DASG Blog

Breacan Fandabi dozi

Over the last few months, I have assisted with some research that Fandabi dozi (as he is known on social media) is conducting at present. Fandabi dozi has made films in Finland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and in many other places. He researches different environments in these parts of the world. He goes tramping in the countryside, he builds a shelter and forages for plants. He fishes. He is aiming to challenge himself. He is aiming to challenge his viewers to think about the ‘wild’in a different way; that it is a resource for us, and that is something to be respected for its bounty and its limits.Be sure to tread lightly there. Be sure that your influence on it is only light, and that you leave the place as you find it; as though you were never there.

Fandabi dozi has now returned to Alba. He lives in the Highlands, and has taken an interest in the Gaelic culture. The Gael often travelled through the country with the cattle, or to hunt the deer. They knew their way through the numerous Drove roads going over moorland and through forest towards the south, to the cattle markets. They knew their land because of old stories: the likes of Finn and the Fingalians, Oscar, Ossian, and Dubh-Ghiuthasaich (the witch who set the Caledonian pinewood ablaze). They would sing songs on their route that they learnt from the oral tradition. The land was alive through people’s memories and through the detailed knowledge they had of each aspect of their environment.

Fandabi dozi has a particular interest in the plaid, the traditional garb of the Gael. It is a very versatile garment. It is thick and warm, but also keeps you cool. It can be folded and tucked in to make pockets, a hood and sleeves. Take a look at Fandabi dozi’s video, where he demonstrates how you might make different styles from it. He means to show you the plaid, the fèileadh, just as he becomes familiar with it. What are the challenges and the advantages of wearing it?

There is such a wide variety of vocabulary on the Fieldwork Archive connected to the fèileadh. Two words for the shoulder plaid are: breacan-guaille, guailleachan, from Crowlista in Uig, Lewis. In Barra, sùmag is what is know for this particular part. My colleague also told me that cada is another name for it in Sutherland, coming from "cath-dath" (battle-colour) perhaps. In Co-chruinneach de Dh’Orain Thaghte Ghaelach, there is a song written by Anna Ghabh in 1827, and these proud are to be found:

With my candle on board like a baptism,
I will make the tweed and plaid
And you will never see me again amongst lowlanders. (TD:105)
 
In Dwelly’s dictionary, there is also plaide-laighe, the lying plaid, with the phrase, “We will go forth and do a lying plaid!” This means that the people involved will ambush another group.

Dwelly’s tells us that the breacan is the main part of the overall garment. The overall outfit with the belt connecting the whole thing is the belted plaid, or breacan-an-fhèilidh. The breacan is the speckled part of it, as breac means speckled. It would be comprised of a few different colours, and tartan became the popularised version in the nineteenth century.

Breacan is a term which the Gael’s vivid imagination make use of to describe every animal and element and landscape feature that is speckled. You will find the likes of gobhar bhreac (speckled goat), also known as a snail. Breacadh nan eibhlean describes the glowing embers of a dying fire, pulsating orange and black all over. Breacadh an rionnaich is a mackeral sky, the speckled, scattered fish scale appearance. Have a look at the below proverb:

“A frozen winter/ a misty spring/ A patchy summer/ a bright and sunny autumn/ Never left a famine in Scotland.”

Why then, should we complain about having rain in the summer, when a bit of sun and rain is good for us?!

Breac a’ Mhuilinn is particularly bonnie. Breacadh also means breaking and scattering shards, such as the breaking dry earth. Sometimes then, breac is what is being scattered, the speckles themselves, rather than the adjective. Thus the Tiristeach, or Tiree man, imagines that the Milky Way is scattered grain husks from a mill. What an image!

A Breac-an-t-Sìl is a wee bird, with speckled black and white wings. It is know as a pied wagtail in English. His voice is shrill and he has a speckled, patchy, skittish way of moving. Take a look at Alasdair’s blog from last year about this. Have a look also at the breacan-beithe, the speckled animal of the birch, or the chaffinch.

There is a term for the speckling on the soles of your feet when you sit too close to the fire. This is known as Breacan Màiri Uisdean, the plaid famous for its brilliant colours of scarlet, white and blue. The colours are not unlike those which would appear on your legs and feet! Even though the mother of my friend in Ballachulish has little Gaelic (the language of her parents) she still remembers her parents warning her: “If you sit too close to the fire, you’ll get Breacan Màiri Uisdean!” Have a look at Abi’s blog about this. Listen to this version of the song sung by Peggy Monks. Màiri Uisdean made plaid for lowland men who came to Tiree; the like of which they had never seen before! The full song by John Maclean is available in An Gàidheal, Vol 3, page 372, but I have given a couple of verses here:

The lovely, fashionable plaid
Not found in the shops
There is black, and white, and scarlet
Found on Màiri Uisdean’s plaid.
 
This plaid is famous and popular,
Between the borders and high mountains,
It was designed for us by Màiri,
And its influence travelled far.
 
There is a great deal more to write on this subject, but let us leave that there. Click on this link to see Fandabi dozi’s videos, and learn about summer foraging and responsible camping/ fire-lighting in the Highlands. Fandabi dozi does not yet speak Gaelic, but he nevertheless holds a great regard for representing Gaelic culture. Click on this link to review other things that are breac in the Fieldwork Archive!
 
Listen here for pronunciation of each phrase.
 

Fandabidozi

 
What too, of Coire Bhreacain, or the Corryvreckan? Get in touch on Facebook and Twitter.