This week is National Marine Week and Scotland is also observing a Year of Coasts and Waters, celebrating our oceans, beaches, rivers, lochs and anything in between. 

For this reason, we will be looking at all things watery with a’ Mhuir – the sea - as our Gaelic Word of the Week. 

The Scottish Parliament – Pàrlamaid na h-Alba – is responsible for the environment and also for agriculture, forestry and fisheries so marine matters are often discussed. This has included passing the Marine (Scotland) Act for example.  

The Gaelic for the sea is a’ mhuir but the marine act is called Achd na Mara (Alba), We don’t like to talk about too much grammar here – but mara is the genitive case of muir and means “of the sea” – or marine. The genitive case is the case a noun goes into when it is indicating origin, possession or character. 

Mara is often seen in house names like Taigh na Mara, Sealladh na Mara or Fuaim na Mara – sea house, sea view and sound of the sea. And the public body Marine Scotland is called Cùisean Mara na h-Alba.
Fans of Gaelic-speaking rock band Runrig will also recognise Mara as the name of the band’s 1995 album. 

The sea features in many Gaelic proverbs and sayings. One of these is:

Cho fad’s a bhios muir a’ bualadh ri lic – as long as the sea beats on stone

Another one is: 

Bidh dùil ri fear-fairge ach cha bhi ri fear-reilige – there is hope of the man at sea but none for the man in the churchyard. We suppose this means that there is always hope - until there isn’t!

You can see that a different word is used for sea here – fairge. And the word Cuan also means sea or ocean. Runrig fans might once again recognise this from the song Air a’ Chuan from the Heartland album.

Some important sea names in Scotland are: 

An Cuan a Tuath – the North Sea

An Cuan Siar – The Atlantic (literally the western ocean)

An Cuan Sgìth – the Minch (literally the weary sea) 

This week’s Gaelic Word of the week is a’ mhuir – the sea

Let’s practice, muir, muir, muir, muir

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been read by Alasdair 
MacCaluim, Gaelic Development Officer who spent many happy - and cold - hours swimming in An Cuan a Tuath on his holidays as a child!

Gaelic Word of the Week - the sea - a' mhuir

This week’s word of the week is ‘Cothrom na Fèinne’, a phrase meaning ‘a fair hearing’ or ‘fair chance’. 

The word ‘cothrom’ is made up of two words ‘comh’ and ‘trom’ literally meaning of equal weight and by extension ‘opportunity’ and/or ‘equity’. In the Parlianment, fairness – [GAELIC] – is an issue that we often discuss and the word ‘cothromach’ (fair) even appears in the Gaelic name for the Economy and Fair Work Committee (Comataidh Eaconamaidh is Obair Chothromach). 

The phrase ‘na Fèinne’ means ‘of the Fingalians’. The Fingalians were a mythological band of roving warriors led by a hero called Fingal (or in Gaelic ‘Fionn'). Tales of their adventures were once very popular in Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland and Ireland, surviving in the oral tradition to be recorded in the 20th century.  

The 18th century Scottish poet James MacPherson, from Ruthven (Ruadhainn), in Badenoch (Bàideanach) had international success with his publications ‘Fingal’ and ‘Temora’ in the 1760s based on the Fingalian tales. These works were best-sellers in their day, admired by the likes of Napoleon and Sir Walter Scott. 

The name Fingal is also attached to the famous cave on the island of Staffa (Stafa) known in English as ‘Fingal’s Cave’ and in Gaelic as ‘An Uamh Bhinn’ (The Melodious Cave). This place was also used as an alternative title for ‘The Hebrides’ overture by the German composer Mendelssohn after his visit to the island in 1829. 

John Francis Campbell (known as ‘Iain Òg Ìle’ in Gaelic) collected many Fingalian traditions in his ‘Popular Tales of the West Highlands’ and Leabhar na Fèinne (The Book of the Fingalians) published in the late 1800s.  

Personal names associated with characters in the Fingalian stories are well-known outside of Gaelic, examples of these would be: Finn (Fionn), Ossian (Oisean), Oscar (Osgar), Conan, Dermot (Diarmad) and Deirdre.  

Fingal, or ‘Fionn’ as he is known in Gaelic, was the epitome of a wise hero. Not only was he swift and brave; ‘Cruas na creige is luathas na dreige’ (Hard as a rock and swift as a meteor) but according to one Gaelic proverb he was also famed for his generosity as you can see from this piece of poetry:   

Nam b’e òr an duilleach donn  
A chuireas dhith a’ choill, 
Nam b’e airgead a' gheal-tonn, 
Thìodhlacadh Fionn 
  
(If the Autumn leaves  
of the forest were gold, 
If the crest of the waves were silver, 
Fingal would give them away).  
 
