DASG Blog

An Dàmhair: Faclan Ràitheil ceangailte ris na Fèidh

October has descended upon us and almost everything has started to slow down before the end of autumn, but things are just starting for the deer, or the “àbhaich” if you prefer. It is no coincidence that it is the ‘“Damh[-fiadh]”-air’ (“Time of the Stag”) for this month (in Gaelic).

This time of year is marked in poetry by many bards, with “Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain” (“In praise of Ben Dorian”) by Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir (Duncan “Bàn” MacIntyre) as a prime example. There are mentions to Deer in this Pibroch in the variation, the second ground and the “crùnluath” Here’s the second variation of it:

“Tha ’n eilid bheag bhinneach
Bu ghuidhe sraonadh,
Le cuinnean geur, biorach
A’ sireadh na gaoithe:
Gasganach speireach
Feadh chreachainn na beinne,
Le eagal ro theine
Cha teirinn i h-aonach;
Ged thèid i na cabhaig
Cha ghearain i maothan.”
 
[“It’s the little, antlered hind
That could sniff most sharply,
With her keen, sharp nostrils
Surveying the wind:
Short-tailed, slender-limbed,
Through the rocky heights of the mountains,
For fear of (gun)fire
She won’t venture down off her hill;
Though she is made to hurry
She never complains of her breathlessness.”]
 
MacIntyre has the same fondness as well in “Cumha Choire a’ Cheathaich” (“The Lament of the Corrie of Smoke”) for his fondness for the nature of the corrie and the deer present:

“ – Bidh an coire mar a bha e
Bidh laoigh is aighean dàra ann,
Bidh daimh a’ dol san dàmhair
Air fàsach nam beann.
 
Bidh buic ’sna badan blàtha,
Ma bric ’san abhainn làimh riu,
Is na fèidh air Srath na Làirce
Ag àrach nam mang....”
 
[– The corrie shall be as it was
Calves and hinds of both kinds there,
The stags will go in October
On the rough-land of the ben.
 
The bucks shall be in the patches of bloom
As trout of the river beside them,
And the deer of Srath na Làirce
Rearing the fauns....”]
 
Recently I was in the Isle of Skye and my friend informed me to pay attention to the stags “a’ langanaich” through the night, with a mighty loud srann. I have heard them many a time but the last one I heard was exceptionally close to me, it was as if someone was starting a motorbike beside my head! But it wasn’t long before the stag moved on. Perhaps he found a hind!
Tha stags will “bùireadh” (rutting) in this month, where you can hear “bùirich.” The antlers of the stags will engage each other agus each male will try to beat his enemy and combatant to win the attention of the hinds.There is a great example of this in “Òran na Comhachaige” (“The Song of the Owl”) by Dòmhnall Mac Fhionnlaigh nan Dàn (Donald Finlayson):

“Nuair bhùireas damh Beinn Beige
’S a bheucas damh Beinn na Craige,
Freagraidh na daimh ud d’a chéile
’S thig féidh á Coire na Snaige.”
 
[“When the stag of Beinn Bheag bellows
And the Beinn na Craige roars,
Yon stags will answer each other
And deer will come from the Woodpecker’s Corry.]
 
After they have rutted a poll-bùirean, or a poll-dàmhair, will be left, showing where they fought on the land. They would have to be careful if they had a slat-chabar. Deer who are slat-chabrach aren’t of much use in a rutting! (Perhaps one of them would be of use as a bochuill but I doubt that is the deers’ desire at all, or to be a breiche either!) A faobhadach or two can be found about this time of year.

My friend and I tried a little bit of “stàcaireachd” (or no “ag ianach” no “a’ liùgadh”) without a gun on the ben, with a laogh or two among them. Perhaps they were earbaichean or ruadhagan (roe deer). It wasn’t our intention to route them to an gu eillearaig (a deer corral), or the likes but it was fun trying though. It reminded me of the “Crùnluath of “Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain” by MacIntyre again:
 
“Tha ’n eilid anns a’ ghleannan seo,
’S chan amadan gun eòlas
A leanadh i mur b’aithne dha
Tighinn farasta na còmhdhail:
Gu faiteach bhith na h-earalas
Tighinn ’m faisge dhi mun caraich i –
Gu faicilleach, glè earraigeach,
Mum fairich i ga còir e,
Gun glacadh e dha h-aindheoin i
Le h-anabarra seòltachd.”
 
[“The hind is in its little glen
And no inexperienced fool
Can stalk her without the proper knowledge
Of how to approach her quietly
To anticipate her nervousness
And get close to her before she starts away,
Cautiously, very carefully,
Lest she sense him in her vicinity,
Until he can catch her in spite of herself
And her exceptional cunning.”]
 
I hope you are keeping “mar fhiadh na beinne” (“like deer of the ben”) agus “cho fallain ri fiadh” (“as healthy as the deer”) and that you shall keep so through the Autumn and through the Winter as well. Do you have any festive words connected with deer? Why don’t you let us know on  facebook, twitter and our own website!