Gàidhlig / English
Coileach-gaoithe

Coileach-gaoithe

Posted by Shelagh on Thursday 1 September 2016

The usual definition of the term coileach-gaoithe, literally ‘wind cockerel’, is ‘weather-vane’. However, it is also the name given by informants from Tiree and Lewis to a potato with feathers stuck in it, similar to a shuttlecock or a spinning top, which would be played with on a windy day. The variations goileach-gaoithe and coileach-gòthan were also given.

Another informant from South Uist called this feathered toy a gobhlan-gaoithe, which is more commonly the name for a swallow. A gobhlan is a fork-shaped object, and is used in several compounds denoting fork-tailed birds, including gobhlan-taighe, ‘house-martin’ and gobhlan-dubh, ‘swift’.

The noun coileach can also mean an eddy in a stream or the white foam on the crest of the waves; one informant from Embo in Sutherland used the phrase tha i a’ gabhail coilich, ‘[the sea] is taking coileach’, or ‘foaming’, to describe the flecks of white foam appearing on the sea as the wind rises. Similarly, an informant from Harris defined coileach as ‘froth from a propeller’ and the phrase nighe do lèine ann an coileach an uillt, ‘wash your clothes in the swirl of the stream’ was recorded in Lewis.

Have you ever played with a coileach-gaoithe / gobhlan-gaoithe or any similar toys? Let us know in the comments section on this page or through Facebook or Twitter.
 
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