| South Uist Words, Phrases, and Expressions |
| [buaidh] | Gun bhuaidh ort! – May you not be victorious. This is an old saying, a survival from ancient times. |
| [clach] | Air a’ chloich dhuibh. – On the black stone. This was either the Black Stone of Iona, where others were sworn, or that of Isla where delinquents were arraigned before the Lord of the Isles, or wherever that potentate might dispense justice. |
| [bàs] | Bàs gun Sagart duit! – Death without the benefit of Clergy. |
| sclànrachd | a battle of words. ‘Trod’. It may be a form of the Scottish “Sclander”. |
| [bàn] | Gun bhàin gun deargadh. ‘Bàn’ is the left hand of the furrow in ploughing, distinguished from ‘dearg’, the red or right hand side. ‘Bàn’ is empty or waste, as an unploughed field. ‘Deargadh’ is making an impression. “Cha do dhearg mi air.” – “I have made no impression on him.” Dearg mheàirleach – a very thief. Air an dearg chaoch – stark mad. |
| [sion] | Chan eil sion. – There is nothing. It may be from ‘sian’, the beard of barley. |
| [tòrradh] | this is the word used for a funeral in Benbecula. It means heaping on, making a mound over the grave by way of protection. Graves were so protected from wolves in the days of old. |
| tùireadh | lamenting the dead. MacVurich has ‘Toruimhe’ in his account of the funeral of John, Lord of the Isles, in 1380, translated by Macbain “waking”. |
| bracluig | a very dirty woman. |
| eilitriom | the bier for the dead. It is also called ‘eislig’ by the older people. |
| ruigheadh | stretching the body. |
| [biadh] | Gun bhiadh gun bhrat – without food or clothes. |
| [moch] | Bho mhoch gu dubh – from early to late. |
| [sùil] | Dìreach air a shùil – straight shooting. |
| dìleum | handicap for a horse. |
| spearrach | handicap for a sheep. |
| [sad] | Sad aic’ e. – Throw it to her. |
| [làmh] | Mo làmh-sa gu bheil. – My hand for it. |
| sadhanach | big sturdy fellow. |
| goruisg | a witless woman. |
| grianuisg | a useless person. |
| stall | the site on which the house is built. |
| caineal | helping a neighbour in time of harvest. |
| cairbhist | personal servant to a landlord. |
| bàrlagan | rags. |
| [bun] | ’S e bun a bh’ann. – So what happened. |
| [ear] | Thoir fo’n ear. – Pay attention, literally, take from the East. Light comes from the East. |
| [geall] | An geall na’s fhiach e. – Betting for what he is worth. |
| coileachadh | beating the stream for trout in November. |
| [baile] | Air do bhaile – in spite of you. |
| sadhanach | a big lusty fellow. |
| sgiolta | very fine. From the Danish ‘skjold’, a shield. |
| trùilleach | traitor. |
| buamastair | an ill-natured, rude man. |
| [nàire] | Mo nàire, ’s mo shìoladh, ’s mo leaghadh! – Lit. My shame, my sinking, my melting! |
| gòdail | jargon, ‘goileam’. |
| cruinne | the world. Cruinne-Cé – the whole world (lit. this world). |
| calpa | capital. |
| riabh | interest. |
| acarsaid | anchorage, from O.N. ‘akkeris-saeti’. |
| trithir | three men, from the Norse ‘thrir’, now obsolete. It is used by MacCodrum “Meirg air [something missing?] |
| seadhach | knowing. |
| [beatha] | ’S e làn di do bheatha. – You are very welcome. |
| [leum] | Thug e dudar leum as. – He jumped up. |
| rotach | rush. |
| [nàir] | Mo nàir ort! – Shame on you! Mo-Nàir was a Celtic goddess, frequently met in Irish literature. |
| agaladh | confession. In the Confessional box – éisdeachd. |
| [taghta] | Taghta math – excellent. |
| [ruig] | Cha ruig thu leas. – You need not. |
| [brath] | Chuir e brath a-stigh chon a righ. – sent a message, etc. |
| [buine-fala] | Is is buine-fala as docha leam a chunnaic mi riamh. |
| [luath] | Cho luath ’s a rugadh tu. – As fast as you were born. |
| lasagraich | loud weeping. ‘Lasag’. |
| [bas] | Bhuail i na basan. – She struck her hands. |
| [allt] | Chan fhac’ iad allt dheth. – They never saw a knuckle of him. |
| [rann] | Ceithir ranna ruadh an domhuinn. – The 4 points of the Compass. |
| [cridhe] | Chan eil a chridh’ agad. – You must not. |
| caibhil | the mouth of a stream where trout are caught. |
| eòlan | oil for the black lamp. |
