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Ann am Mòrar, anns na Garbh Chrìochan, tha lochan ann air a bheil ainm car annasach – Lochan °Õྱ²Ô Mhic Dhùghaill. Tha e anns a’ mhonadh eadar Loch Beòraid agus Loch Mhòrair. Tha eilean anns an lochan. ’S e Meòbal am baile as fhaisge air. Saoil ciamar a fhuair an lochan ainm mar sin?

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý ’S dòcha gum bi sibh eòlach air an t-seann sgeulachd Ghàidhlig °Õྱ²Ô Bò Cuailgne – The Cattle Raid of Cooley ann am Beurla. Tha e stèidhichte ann an Èirinn. Tha ³Ùྱ²Ô a’ ciallachadh ‘plunder’, ‘driving off’ is a leithid sin. Lochan °Õྱ²Ô Mhic Dhùghaill –‘ the lochan of the plundering of MacDugald’?

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Tha e coltach gu bheil an t-ainm ceangailte ri seann sgeulachd. ’S e an t-ainm a th’ oirre Cù Glas Mheòbail. Chan eil i ach goirid.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý O chionn bhliadhnaichean mòra, bha fear a’ fuireach ann am Meòbal.Ìý Bhuineadh e do Dhòmhnallaich Mhòrair. ’S e Clann Dhùghaill a chanar riutha ann an Gàidhlig. Bha mial-choin aig an fhear a bha seo.Ìý Bha iad glas.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Dh’fhalbh am fear seo a-null thairis. Mus do dh’fhalbh e, dh’fheuch e ris a h-uile gin de na mial-choin a lorg – airson cur às dhaibh. Ach dh’fhàilnich air grèim fhaighinn air aon ghala.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý An dèidh dha falbh, chaidh a’ ghala suas don lochan. Shnàmh i a-mach don eilean. Air an eilean, rugadh grunn chuileanan dhi. Bha na mial-choin seo beò air toradh a’ mhonaidh.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Thill ar caraid – ²Ñ²¹³¦¶Ù³óù²µ³ó²¹¾±±ô±ô – don sgìre. Chuala e gun robh a’ ghala agus a cuileanan beò, agus gun robh iad a’ fuireach air an eilean anns an lochan.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Chaidh e ann airson na coin fhaicinn. Rinn e fead. Dh’fhairich a’ ghala e, agus shnàmh i gu tìr. Bha i toilichte an duine fhaicinn. An ceann tacain, ge-tà, shnàmh trì de na cuileanan a-null. Bha iad a-nise mòr is làidir. Stiall iad an duine às a chèile sa spot. Cha robh iad ga aithneachadh mar charaid.

In Morar, in the Rough Bounds, there is a lochan which carries an unusual name – Lochan °Õྱ²Ô Mhic Dhùghaill. It’s in the hills between Loch Beòraid and Loch Morar. There is an island on the lochan. Meoble is the closest settlement to it. I wonder how the lochan got a name like that?

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Perhaps you’ll know the old Gaelic story °Õྱ²Ô Bò Cuailgne – ‘The Cattle Raid of Cooley’ in English. It’s set in Ireland. °Õྱ²Ô means ‘plunder’, ‘driving off’ and things like that. Lochan °Õྱ²Ô Mhic Dhùghaill – ‘the lochan of the plundering of MacDugald’?

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It appears that the name is connected with an old story. It is called The Grey Dog of Meoble. It’s only short.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Many years ago, there was a man living in Meoble. He belonged to the MacDonalds of Morar. They are called ²Ñ²¹³¦¶Ù³óù²µ³ó²¹¾±±ô±ô in Gaelic. This man owned greyhounds. They were grey.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý This man left to go overseas. Before he left, he tried to find all of the greyhounds – to kill them. But he failed to get hold of one bitch.

Ìý

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý After he left, the bitch went up to the lochan. She swam out to the island. On the island, some puppies were born to her. These greyhounds lived off the produce of the hills.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Our friend – MacDugald – returned to the area. She heard that the bitch and her puppies were alive, and that they were living on the island in the lochan.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý He went there to see the dogs. He whistled. The bitch heard him, and she swam to land. She was pleased to see the man. After a short while, however, three of the puppies swam over. They were now big and strong. They ripped the man to shreds on the spot. They weren’t recognising him as a friend.