| 1. Different stages in the growth of sheep (female) |
| uan firionn | |
| uan boirionn | |
| odhaisg | up to a year old. |
| odhaisg fhirionn | wedder. |
| odhaisg bhoirionn | |
| odhaisg reith | ram. |
| bliadhnach firionn | 1 year old. |
| bliadhnach boirionn | 1 year old. |
| bliadhnach reith | 1 year old. |
| dò-bhliadhnach firionn agus dò-bhliadhnach muilt | |
| dò-bhliadhnach boirionn | |
| dò-bhliadhnach reith | |
| tri-bhliadhnach muilt no mult | |
| tri-bhliadhnach boirionn | |
| tearrainneach | missed having a lamb for a year. |
| caora | over three years old. |
| beitheach caorach | can be male or female. |
| rùd | ram. |
| reith | ram. |
| ciora | a pet lamb, hand-fed, male or female. The name still applies to the same animal after reaching maturity, i.e. once a ciora always a ciora! |
| croga | cast ewe. |
| 2. Different stages in the growth of sheep (male) |
| uanreith (pronounced ooah-ray) | |
| odhaisg rùid | up to 1 year old. (The ‘r’ in ‘ruid’ is aspirated.) |
| bliadhnach rùid | 1 year old. (The ‘r’ is not aspirated.) |
| dò-bhliadhnach | |
| tri-bhliadhnach | |
| ceithir-bhliadhnach | |
| clamair | an old, well horned ram. (Single ‘l’ sound as in English ‘clam’.) “Ach co leis an clamair?” |
| 3. Different stages in the growth of the castrated male |
| uan firionn | before and after castration. |
| odhaisg fhirionn | |
| odhaisg mhuilt | |
| bliadhnach firionn | |
| bliadhnach muilt | |
| dò-bhliadhnach firionn | |
| dò-bhliadhnach muilt | |
| tri-bhliadhnach muilt (never fiorionn ) | [sic] |
| ceithir-bhliadhnach muilt (not ceithir bhliadhnach firionn) | |
| 4. Sheep’s appearance |
| [sgrogag] | Caora bheag, nùlach le sgrogagan beag de dh adhaircean oirre. (‘Sgrogag’ has the same nasal sound as ‘crocan’ (‘cnocan’, a hillock).) |
| [liabhach] | Caora bheag mhollach le adhaircean liabhach (wide-spread). |
| caora-ghireach | short wool. |
| caora-mhaol | no horns. |
| caora-chiar | off-white. |
| caora-dhubh | |
| caora ‘air a duppadh’ | |
| 5. Miscellaneous |
| raige | ram with one testicle, English ‘rig’. (The ‘a’ in ‘raige’ is sounded the same as the first ‘a’ in ‘aghaidh’, a face.) |
| 6. Feeding and grazing |
| a h-àbhais | her usual beat. Cha deach i bh air [?] a h-àbhais(d) fad na bliadhna. |
| frasach | This was fixed on the wall and filled with hay which the sheep pulled through narrow slats and so avoiding waste. Set at an angle to the wall.
|
| miodar | a small wooden vessel for holding liquids e.g. milk for a calf, miodar a’ laoigh. Also held ‘bree’ from boiled salt herring, herring bones, potato peelings etc. given to the cows. |
| fracus | fracus sgadain – bits and pieces of herring. |
| 7. Handling of sheep |
| a’ cur a mach nan caorach | |
| a’ cur nan caorach go na mòintich | |
| a’ toirt dhachaidh nan caorach | |
| a’ faingeadh | fanking. |
| trusadh nan caorach | gathering. Or simply ‘trusadh’. A’ trusadh na mointich, nam beannaidh, a’ mhonaidh. |
| grunn chaorach | a number of sheep. |
| grunnan math chaorach | a fair number [of sheep]. |
| treud chaorach | a flock of sheep (usually strung out behind one another), e.g. ‘Tha treud chaorach a mach a rathad.’ |
| ‘Fen e falbh’, ‘Fen e d ais’ | ‘way out’, ‘go back’. [commands given to a sheep-dog] |
| ‘Go mu chois’ | ‘heel’. [command given to a sheep-dog] |
| ‘Mach e sen’ | ‘away out’. [command given to a sheep-dog] |
| ‘Stigh e’ | ‘after it’, i.e. encouraging the dog to chase harder, not at all in the sense of taking an animal to an enclosure, in fact the opposite. |
| faing rùsgaidh | |
| faing dhuppaidh | |
| faing nan uan | when lambs are separated from their mothers. |
| amar or amar duppaidh | |
| a’ duppadh | |
| a’ cur gorm no dearg as na caoraich | marking with blue or red keel. |
| a’ cohharrachadh nan uan | [sic] lug marking. |
| a’ spoth | castrating. A more ‘genteel’ term used is ‘spogadh’ but not used often. |
| ‘ciorrag bheag’ | [call to a lamb or sheep] or sometimes imitating the bleat, e.g. ‘maa bheag’. |
| 8. Apparatus |
| smiag (pronounced smeeag) | a piece of wood with three holes, one at each end and one in the middle. The rope forming the lamb’s collar went through the two outer holes and were fixed by means of a knot. The tether went through the centre hole and [was] kept from running through by a knot on the end.
