Gàidhlig / English
Mulcaire/mulgaire

Mulcaire/mulgaire

Posted by Edit on Thursday 6 October 2016

This week’s word – mulcaire or mulgaire – is also related to animals. The word originates in Harris and, according to Am Faclair Beag, means ‘fulmar’, a kind of sea bird. In DASG’s Fieldwork Archive it is additionally mentioned that the mulcaire or mulgaire has a particular behaviour  –  it is an aggressive bird that pushes other birds. This might be an explanation for the word’s other meaning: according to the same Fieldwork Archive, mulcaire or mulgaire is also used to describe a rude person who shows little concern about others.

Interestingly, smulcaire appears in the Irish online dictionary Teanglann as a word for a “snooty, sulky person” and smulc also appears in Am Faclair Beag with the meaning “surly look”. Hence, is is likely that there is a connection between smulcaire/smulc and mulcaire and that the word for the behaviour (smulc) is the origin of the bird’s name.

It is not uncommon for words connected to behavioural traits to be used as animal names alongside describing people – however, it is hard to know which of them came first. Another example of this is caileaba (Grimsay, North Uist), a word that is used for an awkward and temperamental horse as well as for its human equivalent.

If you are familiar with mulcaire/mulgaire or any other animal names that are also used for describing people, please let us know below or on our Facebook or Twitter pages.
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