| [spatadh] | Tha mi air mo spatadh leis an fhuachd. – I am perishing with the cold. |
| [bàs] | Bàs a’ chin-adhairt. – dying in bed. |
| [gearradh] | Cha d’fhuair mi gearradh dheth. – I never got a bit of it. |
| O Hioruidh! | This exclamation is equivalent to saying “Save us!” The King of Norway is known in Irish literature and tradition as “Righ na h-ioruaidhe” or King of Tioruidh. |
| comharspa | controversy. |
| [stém] | Cha dean mi stém dheth. – I can make nothing of it. |
| [mithalamh] | A Mhic na mithalamh! – Thou Son of misfortune! |
| [cnàimh] | Ge b’oil le cnaimh ruadh na h-amhaich agam. – In spite of the red bone of my neck. |
| [molachd] | Mac na molachd! – Son of curses. |
| gugurlach | a big-bellied fellow. |
| gainmhain | the smallest thing, from ‘gaineamh’, sand. |
| giorc-shùileach | blear-eyed. |
| cuirm | a feast. MacCodrum has ‘cuilm’. Dioscorides says that the ancestors of the Britons drank a strong liquor made of barley which they call ‘curmi’. So the word has come down to our time and whisky now so called is an ancient beverage. |
| blineas | soft sawder. |
| sraonte fosgailte | wide open. |
| ciorachan | a man who does woman’s work. |
| ruideis | skipping. |
| air muradh | at large on pleasure bent. |
| blaud | (blabhd or blad) a wide mouth. |
| [fiteadh] | Cha robh e fiteadh ann. – He was very expeditious. |
| gròig | bad tradesman. |
| speil | taking a turn at anything. |
| spìdein | pitch and toss. |
| obair-ghréis | fancy needlework. |
| coileag | sandbank on which bent grows. |
| cnàmhalach | a big bony man. |
| staghan | a man with his head back and stomach forward is said to have a ‘staghan’. |
| gothadh | a stiff thrust forward of the head. |
| staghadh | stretching. |
| geadadh | thrashing. |
| [beinn] | “Eabhal Mhòr is Trac-an triubhais, / Dà bheinn is àirde an dà Uidhist; / C’àit’ an d’fhàg thu Hecla bhuidhe? / Faodaidh i bhi cuide riutha.” |
| stroban | addled. “Take one of these eggs,” said a Free Kirk student to his guest, “they were born in Lochcarron.” |
| cùngairean | tools. “Is e trian ceàirde cùngairean.” “Alastair mac Hànna ag ràdh nach deanamaide spàinean. Dheanamaide spàinean nam biodh na cùngairean againn.” (“Tools are a third of craftmanship.” “Alastair Mac Hanna saying we would not make spoons; we would make spoons if we had the tools.”) |
| trogan | slightly elevated. |
| [bòinich] | Bhòinich e orm. – He beseeched me. |
| [biadh] | A bhiadh ’s aodach! – Food and clothing. |
| [lon-chraois] | ’S ann ort a tha’n lon-chraois. – keen to gobble up. Mayfly, water spider, water demon. |
| biatachd | a little feast. Martin calls it ‘ocean feast’. |
| sifeir | a tall thin man. |
| geadhachail | odds and ends. |
| ròlaist | romance. |
| brothnach air shearrach | helter-skelter. |
| cròdhadh | housing of cattle in winter. |
| ludanda | clumsy. |
| monaiseach | diffident. |
| [poca-saic] | Eiridh a phoca-shaic. |
| [leum] | Leum a’ bhradain – the salmon jump, which is horizontal. Men try it but always fail. |
| [traoit] | Chan eil traoit. – Not a rag. ‘Stic’ has the same meaning. |
| donnalaich | wailing. |
| [balg] | A’ deanamh balg ri gréin – basking in the sunshine. |
| glut-lìonadh | packing the wall with earth. |
| baoghal | harm, used also to mean fart. |
| daorman | a little contemptible fellow. |
| easbuch | door snip. |
| cluaimhinn | door latch. |
| muthan | imp. “Cuir do mhuthan air do bhois ’s cacaidh e orra.” (oirre?) |
| speuradh | swearing. |
| speach | sharp-tongued person. |
| [leud] | Leud na ròine – the 48th part of an inch. |
| [leud] | Leud na boise – the breadth of the hand. |
| [uisge] | Suas an t-uisge – hoisted on the crest of the wave of prosperity. |
| [gearradh] | An d’fhuair thu dad? Cha d’fhuair gearradh. |
| [driog] | An d’fhuair thu diar? Cha d’fhuair driog. |
| [caiteag] | An d’fhuair thu biadh? Cha d’fhuair caiteag. |
| [priobadh] | An d’fhuair thu cadal? Cha d’fhuair priobadh. |
| [loiceadh] | An d’fhuair thu cadal? Cha d’fhuair loiceadh. |
| [ceapaire] | Ceapaire saileach – butter spread on bread with the thumb, done before the age of knives. |
