had grown
up, the farmers found out that the mice had damaged the roots.
A poem was written in Gaelic about ‘the year of the mice’. Here’s how it begins:
There are many plunderers here
Among the farmers:
Bears, merchants and bureaucrats,
constantly taking from them:
The mice are so plentiful
That they don’t leave seed on the sheaf tops;
And the little of it that is protected
Will be of poor quality when it comes to threshing.
It’s not certain who wrote the poem. It appeared under the nom de plume ‘I.P.’ in the magazine ‘An Cuairtear Òg Gàidhealach’. Perhaps it was a man –
Iain ‘Piper’ MacGillivray.
In the next section, he wishes death upon the mice:
[May] an everlasting curse from the people of all lands
Lower the numbers of that species;
Boils, cats, buzzards, winter cold,
Death and weakness in every way to them;
You bear the malice of all of Adam’s offspring
And no living person has affection for you,
I’m sorry you were not drowned
Before you got into Noah’s Ark.
I don’t know how many people remember the year of the mice today. It’s Michael Newton that brought the matter to my attention. He has an account about this
poem in his book that came out last year –
Seanchaidh na Coille: The Memory-Keeper of the Forest’.
It’s a collection of Canadian literature in Gaelic. The book proves how valuable the Gaelic heritage of Canada is. I’ll tell you more about this book next
week.
Bliadhna nan luch
Bha mi ag innse dhuibh mu Bhliadhna nan Caorach. Ach cuin a bha Bliadhna nan Luch? Cha chuala sibh riamh oirre? Uill, b’ e Bliadhna nan Luch – the year of the mice – ochd ceud deug is còig-deug (1815). Cha robh i aithnichte mar sin ann an Alba. Bha, ge-ta, ann an Alba Nuaidh ann an
Canada.
Anns a’ bhliadhna sin, nochd an t-uabhas de luchan. Cha robh fios aig duine cò as a thàinig iad no carson a bha iad cho pailt. Cho luath ʼs a bha a’
chruithneachd air fàs suas, fhuair na tuathanaich a-mach gun robh na luchan air sgrios a dhèanamh air na freumhaichean.
Chaidh dàn a sgrìobhadh ann an Gàidhlig mu dheidhinn Bliadhna nan Luch. Seo mar a tha e a’ tòiseachadh:
Is iomadh creachadair an taobh-sʼ
Am measg na tuathadh:
Mathain, marsantan is maoir,
A’ sìor thoirt uatha:
Tha luchaidhean ann cho lìonmhor
ʼS nach fhàg iad sìol air bàrr sguaibe;
Is am beagan a thèid fo dhìon dheth
Is bochd a bhrìgh ’n àm a’ bhualaidh.
Chan eil fios le cinnt cò sgrìobh an dàn. Nochd e fon ainm pinn ‘I.P.’ anns an iris ‘An Cuairtear Òg Gàidhealach’. ʼS dòcha gur e fear a bh’ ann – Iain
‘Pìobaire’ MacGhilleBhrath.
Anns an ath earrainn, tha e a’ guidhe bàs air na luchan:
Mallachd bhuan o shluagh gach dùthcha
Lughdachadh cunntais an t-seòrs’ ud;
Neasgaidean, cait, clamhain, dùldachd,
Bàs is fanntachadh ʼs gach dòigh dhuibh;
Is leibh gamhlas uile shliochd Adhaimh
ʼS chan eil bàigh aig neach a tha beò ribh,
Is duilich leam nach deach ur bàthadh
Mun d’ fhuair sibh san Àirc aig Nòa.
Chan eil fhios a’m cia mheud duine a tha a’ cuimhneachadh Bliadhna nan Luch an-diugh. ʼS e Mìcheal Newton a thug a’ chùis gu m’ aire. Tha cunntas aige mun
dàn seo anns an leabhar aige a thàinig a-mach an-uiridh – ‘Seanchaidh na Coille: The Memory-Keeper of the Forest’.
ʼS e cruinneachadh a tha ann de litreachas Chanada ann an Gàidhlig. Tha an leabhar a’ dearbhadh cho prìseil ʼs a tha dualchas Gàidhlig Chanada. Innsidh
mi tuilleadh mun leabhar seo an-ath-sheachdain.
