Tiree placenames
Among the townships in Tiree, there is Balemartine. I was always of the
opinion that the Martin in the name was St Martin of Tours in France.
But the scholars are not certain who it was. The name appears initially
as Balmartin on Blaeuʼs map in the seventeenth century.
Perhaps Martin was just one of the locals. There is a house in the
village called ‘Martinʼs house’. A guy Martin was living there. The day
his wife died, he himself suddenly passed away. Before that, he saw two
coffins leaving the house at the same time. Apparently, he had the
second sight.
I got the information about Balemartine from a book which came out
earlier this year. The author, John Holliday, was a GP in Tiree for
thirty years. He is fluent in Gaelic and he speaks it with a Tiree
blas.
The book is called
Longships on the Sand.
It is about how the Vikings and the medieval folk settled the island
and the place-names they created. The book is a work of great
scholarship.
Tiree is good for work of that nature because the estate records of the
Duke of Argyll, who owns it, go back more than three hundred years. And
much collection of oral tradition was done there by the School of
Scottish Studies.
You’ll understand that Balemartine is a Gaelic name. It appears that
the place had an old Norse name. That was Sòrabaidh. Thatʼs still
preserved in the name of the cemetery – Cladh Shòrabaidh – and in the
name of the beach – Tràigh Shòrabaidh. Sòrabaidh is a Norse name
meaning ‘township on marshy land’. Names of the same type are in Lorne
and Mull, in addition to Norway and Iceland.
Longships on the Sand
is full of interesting information like that, in addition to the social
history of Tiree. My thanks [blessing] to John Holliday for his labour[s].
Ainmean-àite Thiriodh
Am measg nam bailtean ann an Tiriodh, tha Baile Mhàrtainn. Bha mi riamh
dhen bheachd gum b’ e am Màrtainn anns an ainm Naomh Màrtainn à Tours anns
an Fhraing. Ach chan eil na sgoilearan cinnteach cò bha ann. Tha an t-àite
a’ nochdadh an toiseach mar Balmartin air mapa Bhlaeu anns an
t-seachdamh linn deug.
ʼS dòcha gum b’ e Màrtainn dìreach fear de mhuinntir an àite. Tha taigh
anns a’ bhaile air a bheil Taigh Mhàrtainn. Bha fear Màrtainn a’ fuireach
ann. An latha a chaochail a bhean, fhuair e fhèin bàs obann. Roimhe sin,
chunnaic e dà chiste a’ fàgail an taighe aig an aon àm. A rèir choltais,
bha an dà-shealladh aige.
Fhuair mi am fiosrachadh mu Bhaile Mhàrtainn à leabhar a thàinig a-mach na
bu tràithe dhen bhliadhna seo. Bha an t-ùghdar, John Holliday, na
dhotair-teaghlaich ann an Tiriodh fad trithead bliadhna. Tha e fileanta ann
an Gàidhlig agus bruidhnidh e i le blas Thiriodh.
ʼS e ainm an leabhair Longships on the Sand. Tha e mu dheidhinn
mar a rinn na Lochlannaich agus muinntir nam meadhan-aoisean tuineachadh
san eilean, agus na h-ainmean-àite a chruthaich iad. ʼS e fìor obair
sgoilearach a tha anns an leabhar.
Tha Tiriodh math airson obair de a leithid oir tha na clàran oighreachd aig
Diùc Earra-Ghàidheal, leis a bheil e, a’ dol air ais còrr is trì cheud
bliadhna. Agus chaidh tòrr obair cruinneachaidh de bheul-aithris a dhèanamh
ann le Sgoil Eòlais na h-Alba.
Tuigidh sibh gur e ainm Gàidhlig a tha ann am Baile Mhàrtainn. Tha e
coltach gun robh seann ainm Lochlannach air an aon àite. B’ e sin
Sòrabaidh. Tha sin glèidhte fhathast ann an ainm a’ chladh – Cladh
Shòrabaidh – agus ann an ainm na tràghad – Tràigh Shòrabaidh. Tha Sòrabaidh
na ainm Lochlannach, a’ ciallachadh ‘baile air talamh bog’. Tha ainmean
dhen aon seòrsa ann an Latharna agus Muile, a bharrachd air Nirribhidh agus
Innis Tìle.
Tha
Longships on the Sand
làn fiosrachadh inntinneach mar sin, a bharrachd air eachdraidh shòisealta
Thiriodh. Mo bheannachd aig John Holliday airson a chuid saothrach.
