| 1. Ag ullachadh na talmhainn airson mòine a bhuain |
| poll | peat bank. |
| grobhag | a little wasting bank (often the cause of feuds since over a century perhaps the ‘grobhag’ has wandered into someone else’s staked territory). |
| ath-bhlar | second or third generation peat bank.
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| eilean mònach |
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| an rùsgadh | turfing (removing top layer of peat attached to sward). |
| spaid rùsgaidh | an ordinary garden spade sharpened and its blade shortened usually by usage.
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| a’ riachadh a’ phuill | demarking the inner edge of the ‘ceap’. |
| dileadh a’ phuill | the bank drain. After the ‘ceap’ [q.v.] has been turned over along the whole length of the poll, the ‘ceap’ is transferred to the ‘dileadh’.
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| ceap | After the ‘ceap’ has been turned over along the whole length of the poll, the ‘ceap’ is transferred to the ‘dileadh [a’ phuill’] [q.v.].
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| a’ glanadh a’ phuill | removing small ridges off the ‘carcaill’ [q.v.]. |
| a’ charcaill |
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| 2. A’ buain na mònach; na h-innealan a chleachdar; ainmean nam fàdan, etc. |
| an taraisgeir |
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| an smeachan | foot piece. [See taraisgeir.] |
| an iarunn | [See taraisgeir.] |
| an sgian | [See taraisgeir.] |
| sgiobadh-buain-na-mònach | the peat cutting team. |
| am barr fhad ( barr’ad) | [pron.] top ‘carcaill’ [q.v.].
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| an caoran | the last layer of peat, usually not the recognised depth of a ‘fàd’.
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| an corr-fhad ( corr’ad) | [pron.] the outermost peat of a ‘carcaill’ [q.v.] cut thick (esp. in ‘mòine dhubh’ [q.v.] because it has already undergone a year of weathering and tends to crumble if cut thin).
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| riasg | raw peat. |
| mòine bhàn | light, brown peat of the hilltops. |
| mòine dhubh | heavy, bluey-black peat of the marshlands. |
| mòine chòsach | a stringy type of peat which has bent many a ‘sgian’; ‘còsach’ was smoked by the bodach when he had the ‘carathas’ – the craving for tobacco: this out of ‘ine crùbaig’! |
| blàr mònach | peat moor. |
| sliabh mònach | peat moor. Air an t-shleibh-mhònach - out tending the peat. |
| ‘poll gearraibh-ás-e’ | the last bank to be cut. |
| 3. A’ tiormachadh na mònach |
| a’ rùmhadh (the ù is nasal) | first lifting into five or six peats; structures in which twites and other varieties of birds nest. |
| rùmhan |
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| ag ath rùmhadh | building into bigger structure of about ten or a dozen peats. |
| ath-rùmhan |
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| a’ torradh | next stage, four foot high. |
| tòrr |
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| ag ath-thorradh | same height of structure; just turning peats so that they are completely baked. |
| a’ cruachadh | building into seven foot ‘beehive structures’; this will be brought home at the woman’s leisure during good days in Autumn, Winter and Spring; few do this nowadays. Their work on the ‘sliabh’ halts at ‘tòrr’ [q.v.] at which stage the tractor is called into action.
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| a’ tughadh | Bhiodh mòine dhubh a bhithear a fàgail air a’ pholl (airson eallaich cleibhe aig toiseach Earraich) g’a tughadh le cip; ainneamh a tha sin a tachairt an diugh. |
| smùir | dross.
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| criomag mònach |
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| caoran | a piece of ‘fàd’ [q.v.].
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| fàd | the peat as cut by the ‘taraisgeir’ [q.v.].
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| asgairt | rubble left after main mass of peat has been carted away. This word is also used to describe inferior seed potato. |
| 4. A’ cruachadh na mònach |
| glutadh na cruaich | the amorphous mass within.
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| iomall na cruaiche | the perimeter where the ‘stéidheadh’ [q.v.] is to be done.
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| glutadh |
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| an stéidheach | the exterior wall.
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| [note] | (This incidentally is in our district the final operation, at the crofter’s house.) |
| 5. A’ toirt na mònach dhachaigh; an cliabh, etc. |
| ‘an eallach’ | ‘Fo’n an eallach’ Taking home the peats with creel or (in the case of male) sacks.
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| na briagan |
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| an ithris ( ee-reesh) | [pron.]
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| an dronag |
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| osanan | Not used in our area since about 1944. Had dual function (a) to keep skin fair (only men should be tanned!) and (b) to save the calves from the rough brush heather lying across parts of the ‘frith rathad’. ‘Osan’ (from ‘hose’?) was specially knitted, or formed by cutting foot part from woollen stocking.
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| casan luirmeachd |
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| 6. Seòrsachan mònach |
| 7. Faclan eile |
| sorachan mònach | a stack of peats for sitting upon.
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| craos teine | white hot fire (as with ‘mòine dhubh’ [q.v.]). |
| an tasgadh | banking fire overnight; using ash to cover peats so as to slow down burning. |
| foiteag foiteag! | exclamation to indicate cold. |
| iteag-iteag! | exclamation to indicate heat (e.g. fingers in hot water, on embers, etc.) |
| ultach mònach | as much of a load as arms can carry.
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