Gàidhlig / English
Còmhla-bhigein

Còmhla-bhigein

Posted by Shelagh on Thursday 26 November 2015

This week, we’re looking at words for bird traps or snares, and in particular at two words from South Uist.

Còmhla bhigeinean (from còmhla, ‘door’ and bigein, ‘small bird’) were used in Garrynamonie: as soon as any birds had strayed into a certain area, a rope was pulled which brought a door (or something similar) crashing down on top of them. This is quite a cruel method of trapping birds, but thankfully there is a more humane method recounted in Dwelly’s dictionary, under the word còmhla-bhigein. Here, seed would be placed on the ground under a box, which was raised at one end with a stick. As soon as any birds began to eat the seed, the stick would be pulled away and they would be trapped in the box, presumably still alive!

There is another word which appears more frequently, although with a variety of spellings: peinnteal, a bird snare made out of horsehair. In Garrynamonie, there was peindeal, while peinteall was given in Bornish. Peinnteal, painnteal and bainndeal all appear in Dwelly’s dictionary and beinnteal or peinnteal can be found in Carmina Gadelica.

Interestingly, peinnteal has connections to other languages and cultures: a similar word, paintér/paintél meaning ‘trap/snare’ also appears in Irish (see eDIL), and paintér is similar to the Middle English word panter (‘clap-net, snare’). In 1299 in Norwich, you could even work as a pantermaker – someone who made traps!

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word has Latin roots, from panthera (‘fowling net’) and variations also exist in Old French (pantière) and Italian (pantiera).

If you’ve ever used a còmhla-bhigein or peinnteal, then please let us know through Facebook or Twitter.

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