Gàidhlig / English
Sporan

Sporan

Posted by Calum on 27mh an t-Sultain, 2019
We’re all aware of what sporan means today, both a purse and kilt pouch, but they are all used in many different ways in the world of the Gael.

It’s the Leather Sporan which is the most common today along with brown sporan made from dressed weather. The “sporan béin” is the more exotic and fancy sporan, meaning a sporan made from pelts or hides of otters, polecat, marten, or wild cats. The “sporan mollach” means a sporan created from Goat hide.

In terms of natural sporans there are a handful of which we’re aware of anyway. In the sea-world there are many sporans to be seen. The “Sporan feannaige” is the most common with an appearance of black, square, tendril-like seaweed that’s as small as a mouse, with four “legs” in every corner, but it’s not truly seaweed, it’s a fish’s spawn-pouch. It’s commonly recognised as a “Mermaid’s purse” or “Devil’s purse” or “Devil’s pocketbook” in English. There are other names fro the same thing, such as “Sporan-ròin” and “Sporan-stàrraig” for Dogfish. “Sporan-na-crùbaig” is different in this sense as it means a spawn-pouch of the crab itself.

In terms of fauna and plants we have “Shepherd’s sporan” (capsella bursa-pastoris) as well, it commonly grows on the dales and meadows where livestock is kept. It is an truly good herb for people today with health benefits and it’s used in countries to the east such as Korea, China and Japan in food such as wantons or rice-cakes, for example.

I will leave two expressions with you that are very true today as they were a hundred years ago. “Am fear nach fosgail a sporan, fosglaidh e a bheul”: “Tha man who doesn’t open his purse, he will open his mouth” (equivalent of “Talk is Cheap”), and “Fhad ’s a tha biadh againn, thugadh an sporan Taigh Iain Ghròt air!”: as long as we have food, [then] the purse could be taken to John O’Groat’s house!”

If you have any stories or information about words connected with the word, let us know on air facebook, twitter and our own website!
 
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