| slimeir | a fawning sycophant. |
| deiseal | when a child is like [sic] to choke with anything the mother slaps him on the back and cries ‘deiseal’. |
| tuathal | going wrong. |
| droll | securing a door. Door bar. |
| spatogha | a well-dressed man, a ‘swell’. |
| tulach | a dwelling-house. The name goes back to the underground dwellin [sic] [in] prehistoric times. |
| [fiadh] | Dol a fiadh – grown wild. |
| stol-phòsda | marriage stool, at the altar. |
| Bunachabac | some unknown place outside Uist. |
| falach-fead | hide and seek. |
| turtur | dull noise. |
| eigeir | a poor mean man. |
| imideal | poor sumph. |
| [tionnaradh] | Gun tionnaradh – constantly. |
| [latha] | Fad mhìnn shuaimhneach an latha – all day long. |
| sgalthartaich | shouting. |
| trusadh | bringing the sheep to the fank. |
| [brosgul] | Dh’ith e chuid de bhon(n)ach a’ bhrosguil. – He ate his share of the flattery bannock. |
| reubain | beard. |
| [cìre] | Cnàmh a cìre – chewing her cud. |
| ablach | carrion; Irish, applied to a worthless fellow. |
| grigne | a small gathering huddled together. |
| [dalladh] | Chan fhaca mi dalladh dheth. – [I] never saw a shadow of him. |
| utaras | turning things upside down. |
| [dorus] | An dorus sraointe fosgailte – the door wide open. |
| gruitheam | curds. Word used in Hugh Macdonald’s MS. |
| clàbhaist | a noisy conversation, everyone talking at once. |
| stiup | trail. |
| butarscionn | beyond redemption, topsy-turvy. |
| rùilleach | searchings. |
| cleabail | awkward gait. |
| [spatadh] | Theab e mo spatadh. – He nearly dispatched me. |
| [fìrinn] | Tulasgan na tul-fhìrinn – the downright truth. |
| suaib | likeness. |
| siad | a hero. |
| [sgot] | Chan eil sgot aige. – He is quite drunk. |
| rag-mheàrlach | a great thief. |
| pais | striking with the open hand. |
| sgailc | to strike hard. |
| [rathad] | Chan eil rath na rathad air. – no other way of it. |
| [crogan] | Blas a’ chrogain – the taste of the chamber pot. |
| [ig] | Ig, aige, na uaithe – to it, at it, or from it. |
| stannta | sedate, steadfast. Chan eil stannadh air. |
| [port] | Puirt dhrabasta – obscene tunes. |
| [garbh-innse] | Garbh-innse nan uisgeachan – the tale after the flood? |
| bota | raised bit of turf. |
| A bhuinneag! | a term of familiarity. |
| [leabhar] | A leabhra tha. – by the Book it is. |
| fiath-nan-ian | dead calm. |
| proitseach | a gallant looking young man. ‘Protch’ is the word used in Uist for brooch. The young man would have been ornamented with a shoulder brooch. The Chief of the Gunns was known as Am Bràisteach Mór. |
| [side] | Side nan seachd sian – this is a common expression in Uist to describe very wild weather. Literally it means “the weather of the 7 storms or blasts”. |
| [breacadh] | Is mise fhuair mo bhreacadh. – It was I that got the dressing, or dusting. Is feairde brà breacadh gun a bristeadh. – The quern is the better of being picked without breaking it. |
| [trustar] | Trustar nan seachd sitigean. – the filthy fellow of the 7 dunghills. |
| [stoirm] | Stoirm dhearg bhristeadh nan tighean – the red storm to break the houses. |
| [builleach] | Builleach bonn siar – altogether. |
| [Aodh] | Ag eigheach air Aodh – this is what the Uist people say when a man is sea-sick and vomiting. |
| rannaghal | rigmarole, harangue. |
| spuacarlach | a big boy. |
| anageilidh | superlative. |
| barran | a slovenly covering of a woman’s head worn like an Arab’s headgear. |
| [creach] | Latha do chreiche – the day of your ruin. Sgeula nan creach – bad news, plundered, left bare. The ‘creach’ was the spoil of the forage. “Sgeula nan creach, dh’eug Fear Boiraidh,” said Donnchadh Dearg, the parish fool on hearing of the death of John Maclean of Borera in 1821. Togail na creiche was lifting the cows. Creach nan ceudan – a big forage. Tha mi air mo chreachadh. – I am ruined. Tha mi air mo spùileadh. Mo chreach! is a common exclamation in Perthshire. |
| [ranna] | Ceithir ranna ruadh an t-saoghail – the 4 quarters of the globe, East, West, North, South, the airts. |
| iomadal | a hanger on. |
