577: William Gow 577: Uilleam Ruighe ’n Uidhe
Litir shìmplidh sheachdaineach do luchd-ionnsachaidh le clàr-fuaime, tar-sgrìobhadh is eadar-theangachadh. A simple weekly letter to Gaelic learners with audio, transcription and translation.
Tha an litir bheag ag obrachadh leis an fhaclair. Tagh an taba ‘teacsa Gàidhlig’ agus tagh facal sam bith san teacsa agus fosglaidh am faclair ann an taba ùr agus bidh mìneachadh den fhacal ann. The little letter is integrated with the dictionary. Select the tab ‘Gaelic text’ and choose any word and the dictionary will open and you will see the English explanation of the Gaelic word.
Uilleam Ruighe ’n Uidhe
An cuala sibh mun bhàrd Ghàidhlig Uilleam Ruighe ’n Uidhe? William Gow ann am Beurla. Bha e beò aig deireadh an ochdamh linn deug. Bhuineadh e do Ruighe ’n Uidhe ann an Srath Spè. Bha e na bhàrd agus na shealgair.
Tha mi a’ dol a leughadh pìosan à dàn a sgrìobh Uilleam mu dheidhinn sealg nam fiadh anns a’ Mhonadh Ruadh. Seo a’ chiad rann:
Och, gur mi tha muladach
Sa mhonadh, ’s mi leam fhèin,
’S mi bhi ’tàmh an cròdhan beag
Bothain ’thog mi ’m fheum;
Cha robh spaid no tuagh agam,
No ball mun cuairt dom làimh,
Ach a’ bhiodag làidir bharra-chaol
’S ann leatha bhuain mi ’m fàl.
Anns an dàrna rann, tha Uilleam ag ainmeachadh ‘a’ Bhan-Ghranndach’ – ‘the Grant maiden’. Tha e a’ ciallachadh a ghunna. ’S e an cleachdadh a bha aig na Gàidheil o shean a bhith a’ cur ainm boireann air gunna. Bha pùdar – no fùdar – a’ ghunna feumail airson teine a chur thuige. Agus bha i gu math fuar sa mhonadh:
Tha na h-osanan air reothadh orm,
Mun tèid a’ cheòthag suas,
Tha gaoth is cur is cathadh ann,
’S e gabhail domh sa chluais;
Ach glacaidh mis’ Bhan-Ghranndach seo,
A tha nam làimh san uair,
Is fadaidh is’ an teine dhomh,
Le fùdar sgeireach cruaidh.
Nise, tha fios againn bho dhàn eile – ‘Allt an Lochain Uaine’ – gun do thog Uilleam bothan ri taobh an uillt sin. Tha sin ann an ceann shuas Gleann Doire. Tha e ag ainmeachadh àiteachan eile shuas an sin anns a’ bhàrdachd aige. Mar eisimpleir, an Glas-allt agus an Dubh-ghleann.
Bha Uilleam a’ poidseadh air fearann a bhuineadh do Lord Fife. Bha e ann cho tric, ’s gun robh botal de dh’uisge-beatha aige ‘fo shop aig bun bruthaich’. Bhiodh e a’ gabhail deoch-slàinte don damh agus don uachdaran. Seo an rann mu dheireadh:
’S nuair shuidheas mi air socair,
’S gun dosgainn bhith ri luaidh,
Bheir mi làmh air botal
Tha fon t-sop am bun na bruthaich;
’S ma thachras do na companaich
Bhith làimh rium anns an uair,
“Lord Fife is damh na cròice” –
An deoch-slàinte thèid mun cuairt.
William Gow
Have you heard about the Gaelic bard Uilleam Ruighe ’n Uidhe? William Gow in English. He belonged to Rynuie in Strathspey. He was a poet and a hunter.
I’m going to read passages from a poem that William wrote about hunting the red deer in the Cairngorms. Here is the first verse:
Och, it’s me that’s sad
On the mountain by myself,
Staying in a wee pen
Of a bothy I built for my needs;
I didn’t have a spade or axe,
Or a tool around to hand
Except the strong, fine-pointed dirk
It’s with her I cut the turf.