Fingal was also famed for his fairness in disputes hence this week’s phrase ‘Cothrom na Fèinne’ (a fair hearing). Despite the phrase being an old one it is still common in modern spoken Gaelic. 

You might use it in a sentence when you say something like “bha an neach fianais den bheachd gun tug a’ chomataidh Cothrom na Fèinne dha” – the witness believed that the committee had given him a fair hearing.
 
Let’s practice 
Cothrom na Fèinne
This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been written by Mark McNeilly, Gaelic Development Officer and read by Alasdair MacCaluim, Gaelic Development Officer.

Gaelic Word of the Week - A fair chance/hearing - Cothrom na Fèinne

Gaelic Word of the Week – Mid Fife and Glenrothes –Fìobha 
Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais

This week we’re looking at another of the Scottish Parliament’s constituencies – sgìrean.

We are back in Fife – Fìobha. This week we are looking at Fìobha Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais– Mid Fife and Glenrothes.

While Fife – Fìobha - isn’t always the first place that people think of when they think of Gaelic, the county in fact has a strong Gaelic heritage, and this can be seen clearly from the place-names of the Fìobha Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais constituency.

Markinch for example is from the Gaelic Marc-Innis which means horse-haugh. The word innis is an interesting word in Gaelic as it can mean either a river meadow – as in Marc-Innis and can also mean island – though the word eilean is more common for this. The island of Inchcolm in the Forth for example is Innis Chaluim – Columba’s Island.

Another Gaelic name in the area is Star which comes from the Gaelic Stair meaning stepping stones across a river or bog.
And Largo is An Leargach which means the settlement on a hill slope – the hill in question being Largo law. 

Leven in Gaelic is Inbhir Lìobhann – meaning the mouth of the river Leven. Inbhir – pronounced inver or inner is a common place-name element which you can also see all over Scotland – Alba - in names such as Inverness, Innerleithen, Invergowrie, Inverkeithing, Inverkip and many more! And it is more common in Gaelic names than in their English equivalents – for example, Ayr is Inbhir Air in Gaelic and Wick and Thurso are Inbhir Ùige and Inbhir Theòrsa. 

The biggest town in the Fìobha Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais constituency is, of course, Glenrothes. As a new town, established in 1948 under the New Towns Act, the town also has a new name. The element Rothes comes from of the earls of Rothes who historically owned some of the land on which the new town was founded. Glen – from the Gaelic gleann - was added to distinguish the town from Rothes in Moray and to reflect the fact that the town is in the river Leven valley. The Gaelic name for Glenrothes is Gleann Rathais.

This week’s Gaelic Word of the week is Fìobha Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais.

Let’s practice:

Fìobha Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais

Fìobha Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais

Fìobha Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais

Fìobha Meadhanach is Gleann Rathais

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been read by Alasdair MacCaluim, Gaelic Development officer, who is looking forward to going to Inbhir Lìobhann on the train when the new Levenmouth railway opens in 2024!

Gaelic Word of the Week - Mid Fife and Glenrothes

This week, Gaelic Word of the Week will be celebrating the national bard, Robert Burns as we prepare to celebrate Burns night - 25 January.

Robert Burns is celebrated at the Scottish Parliament - Pàrlamaid na h-Alba - where a quote from his poem To a Louse is engraved in the Canongate Wall. 

O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us 
To see oursels as others see us! 
It wad frae monie a blunder free us 
An' foolish notion.

There is also a Burns related artwork in the Scottish Parliament - Robert Burns Match Heads by David Mach. 
These are two busts of the bard made out of match heads.

A Burns song, A Man's A Man for 'a That, was sung by Sheena Wellington at the official opening - fosgladh - of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

We've already seen the Gaelic for a poet and for poetry - bàrd and bàrdachd so we're going to look at what you would eat at a Burns Supper.  Burns wrote the poem “Address to a haggis” to celebrate his appreciation of the dish. As a result, Burns and Haggis have been forever linked.  This poem is the first item on the programme of Burn's suppers, held across the world around 25 January. 

The Gaelic for haggis is taigeis. 

To say tatties, neeps and haggis you would say buntata, sneap agus taigeis. 

Robert Burns is, of course, famous for writing in Scots. Did you know, however, that his entire works have been translated into Gaelic?  This was done by the late Rev. Roderick MacDonald - father of Lewis MacDonald MSP. 

This week's Gaelic Words of the Week are: buntata, sneap agus taigeis.

Gaelic Word of the Week 83 - Haggis, Neeps and Tatties - Taigeis, Sneap is Buntàta

We’ve seen various animals in Gaelic word of the week before but this week we’re going to look at a very special animal, a mythical animal – the unicorn.

Earlier this week saw National Unicorn Day and you can see the post we did to celebrate this on our Instagram feed at @scotparl. 

The Gaelic for unicorn is aon-adharcach. Aon means one and adharcach means horned. Aon-adharcach – unicorn – is not to be confused with the sròn-adharcach meaning ‘horned nose’ the Gaelic for rhinoceros! 

