Gàidhlig / English
Caora-bhleac an t-slèibhe

Caora-bhleac an t-slèibhe

Posted by Abi on 3 March 2016
Caora-bhleac an t-slèibhe is our saying of the week and it was collected in Uig on the Isle of Lewis in 1966. It means an orchid. The orchids were pulled from the ground by children playing on the hillside and they thought that the roots looked like udders. They would sing:

Caora-bhleac an t-slèibhe
ag èibheach le h-uan ’s le h-odaisg.

[Orchid of the hillside,
Crying with the lambs and the ewes.]

Different words appear for orchids on the Faclan bhon t-Sluagh part of the DASG website. ‘Urach-bhalich’ was collected on Scalpay, Harris, and ‘Sobhraidh Balach Breac’ on Mull as well as ‘Mòineachan’ from Rodel, Harris.

Orchids are very special plants and have been used for medicinal purposes in China for many years and today vanilla is extracted from their seed. Between 200 and 300 new speicies of orchid are identified every year around the world. You can read more here.

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  • Admin

    Taing Raibeart, tha sin air leth inntinneach - gu dearbh, tha an aon chiall aig an fhacal Ghreugais 'orchis'!

    2016-03-15 10:10:28
  • Raibeart MacLabhruinn

    Tha am facal 'mogairle' gu math coltach ri 'magairle' agus gu dearbh s'e 'magairle na monadh' aon de na h-ainmean airson 'orchid' ann am faclair LearnGaelic.net'. A-reir choltais, bha cuid de ghaideal den bheachd gu bheil coltas ri buill-bodhaig eile air na lusan seo!

    2016-03-11 22:12:17