Gàidhlig / English
Tùirlingeadh

Tùirlingeadh

Posted by Shelagh on 11th December 2014

This week, there can be no doubt that winter has finally arrived, although we’ve been relatively fortunate with the weather until now. Our featured word this week is tùirlingeadh, which was collected in South Uist with the meaning ‘the winter drawing in.'

In literature, the verb tùirling is most commonly used in a religious sense, for example:

“Gu tùirling Criosd o neamh ann deire an t-saoghail...” (“Christ descended from heaven to the depths of the world...”) in Eisempleir Shoilleir Ceasnnuighe air Leabhar Aith-ghear nan Ceist by the Rev. John Willison, 1799.

or “Tha e ’tùirling air neul lasrach...” (“He descends on a flaming cloud”) in Leabhar nan Cnoc, ed. Norman MacLeod, 1834.

There are no literary examples of the word tùirlingeadh used in connection with winter, but Dwelly gives a similar phrase in his dictionary:

“Thàinig daoinneann a’ gheamhraidh” – ‘the inclemency of winter has come.’

Have you ever heard or used the word tùirlingeadh in connection with the onset of winter? If so, we would be very interested to hear from you through Facebook or Twitter.

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