The unicorn is a national symbol of Scotland – Alba - and if you visit the Scottish Parliament – Pàrlamaid na h-Alba – you may well see one. Not a real live unicorn, alas, but a carved one on the coat of arms at our Visitors Service desk in the main hall. This was designed by Romilly Squire and gifted to the Parliament by the Heraldry Society of Scotland.

This design is a Scottish version of the coat of arms of the UK. It shows the Scottish quartered coat of arms, with the lion rampant in two quarters. The coat of arms is supported by the unicorn and the lion. The arms are wreathed by the Order of the Thistle. You can learn more about the coat of arms on the Scottish Parliament website. 

The Gaelic for lion is leòmhann. 

Closely related to the unicorn is the humble horse - each. Other equine animals in Gaelic are donkey - asal and mule – leth-asal – literally meaning ‘half-donkey’! Our favourite has to be zebra. Usually the Gaelic for zebra is simply sìobra but some dictionaries give the Gaelic for zebra as asal-stiallach, literally stripey-donkey!

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week is unicorn – aon-adharcach. Let’s practice! 

Alasdair: aon-adharcach

Tom: aon-adharcach

Alasdair: aon-adharcach

Tom: aon-adharcach


This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been read by Tom McEachan, Modern Apprentice with the Web & Social Media Team.

Gaelic Word of the Week 220 - Unicorn - Aon-adharcach

Gaelic Word of the Week – Culture Summit

This week the Scottish Parliament - Pàrlamaid na h-Alba – has been home to the Edinburgh International Culture summit - Àrd-choinneamh Eadar-nàiseanta Chultair Dhùn Èideann.

The Edinburgh International Culture Summit brings together culture ministers, artists, thinkers and arts leaders from around the world to share ideas, expertise and best practice, with a view to inspiring positive change in cultural policy and investment.

For this reason, this week's Gaelic word of the week is culture - cultar.

The overall theme of Summit 2018 is ‘Culture – Connecting Peoples and Places’, aiming to reflect on the challenges and complexities of the world in which we live and demonstrate how culture can make connections across perceived divisions in society.

For more information, see the Edinburgh Culture summits’ website culturesummit.com or follow them on twitter on @culturesummit. 

Some other relevant culture related words in Gaelic are: the arts - na h-ealain; music – ceòl, heritage – dualchas, the media – na meadhanan and language - cànan.

This week's Gaelic word of the week is culture - cultar.

Let’s practice:

Alasdair - cultar

Kate - cultar

Alasdair - cultar

Kate - cultar

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been read by Kate Smith, Outreach Services Officer.

Gaelic Word of the Week 236 - Culture - cultar

Saturday the 29th June will be a very special day for the Scottish Parliament – Pàrlamaid na h-Alba as we will be celebrating a special ceann-bliadhna – anniversary.

It will be almost 20 years to the day since the Scottish Parliament was officially opened. 

Ceann-bliadhna means anniversary and is made up of two words.

The word Ceann means head or end and can be seen in many places-names such as Kinloch Rannoch – Ceann Loch Raineach – the head of Loch Rannoch or Ceann Loch Lìobhann - Kinloch Leven – the head of Loch Leven. The word Bliadhna means year. 

Historically, years – blaidhnaichean - were often known in Gaeldom by the names of event that took place that year. For example 1745 was Bliadhna Theàrlaich – the Year of Bonny Prince Charlie. 1845 when the Highland Potato Famine begun was known as a’ Bhliadhna a’ ghais am buntàta – the year of the Potato Blight.  

If this tradition had continued, 1999 might well have become Bliadhna Pàrlamaid na h-Alba – the year of the Scottish Parliament!  

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bliadhna Pàrlamaid na h-Alba – and to say ceann-bliadhna sona - happy anniversary - to our Parliament, there will be a public event on the 29th June, marking almost 20 years to the day after the official opening of the Scottish Parliament.

On this day, the Queen – a’ Bhanrigh – will address MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, followed by an event in which the Parliament will open its doors to the people of Scotland for an afternoon of celebration and commemoration.

For more information about the 20th anniversary commemorations, see our website visitparliament.scot/scotparl20
.

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week is ceann-bliadhna – anniversary.

Let’s practice:

Alasdair: Ceann bliadhna
Michaela: Ceann bliadhna
Alasdair: ceann bliadhna
Michaela: Ceann-bliadhna

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been read by Michaela Sullivan, Education manager.

Gaelic Word of the Week - Anniversary - Ceann-bliadhna

This week is Scottish Climate Week. The Gaelic for climate is Gnàth-shìde. So in Gaelic, this week is Seachdain Gnath-shìde na h-Alba.

The Climate - Gnàth-shìde is often discussed in the Scottish Parliament – Pàrlamaid an h-Alba.