| monothur | loud rumbling report. |
| prioblosgadh | pricked. |
| sgimileir | a parasite. |
| deoch-sgleap | drinking at another’s expense. |
| sturic | strunt. |
| [for] | Cha tug e for. – He heed(ed) not. |
| [abhsadh] | Cha tug e abhsadh. – He heed(ed) not. |
| The different stages or degrees of drunkenness: |
| 1. Beothachadh. | |
| 2. Blàthachadh. | |
| 3. Frogan. | |
| 4. Gu math aige. | |
| 5. Eadar a’ chluas ’s an adhairc. | |
| 6. An daorach. | |
| 7. An dallanach. | |
| taistealach | a strong stout fellow. In Ossian parlance, a champion. It appears in “Cath Fionntraigh”. |
| sp;arr | [sic] a hen roost. |
| spiris | a hen roost. |
| airidh | a hen roost. |
| laosbagan | brogues made by the people of their own leather and sewn with thongs. I have never heard of this word out of Benbecula. I have seen in North Uist a man wearing what were known as ‘brògan tionndaidh’. |
| The different names given to the Devil in Uist: |
| 1. An Diabhul | from the Latin ‘Diabolus’. |
| 2. Am Fear a th’air an t-slabhruidh | the man hung on a chain. |
| 3. Am Fear Mór | the Big Man. |
| 4. An t-annspiorad | the Evil Spirit. |
| 5. Am Fear Millidh | the destroyer. |
| 6. Am Fear nach fhiach | the worthless fellow. |
| 7. An Nàmhaid | the Enemy. |
| 8. An Riabhach | the Brindled One. |
| Expletives: |
| A Mhic a’ Riabhaich! | |
| A Mhic ’s a dhalta! | |
| A Mhic-an-t-Saoghail! | |
| Spriolag ort! | |
| Droch-còmhdhail ort! | |
| Marbhaisg ort! | |
| Mollachd Phàdruig ort! | |
| Buaidh is piseach ort! | |
| Bàs gun sagart dhuit! | |
| Gun sgath am Fear Mór thu! | |
| Mhic an Diabhuil! | |
| Mhic a’ choin! | |
| A thrustair nan seachd sitigean! | |
| O Mhuire, Mhuire! | |
| Cho seòlta ri Iamhar! | |
| Gun toir am Fear Mór leis thu! | |
| [meal] | Gu meal ’s gun caith thu e. – May you enjoy it and wear it. This is said when a man puts on a new suit. |
| [meal] | Gu meal thu do naidheachd. – May you enjoy your news. |
| [innseadh] | Ga innseadh dha fhein – telling it to himself. This refers to any loss sustained by an individual. |
| [gille] | Gille cas fliuch – the wet foot lad. A servant that carried his master on his back across every fordable water they came to. The saying is now applied to one who makes himself useful. |
| [cornfield] | In the cornfield: sguab, adag, gearr-choc, coit, sgrù(th)an, mulan, cruach. |
| gath-tìte | the double rope tied to the ‘strathair’, or saddle, from which the girth. |
| botrachan | wooden crupper. |
| eiseachan | ropes tying the crupper to the saddle. |
| teannadh | girth. |
| smeachan | strap round the neck of the horse. |
| stròinein | strap across the nose of the horse. |
| meilleag | rope tied round the lower jaw of horse. |
| fiollag-dìleum | a shackle. |
| spearrach | a fetter for sheep, tied in front and hind legs. |
| deubhann | a fetter tying two horses together. |
| cnotag | the hollow of the stone where pot barley is made. |
| foireiche | mallet for striking the corn and taking the husk off. |
| Ath – The Kiln |
| feadan | a small opening at the back of the kiln through which the wind blows for winnowing. |
| tìreadh | drying corn for the mill. |
| sorn | the platform of the kiln. |
| sorrag | the cauldron. |
| ceallach | where the fire is. |
| ciù(i)lean | the sticks for the ‘brat’, or covering. |
| staoig | the straw under the seed. |
| sùiste | the flail. |
| buailtean | the flail. |
| bualadh | thrashing. |
| maghar | fishing with bait. |
| dorghach | line fishing. |
| liunn-tàth | hot mortar, cement, made with shells. |
| |
| A bhobuig | is a common Benbecula term of endearment used by a senior to a junior and meaning ‘my good fellow’. |
| obair-ri-shùl | [sic] a useless performance. |
| [obair] | Obair is ath-obair – idle repetition of labour. |
| [sùil] | Bha sùil agam ris. – I was expecting him. |
| sùil-bheag | winking. |
| [dùrd] | Cha duirt e dùrd. – He never said a syllable. |
| [geilleadh] | Cha dean e chùis, a Dhomhnaill Oig, feumar geilleadh. – It won’t do, Donald Og, we must submit. |
| [note] | From the late Rev. Angus Macdonald D.D, of Killearn’s unpublished history of South Uist. |