In the second verse, William names the ‘Ban-Ghranndach’ – the ‘Grant maiden’. He means his gun. It was a practice of the old Gaels to give their gun a feminine name. Gunpowder was useful for lighting q fire. And it was cold up on the hill:
The hose have frozen on me,
Before the wee smoke goes up,
The wind and snow and blizzard,
Assail me about the ear;
But I’ll grasp this Grant maiden,
Which I have hold of,
And the fire will be kindled for me
with gritty, hard powder.
Now, we know from another poem – Allt an Lochain Uaine – that William built a bothy next to that burn. That is in the upper end of Glen Derry. He names other places up there in his poetry. For example, the Glas-allt and the Dubh-ghleann.
William was poaching on land that belonged to Lord Fife. He was there so often that he had a bottle of whisky ‘under a wisp of grass at the bottom of a slope’. He would raise a toast to the stag and the landlord. Here is the final verse:
When I sit at ease,
Without reporting a misfortune,
I’ll get hold of a bottle
That’s under a whisp at the base of a slope;
If the companions happen
To be near to me at the time,
“Lord Fife and the antlered stag” –
The toast that goes around.
Uilleam Ruighe ’n Uidhe
An cuala sibh mun bhàrd Ghàidhlig Uilleam Ruighe ’n Uidhe? William Gow ann am Beurla. Bha e beò aig deireadh an ochdamh linn deug. Bhuineadh e do Ruighe ’n Uidhe ann an Srath Spè. Bha e na bhàrd agus na shealgair.
Tha mi a’ dol a leughadh pìosan à dàn a sgrìobh Uilleam mu dheidhinn sealg nam fiadh anns a’ Mhonadh Ruadh. Seo a’ chiad rann:
Och, gur mi tha muladach
Sa mhonadh, ’s mi leam fhèin,
’S mi bhi ’tàmh an cròdhan beag
Bothain ’thog mi ’m fheum;
Cha robh spaid no tuagh agam,
No ball mun cuairt dom làimh,
Ach a’ bhiodag làidir bharra-chaol
’S ann leatha bhuain mi ’m fàl.
Anns an dàrna rann, tha Uilleam ag ainmeachadh ‘a’ Bhan-Ghranndach’ – ‘the Grant maiden’. Tha e a’ ciallachadh a ghunna. ’S e an cleachdadh a bha aig na Gàidheil o shean a bhith a’ cur ainm boireann air gunna. Bha pùdar – no fùdar – a’ ghunna feumail airson teine a chur thuige. Agus bha i gu math fuar sa mhonadh:
Tha na h-osanan air reothadh orm,
Mun tèid a’ cheòthag suas,
Tha gaoth is cur is cathadh ann,
’S e gabhail domh sa chluais;
Ach glacaidh mis’ Bhan-Ghranndach seo,
A tha nam làimh san uair,
Is fadaidh is’ an teine dhomh,
Le fùdar sgeireach cruaidh.
Nise, tha fios againn bho dhàn eile – ‘Allt an Lochain Uaine’ – gun do thog Uilleam bothan ri taobh an uillt sin. Tha sin ann an ceann shuas Gleann Doire. Tha e ag ainmeachadh àiteachan eile shuas an sin anns a’ bhàrdachd aige. Mar eisimpleir, an Glas-allt agus an Dubh-ghleann.
Bha Uilleam a’ poidseadh air fearann a bhuineadh do Lord Fife. Bha e ann cho tric, ’s gun robh botal de dh’uisge-beatha aige ‘fo shop aig bun bruthaich’. Bhiodh e a’ gabhail deoch-slàinte don damh agus don uachdaran. Seo an rann mu dheireadh:
’S nuair shuidheas mi air socair,
’S gun dosgainn bhith ri luaidh,
Bheir mi làmh air botal
Tha fon t-sop am bun na bruthaich;
’S ma thachras do na companaich
Bhith làimh rium anns an uair,
“Lord Fife is damh na cròice” –
An deoch-slàinte thèid mun cuairt.
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Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh
This letter corresponds to Tha an Litir seo a’ buntainn ri Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh 881
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