The Climate Change Bill – Bile Atharrachadh Gnàth-shìde was recently passed here, and this week, discussions around the Transport Bill also covered the topic of climate change.

To protect the gnàth-shìde, we have been working hard to reduce the carbon emissions of the Scottish Parliament – Pàrlamaid na h-Alba - and so far, these are down by 45% since 2005.

The word Gnath-shìde comes from the word sìde meaning “weather” and gnàth which means custom, manner or pattern.

Gnàth also appears in the word gnàth-fhacail, meaning proverb – literally common words.

In the Scottish Parliament – Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, we also have Gnàth-riaghailtean – Standing Orders, literally customary rules, which govern how the Parliament works.

This week’s Gaelic word of the week is Gnàth-shìde – climate.

Let’s practice:

Alasdair: Gnàth-shìde

Damon: Gnàth-shìde

Alasdair: Gnàth-shìde

Damon: Gnàth-shìde

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been read by: Damon Davies, SPICe researcher and member of the Scottish Parliament Sustain network.

Gaelic Word of the Week - Climate - Gnàth-shìde

This week, the Royal National Mòd is taking place. In Gaelic it is called Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail. 

The Royal National Mòd - Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail - is a week long festival of Gaelic song, arts and culture and takes place in a different town or city each year. It is attended by many thousands of people from all over Scotland and the world and is a key event in the Gaelic calendar. 

This year it is taking part in Glasgow – Glaschu – which has the nickname of Baile Mòr nan Gàidheal – the city of the Gaels. 
There are also various local Mòds held all over Scotland - Alba. 

But what is the connection of the Mòd to the Scottish Parliament – Pàrlamaid na h-Alba? 

Interestingly, the word Mòd comes from a Gaelic word which means a parliament or congress. This initially came from Old Norse and is linked to the English word moot.

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week is Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail. Let’s practice:

This week’s Gaelic WoW has been read by Alasdair MacCaluim, Gaelic Development Officer:

Gaelic Word of the Week - the Royal National Mòd - Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail

David McGill, Parliament Assistant Chief Executive, reflects on the impact the controversy surrounding the Holyrood building had on the Parliamentary Service. Recorded 26/06/2018.

Want to hear the complete interview?

https://soundcloud.com/scotparloralhistory/david-mcgill-parliament-assistant-chief-executive

The Scottish Parliament Oral History Project

David McGill - Holyrood building impact

Gaelic Word of the Week – Rùn na Bliadhna Ùire

Bliadhna mhath ùr a chàirdean – happy new year everybody!
Our first Gaelic Word of the Week for 2021 is rùn na bliadhna ùire – new year’s resolution

This is the time of year when many people make their new year’s resolution – rùn na bliadhna ùire. Have you made any this year? A lot of people have decided to make learning Gaelic or improving their Gaelic one of their rùn na bliadhna ùire for 2021. If you can count yourself as one of them, we’d like to say– glè mhath – very good! We’ll do all we can to help you through our Gaelic resources, twitter account and more!

The word rùn is an interesting one. It can mean resolution like a new year’s resolution or a motion passed by a meeting of a Parliament! Here at Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, however, we usually use the word gluasad for a motion.

Rùn can also mean someone or something you love. If you like the band Runrig, you may know the song Dùisg mo Rùn – which means “wake up my love”. 

Rùn can also mean intention or will – droch rùn is bad intention and deagh rùn is good intention or will. You might hear these in Gaelic news programmes where they discuss court cases for example.
And rùn or rùn-dìomhair can even mean a secret! 

These are a lot of meanings for such a little word but in practice it is easy to work out the meaning of Rùn from the context! It’d be a little strange to assume the Presiding Officer was talking about love, rather than a motion in the Debating Chamber for example!

If your rùn na bliadhna ùire is to work on your Gaelic, why not follow our Gaelic twitter account @ParlAlba both to help your Gaelic and learn more about Pàrlamaid na h-Alba!

And for information about all the Gaelic learning opportunities in Scotland and worldwide, check out the official one-stop shop website for Gaelic learning LearnGaelic.Scot.

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week is Rùn na Bliadhna Ùire.

Let’s practice: 

Rùn na Bliadhna Ùire

Rùn na Bliadhna Ùire

Rùn na Bliadhna Ùire

Rùn na Bliadhna Ùire

This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been read by Alasdair MacCaluim, Gaelic Development Officer, whose successful Rùn na Bliadhna Ùire in 1992 was to learn Gaelic!

Gaelic Word of the Week - Rùn na Bliadhna Ùire - New Years Resolution

Sounds and interviews from the Scottish Parliament. (Please note that opinions expressed during event-related interviews are those of individuals rather than the SPCB.)

Gaelic Word of the Week 220 - Unicorn - Aon-adharcach

ScotParl

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