Scottish/Gaelic Word Glossary - words and grammer I've run into before

GLOSSARY:

  • aik = oak
  • bothy = a small cottage open for free use to anyone who needs it
  • clam = climb
  • craig-bane = collar-bone
  • ech = water
  • futit = footed
  • ganar = old scottish dictionaries don't have this. One modern interpretation is 'gander', as in male goose.
  • grew-hound = a dog related to the Irish wolfhound and deerhound
  • hount = hound
  • mekil = big
  • quhilk = which
  • quhilkis = plural form of quhilk, 'which'
  • schir = sir
  • scho = she
  • sgamhan = lungs
  • uisque = horse

Notes on Grammer:

  • Plurals are produced by adding 'is' to the end of words, so if a word ending in 'is' is hard to translate, try it without the 'is'.
  • Not just nouns can be made plural! Note that in the Scottish sentence "slew thre men quhilkis wer at thair hountis," the word 'hount' [hound] is plural, but so is the word 'quhilk' [which]... this particle is made plural because, in this case, it refers to multiple men. So keep an eye out for that trick and avoid the confusion!

Example of text:

From History and Chronicles of Scotland, ca. 1536:

        "In Argyle ar VII uthir lochis; sum XXX milis in lenth and breid, and sum les. It wes said be Schir Duncane Campbell to us, that out of Garloll, ane loch of Argyle, the yeir of God M.DX yeris, come ane terrible beist, als mekil as ane grew-hound, futit lik ane ganar, and straik doun gret treis with the dint of hir tail; and slew thre men quhilkis wer at thair hountis with thre straikis of hir tail: and wer not the remanent huntaris clam up in strang aikis, thay had bene all slane in the samin maner. Eftir the slauchter of thir men, scho fled speidlie to the loch. Sindry prudent men belevit gret trubill to follow in Scotland, be appering of this beist; for scho was sene afore, and ay trubill was following thairefter."

 

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