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11/10/2010

Tha litir bheag na seachdain-sa aig Ruaraidh MacIllEathain. This week's short letter for learners is introduced by Ruaraidh MacLean.

5 minutes

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Mon 11 Oct 2010 19:00

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An Litir Bheag 283

鈥橲 e a鈥 Gh脿idhlig air The Milky Way Slighe Chlann Uisnich. Th脿inig Milky Way don Bheurla bhon Laidinn Via Lactea. Thug m貌ran ch脿nanan an ainm airson a Milky Way bhon Laidinn. Tha na c脿nanan Laideannach fh猫in mar sin. Ann an Eadailtis, mar eisimpleir, 鈥檚 e Via Lattea. Tha a鈥 Ghearmailtis 惭颈濒肠丑蝉迟谤补脽别 agus an D霉itsis Melkweg mar eadar-theangachadh air an Laidinn. Tha, agus na h-ainmean anns na c脿nanan Sl脿bhach.

Ach tha cuid de dh鈥檃inmean co-cheangailte ri fionnsgeulan. Tha am fear againne mar sin. Tha Slighe Chlann Uisnich air ainmeachadh airson tri霉ir ghaisgeach. B鈥 iad na compan-aich aig Deirdre 鈥 leannan Deirdre, Naois, agus a bhr脿ithrean, Aillean is 脌rdan. Rinn na br脿ithrean slighe ainmeil eadar Alba is 脠irinn. B鈥 e sin Slighe Chlann Uisnich.

Tha leabhar fosgailte air mo bheulaibh. 鈥橲 e an tiotal air 搁别耻濒-别貌濒补蝉. 鈥橲 e P脿draig Moore a sgr矛obh e. Rinn Iain Aonghas MacLe貌id eadar-theangachadh air gu G脿idhlig. Tha iad a鈥 sgr矛obhadh seo mu Shlighe Chlann Uisnich: 鈥淭ha eagal orm gur gann gum faic sibh i air Gh脿idhealtachd anns an t-Samhradh, ach tron Gheamhradh tha i 貌irdheirc.鈥 Uill, bha mi a-muigh as t-samhradh, a鈥 campachadh. Chunnaic mi Slighe Chlann Uisnich gu math soilleir.

Bha mi ann an Gleann Eite. Tha sin air taobh an iar na G脿idhealtachd. Tha e faisg air Gleann Comhann. Tha m貌ran ag r脿dh gun robh Deirdre agus Clann Uisnich a鈥 fuireach ann an Gleann Eite.

Tha D霉n Dearduil Ghleann Eite br猫agha. 鈥橲 e cnoc feurach a tha ann. Tha e os cionn na h-aibhne. Tha beanntan 脿rda timcheall air. Sheas mi air mullach a鈥 chnuic. Mar a bha anns an sgeulachd, bha 鈥渇猫idh a鈥 bhearraidh bhric鈥 ann. Agus bha 鈥渂radain a鈥 bhoinne bhrais鈥 san abhainn.

Champaich mi aig ceann sh矛os a鈥 ghlinne. Dh霉isg mi air an oidhche. Chuir mi mo cheann a-mach 脿s an teanta. Cha robh solas sam bith ann. Cha robh, co-dhi霉, ach na rionnagan. Os mo chionn bha Slighe Chlann Uisnich. Bha i soilleir agus 脿lainn. Slighe Chlann 脵isnich ann an Gleann Eite air oidhche bhr猫agha. Chan eil e a鈥 f脿s c脿il nas fhe脿rr na sin!

The Little Letter 283

The Gaelic for The Milky Way is Slighe Chlann Uisnich [鈥渢he path of the children of Uisneach]. Milky Way came into English from the Latin Via Lactea. Many languages took their name for the Milky Way from Latin. The Romance languages themselves are like that. In Italy, for example, it鈥檚 Via Lattea. The German 惭颈濒肠丑蝉迟谤补脽别 and the Dutch Melkweg are translations from Latin. As are the names in the Slavic languages.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But some of the names are connected to legends. Ours is like that. Slighe Chlann Uisnich is named for three heroes. They were Deirdre鈥檚 companions 鈥 Deirdre鈥檚 lover, Naois, and his brothers, Aillean and 脌rdan. The brothers made a famous journey between Scotland and Ireland. That was Slighe Chlann Uisnich.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I have a book open in front of me. It鈥檚 title is 搁别耻濒-别貌濒补蝉 [Astronomy]. It鈥檚 Patrick Moore that wrote it. John Angus MacLeod translated it to Gaelic. They write this about the Milky Way: 鈥淚鈥檓 afraid that you鈥檒l hardly see it in the Highlands in the summer, but in the winter it is glorious.鈥 Well, I was out during the summer, camping. I saw the Milky Way very clearly.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I was in Glen Etive. That鈥檚 in the Western Highlands. It鈥檚 near Glencoe. Many people say that Deirdre and the Sons [Children] of Uisneach were living in Glen Etive.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 D霉n Dearduil of Glen Etive is beautiful. It鈥檚 a grassy hill. It鈥檚 above the river. There are high mountains round about it. I stood on the top of the hill. As it was in the story, 鈥渢he deer of the speckled slope鈥 were there. And there were 鈥渟almon of the rapid torrent鈥 in the river.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I camped at the bottom end of the glen. I woke during the night. I put my head out of the tent. There was no light. There was none, at least, with the exception of the stars. Above me was the Milky Way. It was clear and beautiful. Slighe Chlann Uisnich in Glen Etive on a beautiful night. It doesn鈥檛 get any better than that!

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  • Mon 11 Oct 2010 19:00

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