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Bha sinn a’ toirt sùil air seann chunntas mun chlò mhòr. Chaidh a sgrìobhadh le Ruairidh Caimbeul à Mionaird air cladach Loch Fìne. An t-seachdain sa chaidh thug sinn sùil air mar a bhiodh na seann Ghàidheil a’ dathadh na clòimhe dubh agus gorm. An-diugh, tha mi a’ dol a thoirt sùil air na dathan eile.

Airson donn, bha na daoine a’ cleachdadh crotal, duileasg agus »å³Ü¾±±ô±ô±ð²¹²µ-²ú³óྱ³Ù±ð. Crotal – ’s e sin seòrsa de lichen a tha a’ fàs air creagan. Bidh cuid a’ bruidhinn ann am Beurla mu crottle. Thàinig am facal sin bhon Ghàidhlig. Duileasg – ’s e sin feamainn – dulse ann am Beurla. Agus »å³Ü¾±±ô±ô±ð²¹²µ-²ú³óྱ³Ù±ð – ’s e sin water-lily.

Bha gnèithean eile de chrotal a’ dathadh clòimh ³¦°ùò-»å³ó±ð²¹°ù²µ no crimson. B’ iad sin an crotal-geal no crab’s eye lichen agus corcar no cudbear lichen.

Airson dathadh uaine, bhathar a’ cleachdadh conasg ‘whin’, °ùà³¾³ó-»å³ó°ù´Ç¾±²µ³ó±ð²¹²Ô²Ô no European buckthorn, fraoch ‘heather’ agus bealaidh ‘broom’. Airson purpaidh, bhathar a’ cleachdadh ´Ú±ðò°ù²¹²õ ‘spindle’, lus na feàrnaich ‘round-leaved sundew’ agus ³¦°ù´Ç³Ù²¹±ô-³¦Ã²¾±²Ô²Ô¾±³¦³ó ‘cup lichen’.

Bhathar a’ faighinn dearg bho chrotal eile air an robh crotal-nan-creag, bho °ùù ‘Lady’s bedstraw’ agus bhon chairt-làir (tormentil ann am Beurla). 

Bha na seann daoine a’ faighinn buidhe bho thrì craobhan – a’ chraobh-ubhail ‘apple tree’, a’ chraobh-uinnsinn ‘ash tree’ agus a’ chraobh-leamhain ‘elm’. Bhiodh buidhe a’ tighinn cuideachd bho roid ‘bog myrtle’, raineach ‘bracken’ agus achlasan Chaluim Cille ‘slender St John’s wort’.Ìý

Airson orains, bha iad a’ cur feum air trì lusan dùthchasach – ²ú±ðà°ù²Ô²¹²Ô-µþ°ùì»å±ð no dandelion, buaghallan-buidhe no ragwort agus preas nan smeur no bramble bush. Ach tha e inntinneach nach e am facal ‘orains’ a tha Ruairidh a’ cleachdadh airson an datha sin. An àite sin, tha e a’ cleachdadh seann fhacal airson orainsear – ’s e sin ò°ù-³Ü²ú³ó²¹±ô. Gu litreachail, tha e a’ ciallachadh ‘golden apple’. Ã’°ù-³Ü²ú³ó²¹±ô. 

Chaidh mi gu faclair Armstrong a chaidh a dhèanamh ann an ochd ceud deug is còig air fhichead (1825). Tha trì faclan aige airson orainsear – ’s e sin ò°ù²¹¾±²õ»å, ò°ù-³Ü²ú³ó²¹±ô agus ò°ù-³¾³ó±ð²¹²õ. Tha ‘òr’ anns a h-uile fear aca. Tha e duilich gun do leig sinn seachad na h-ainmean sin.

We were looking at an old account about traditional tweed. It was written by Ruairidh Campbell from Minard on the shore of Loch Fyne. Last week we looked at how the old Gaels would be dyeing [the] wool black and blue. Today I’m going to look at the other colours.

For brown, the people were using crotal, duileasg and »å³Ü¾±±ô±ô±ð²¹²µ-²ú³óྱ³Ù±ð. Crotal – that is a type of lichen that grows on rocks. Some people talk in English about ‘crottle’. That word came from Gaelic. Duileasg – that’s a seaweed – dulse in English. And »å³Ü¾±±ô±ô±ð²¹²µ-²ú³óྱ³Ù±ð – that is water lily.

Other species of lichen were dyeing wool ³¦°ùò-»å³ó±ð²¹°ù²µ or crimson. That was the crotal-geal or crab’s eye lichen and corcar or cudbear lichen.

For dyeing green, conasg ‘whin’ was being used, and °ùà³¾³ó-»å³ó°ù´Ç¾±²µ³ó±ð²¹²Ô²Ô or European buckthorn, fraoch ‘heather’ and bealaidh ‘broom’. For purple, ´Ú±ðò°ù²¹²õ â€Èٱ辱²Ô»å±ô±ð’, lus na feàrnaich ‘round-leaved sundew’ and ³¦°ù´Ç³Ù²¹±ô-³¦Ã²¾±²Ô²Ô¾±³¦³ó ‘cup lichen’ were used.

Red (dearg) was obtained from another lichen called crotal-nan-creag, from °ùù ‘Lady’s bedstraw’ and from ³¦²¹¾±°ù³Ù-±ôྱ°ù (tormentil in English).

The old people were obtaining yellow from three trees - a’ chraobh-ubhail ‘apple tree’, a’ chraobh-uinnsinn ‘ash tree’ and a’ chraobh-leamhain ‘elm’. Yellow would also come from roid ‘bog myrtle’, raineach ‘bracken’ and achlasan Chaluim Cille ‘slender St John’s wort’.

For orange, three native plants were used – ²ú±ðà°ù²Ô²¹²Ô-µþ°ùì»å±ð or dandelion, buaghallan-buidhe or ragwort and preas nan smeur or bramble bush. But it’s interesting that it’s not the word ‘orains’ that Ruairidh uses for that colour. Instead of that, he uses an old word for the orange fruit – that is ò°ù-³Ü²ú³ó²¹±ô. Literally, it means ‘golden apple’. Ã’°ù-³Ü²ú³ó²¹±ô.

I went to Armstrong’s dictionary that was produced in 1825. He has three words for an orange – those are ò°ù²¹¾±²õ»å, ò°ù-³Ü²ú³ó²¹±ô and ò°ù-³¾³ó±ð²¹²õ. There is ‘gold’ in all of them. It’s a pity we abandoned those names.