|
| bacan | tether stake. |
| suidhbheal ( soo-i-vil) | [pron.] swivel. (This is the pronunciation I heard a Southend fisherman use although he has no Gaelic.) |
| 9. Diseases |
| cleimh, a’ chleimh | scab; itchiness leaving bare patches of skin. |
| miul (), miulan caorach | [fem.] keds. |
| gartan () | [masc.] tick. |
| fiarrsannan (), pl. fiarrsannanan | [masc.] worm in skin, usually of a cow. |
| an doille () | [fem.] blindness, the eye turning whitish, opaque. |
| an tuathalan () | [masc.] giddiness; lack of balance. |
| am pluc () | [masc.] liver fluke disease. |
| leòbagan air an adha | liver flukes. |
| spùt | diarrhoea. |
| lot () | [fem.] lot air a sgamhan, a blemish on the lungs. |
| a’ cleith a’ bhoinne | withholding the milk; ‘Cha do leag i ’m boinne.’ |
| Tha galair innt. | She has a disease (not specific). |
| Tha gaod innt. | She has a disease (not specific). Similarly, a blemish in a piece of sound-looking wood: ‘Tha gaod ann.’ |
| 10. Parts of the body |
| ceann () | [masc.] sùil, bus, eanachainn, cluas, teanga, stròn, duileasg na stròine. |
| ochd () | [masc.] breast. |
| caisean ochd | skin on breast, a tit-bit at killing time. Skin was cut off, with wool still on, a red hot cinder put inside and left to cook! |
| casan cinn | forelegs. |
| crudhanan beaga | fetlocks. |
| créimh an droma | back-bone. |
| smior cailleach | spinal cord. (‘ai’ sound in Uig is more like ‘ei’, thus: ‘ceilleach’; ‘spaid’ is ‘speid’; ‘maide’ is ‘meide’; ‘sen’ is used instead of ‘sin’.) |
| an crudha deiridh | hindquarters. |
| cruachan (), pl. cruachanan | [masc.] hip. |
| suil a’ leis | socket joint at hip. |
| losaid () | [fem.] Chaidh i as a losaid – her hip-joint is out. |
| an cridhe | heart. |
| cuisil | artery. (Vein, I don’t know Gaelic of.) |
| fuil () | [fem.] blood. |
| sgamhanan () | [masc.] lungs. |
| sgòrnan () | [masc.] trachea. |
| ubhal a’ sgornain | larynx. |
| adha () | [fem.] liver. |
| duagan () | [masc.] kidneys. |
| staoig () an amadain | [fem.] found stuck to the maodal [q.v.] (spleen?). |
| domalas () | [masc.] gall-bladder. |
| a’ spoth aige | its genital organs. |
| am poc | the bag. |
| na clachan | the testicles. |
| am bogan | the penis. |
| am bod | the penis. |
| an t-slat | the penis. |
| an cochull () | [masc.] the sheath. |
| it-itheach ( i-each) | [fem.]) ([pron.?] gullet. |
| a’ mhaodal () | [fem.] stomach. |
| caolanan () | [masc.] intestines. |
| na caolanan beaga | small intestines. |
| na caolanan gorma | small intestines. |
| an caolan mor | large intestine. |
| na caolanan mora | large intestines. |
| am brallein () | [masc.] colon (?). |
| geir na maodail | fat on the stomach. |
| na lòineachan | fat round kidneys. |
| 11. Lambing |
| cur nan caorach gu ’na rùid | |
| cur nan caorach gu ’na reithe | |
| Tha reitheachd oirre | wanting the ram. |
| Chaidh i air reitheachd | she was served. (Double ‘r’ sound as in Nom. case.) |
| Reithich a’ rùd i | the ram served her. |
| Chaidh i seach reitheachd | she has gone past the time. |
| leum reitheachd | the effective jump. |
| leabaidh an uain | inside the sheep. |
| salchar | placenta. |
| 12. Miscellaneous |
| toban | tuft. |
| caora chleimheach | scabby sheep. |
| caora chùlanach | sheep with black wool round the neck like a black collar (nothing to do with disease, just as a matter of interest). |
| cùlan | black wool round a sheep’s neck (nothing to do with disease, just as a matter of interest). |
