Gàidhlig / English
Corra-chamag

Corra-chamag

Posted by Abi on Thursday 23 February
 
The word corra-chamag [bent finger] was collected in the Isle of Barra and it means when one puts their fingers together besidse a light to create shadow images on the wall. In Barra, mischievous children would do this to tease their friends by creating scary shapes.
The word camag is mentioned four times in the Fieldwork Archive for a shinty stick, but in Dwelly’s dictionary it is described as:

Curl, ringlet. 2 Crook. 3 Clasp. 4 Side of the head, temple. 5 Club. 6 Bay, arm of the sea. 7 Anything crooked or curved. 8 Comma, in writing. 9** Quibble, quirk. 10 Anything undesirable. 11†† Curve.

Therefore, the word camag can be used for anything that has a bent or crooked shape.

There are many words which mention fingers in the Fieldwork Archive. The word cearrag was collected in the Isle of Skye for your first finger after your thumb (your index finger) and the word crionag was collected in Inverness for your little finger.

Fingers were often used for measurements and the word cromadh was collected in South Uist to mean ‘measurement of tweed usually from the tip of the middle finger to the knuckle joint’ or in North Uist to mean ‘a measurement of tobacco, about four inches long’.
Do you have any other words for corra-chamag or something similar to it? We would be very interested to hear from you through Facebook, Twitter, and you can also leave comments under our blogs.
 
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