Gàidhlig / English
breac an t-sìl

breac an t-sìl

Posted by Alasdair on 18 May 2017
There are a number of records in the Fieldwork Archive here at DASG in which breac an t-sìl appears.  The name was recorded in North Uist, Harris, Mull, Lewis and Tiree, where the plural breacan sìl was also recorded.  In another record from Kildonan in South Uist, additional information is provided on breac-an-t-sìl, as it is presented there, it being described as “a little speckled bird with a long tail seen in spring when the ploughing was done.”  That seems appropriate, given that a connection between this bird and sìol ‘seed’ is presented in the name itself: sìl is the genitive case of sìol.  In other words, breac an t-sìl appears to be the speckled bird of the seed.
 
Breac an t-sìl appears to refer specifically to the bird which is ‘Motacilla alba’ in Latin and ‘Pied wagtail’ in English, at least in some areas.  Breac an t-sìl is translated as “wagtail” in the aforementioned record from North Uist and as “wheatear” in the record from Harris, but “pied wagtail” is specified in the records from Lewis and Tiree.  Breac an t-sìl is the term recorded for ‘Motacilla alba’ / ‘Pied wagtail’ in Scottish Natural Heritage’s ‘Dictionary of Gaelic Nature Words’, where, incidentally, it is given as an alternative name to glaisean-seilich.  That name is best left for a future blog but the term breac in breac an t-sìl, which means ‘speckled, spotted, spotty; dappled; variegated’ (LearnGaelic), is wholly appropriate within the context of the English term ‘pied’ and the appearance of this black and white bird.  ‘Motacilla alba’ is a relatively common sight across the UK in summer; in winter, it leaves some of the highland and northern areas of Scotland, according to the RSPB.  This migration pattern may lie behind the bird’s Gaelic name: this is the bird seen when the spring ploughing is done, as has been seen.  This certainly appears to have been in mind with regard to the record from Kildonan, South Uist.
 
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