Gàidhlig / English
Tàcharan

Tàcharan

Posted by Shelagh on 6th November 2014

This week, the word we have chosen is tàcharan, ‘a sprite’ or ‘a small mischievous person’ (collected in South Uist and Barra.)

In Carmina Gadelica, the word appears in two place names - ‘Clachan an Tàcharain’ (the ford of the kelpie) in Islay and ‘Poll an Tàcharain’ (the pool of the kelpie) in Perth.

Tàcharan is used with the second sense in a poem within The Glenbard Collection of Gaelic Poetry, composed by Dòmhnall Gobha (Donald Chisolm) from Strathglass, who emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1801.

The poem reflects Dòmhnall Gobha’s feelings of loss and anger as he, along with many others, was forced to leave the land of his birth during the Clearances and he refers to the local landowner, William Chisolm of Strathglass as ’N tàcharan so th’ air ar ceann – “this tacharan above us”, who was removing the locals from his lands to make way for sheep.

Are you familiar with any other usages of the word tacharan? If so, why not let us know on @DASG_Glaschu / facebook.com/DasgGlaschu.

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