HeHe! No problem Fran. My board name isn't very descriptive Thanks for the help. After a little more searching, the i've found out that the rock/hill/mountain in question is considered a hill i think. It is called Meall an t-Suidhe, which i wanted to use as the first part of the name for the tune.
When I get it named, i will post the tune here.
Sounds lovely. I'll look forward to it. Hill walking (or hiking to us Yanks) seems to be a precious passtime for the Scots. So I'm sure the name will be just right.
Peace,
Fran
PS - The Scottish mountains are what my husband misses most...he's still quite homesick for them. CT doesn't even have a remote substitute...poor lad.
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth creates a world that is blind and toothless - Ghandi
I suspect blind and toothless may not be optimum for good whistle playing...but then again...
Alcona...have not heard from my gaelic speaking bro yet. Perhaps he's tied up with work, or having a major ADD attack. Not unusual. I'm sure a name can be conjured up from some source or other, but if I get any feedback I'll let you know.
Alcona wrote:I want to name a tune i recently wrote for a friend who is scottish, but i haven't got a clue where to look for help with a translation from english to scottish gaelic. can anyone help?
Hi Alcona,
I contacted an acquaintance in the old country, who
forwarded your request to an acquaintance at Sabhal Mór Ostaig
(Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle) who provided the Scots Gaelic translation
you asked for:
Colin, thank you very much. I really appreciate this I'm afraid i wasn't have much luck with my search online. I will have to get the tune recorded and posted soon
Thanks again,
Here are several possible vocabulary words. Choose the ones you like.
CREAG (a big rock, the kind on which Iron Age folk used to build forts) - creag, "(a) rock"; a' chreag, "the rock"
BEINN (a big mountain, like Ben Nevis) - beinn, "(a) mountain", a' bheinn, "the mountain"
MONADH (a mountainous area or a range, or a moor; Gaels call part of the Grampians the Monadh Liath; air a' mhonadh, "on the mountains", is where you send the sheep to graze) - monadh, "(a) mountain (range)"; am monadh, "the mountain (range)"
CNOC (a hill) - cnoc, "(a) hill"; an cnoc "the hill"
SIDH (accent grave over the i) (a hill where the fairies live; the Irish song "Shee Beg, Shee Mor" is about a war between two fairy kings) - sidh, "(a) fairy mound"; an t-sidh "the fairy mound" (don't forget the accent grave!)
DION (accent grave over the i) (shelter as in defense, or water-tightness as of a window or bucket)
TEARMANN (some writers put an accent grave over the e) (shelter as in sanctuary, refuge, protection)
FASGADH (shelter as in shelter from the weather, or the lee side of a boat or other object)
Dion and Tearmann imply that some agency is acting to provide shelter, e.g., from enemies, whereas Fasgadh implies simply a convenient place to take shelter, e.g., from a storm.
Here are several grammatical constructions. Choose the one you like.
1. A' chreag a dhionas mi (Put an accent grave over the first i.)
Gaelic has one relative particle, a, that may mean in English either "who" or "whom", and one pronoun, mi, that may mean either "I" or "me". The verb form is the same in both the first person ("I") and the third person ("the rock"), and both the subject and the object in a relative clause normally come after the verb. These peculiarities usually make it impossible to distinguish, out of context, between the terms "the rock that shelters me" and "the rock that I shelter"!
2. Creag mo dhiona (Again, put an accent over the i.)
I think the typical writer and speaker would get around this problem by using a phrase that means "the rock of my sheltering". In Gaelic this phrase unambiguously indicates that I, and not the rock, am receiving shelter. On the other hand it does not indicate unambiguously that the rock is the shelterer: it could also mean "the rock where I was sheltered".
3. A' chreag a bheir dion domh (Accent over the i in dion.)
You could say "the rock that gives me shelter". That would be pretty unambiguous; grammatically it could also mean "the rock that shelter gives me", but no one would interpret it that way.
Possible permutations of these words among the available grammatical constructions:
A' chreag a dhionas mi; creag mo dhiona; a' chreag a bheir dion domh
An cnoc a thearmainneas mi; cnoc mo thearmainn; an cnoc a bheir tearmann domh
--(fasgadh cannot be a verb, so the first grammatical construct is out of the question)--; sidh m'fhasgaidh; an t-sidh a bheir fasgadh domh
If you want my personal opinions.... I would not recommend monadh unless you want to connote a whole range of mountains that individually are not necessarily very impressive. I would not recommend sidh unless you want to suggest a touch of the magical or the pagan. Creag is a nice word for a rocky promontory that serves as a landmark in the surrounding countryside. Beinn is a good word for an impressive peak that dominates most of its neighbors, but it doesn't evoke a defensible position the way creag does: Mount Sinai is a beinn; Edinburgh Castle sits on a creag. Cnoc is a perfectly straightforward word for a hill, but it is just a hill, not a mountain.
Creag mo thearmainn, by way of example, would have a religious ring to it, something rather like "the rock of my salvation", though the usual Gaelic word for "salvation" is actually slanachadh (accent grave over the first a). Beinn mo dhiona would mean something more like "the mountain of my protection/defense". A' bheinn a dhionas mi would mean "the mountain that defends me" or "the mountain that I defend". An t-sidh a bheir fasgadh domh would mean "the fairy hill that gives me shelter (from the elements)".
There are other possible constructions: an t-sidh anns an gabh mi fasgadh, "the fairy hill in which I (will) take shelter"; an cnoc far an gabh mi fasgadh, "the hill where I (will) take shelter"; am monadh far am faigh mi tearmann, "the mountains where I (will) obtain sanctuary"; a' chreag air an dionar mi, "the crag on which I am (or will be) defended".
Thank you emmline and please tell your brother I really appreciate this. I decided to go with one that he provided. I didn't want the name of the tune to be longer than the tune itself so it worked out well. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I was house sitting for a while, and couldn't get it recorded till now.
So, here is the tune [url] http://webpages.charter.net/cooleyclan/ ... dhiona.mp3 [url]
and thank you all again for all of the help
Thanks for the help. After a little more searching, the i've found out that the rock/hill/mountain in question is considered a hill i think. It is called Meall an t-Suidhe, which i wanted to use as the first part of the name for the tune.
