| pillein | a covering made from sea bent (muran) and placed under a horse’s saddle. Prevented irritation of the horse’s skin. This word is a variant for the more widespread word – ‘plàta’. |
| [plàta] | [See pillein.] |
| [muran] | [sea bent.] |
| bréide | a horse’s collar. |
| stàile | a bandage. |
| mìreannach | horse’s bit. |
| gearran | applied to a mare who does not produce a foal. |
| saighead | the front panel in a cart. ‘Saighead na cartach.’ |
| gaoirdean | the part of a cart where you sat. |
| stràpadh | process of attaching iron rims to wooden cartwheels. Process previously described under Mr A. MacInnes. |
| dubhthalamh | peaty soil as opposed to machair land. Good soil for crop yields. |
| guirman | a blue dye. A powder substance obtained from mainland. |
| duilleagan tì | tea leaves which were used for dye, giving a brown, yellowy colour. |
| méistir | urine. Also used in dyeing process. Informant says this prevented the dyes from running together. This observation might need to be examined closer since many informants tell me sorrel or ‘sealbhag’ was used for this purpose. |
| suidheachan | applied to four or six shocks of corn stood together. This word is more prevalent in North Uist whereas the word ‘adag (-an)’ is used in South Uist. Similarly ‘sguabag’ can be heard more often in North Uist whereas ‘raoid’ is used for an individual shock of corn in South Uist. Therefore the above words cannot be confined to an individual island due to a certain degree of overlapping most noted at northern end of South Uist. |
| pinnteachadh | to make cheese. “Dè a tha thu a’ deanamh?” “Tha mi a’ pinnteachadh.” |
| [suidheachadh] | A’ cuir bainne ann an suidheachadh – putting the milk into large buckets or wide rimmed basins so as to obtain as much cream as possible for cheese-making. |
| ceud bhainne | first milk after a cow has calved. |
| a’ chuisle | a vein near a cow’s tail by which you can judge when a cow is about to calve. |
| [fuasgladh] | Bò air fuasgladh – a cow in the process of delivering a calf. |
| gearradh dubh | swelling and inflammation of cattle’s abdomen caused by consuming too many potatoes. |
| sgonnan | the handle of an instrument. Not a specific implement. |
| camhraich | a dish made from oats. Boiled with water and eaten for breakfast, very much like porridge or brose. |
| sgéib | chaff. |
| greim gainchadh | constipation affecting horses who had eaten too many sand based roots – machair land. |
| bigainein | small black, grey birds found on moorland and especially nesting under peats that have been lifted. |
| [làmh] | Làmh bheag, làmh mhór – terms applied to the respective hand grips on a scythe. Also called ‘dorn bheag, dorn mhór’. |
| [dorn] | [Dorn bheag, dorn mhór – see làmh.] |
| iarunn na speal | the blade of a scythe. |
| gliongaid na spaid | the foot rest on a spade. |
| ciuramaichidh tu thu fhein | you will put yourself in jeopardy. |
| ùslaig | a useless woman. |
| baidhr | sheep and cattle’s afterbirth. |
| caolan deisginn | a sheep’s intestine which could be used for rennet. Hung up and dried. Then it was pickled. Thereafter strips of this could be cut and used as rennet. |
| Mios crochadh nan cliabh | February as opposed to previous contribution which said this month was May. Little or no work done due to the severity of the weather conditions. February also known as the ‘Mios Mharbh’. |
| [marbh] | [Mios Mharbh – February. See also Mios crochadh nan cliabh.] |
| stroinain | a tie rope for cattle. |
| [June] | Following verse said at the onset of better weather at the beginning of June. In the context of June speaking, addressing the previous months. “Càit an do dh’fhag thu gamhnain bochd?” “Leag mi air a ghlùinein e ’s chuir mi shùil ris an t-sòp.” “Ma bheireas mise air agus anail air barr nan cluas cuiridh mi earball air feadh nan cnoc.” |
| bàn | left hand of the furrow when ploughing. [Cf. dearg.] |
| dearg | the right hand side of the furrow when ploughing. [Cf. bàn.] |
| eibhsichean | part of a horse’s harness which tied the crupper (botrachan) and the saddle to each other. |
| eillsichean | [See eibhsichean.] |
| [botrachan] | [crupper.] |
