COILLEAG or CAOIBHLEAG, 69, the little rings that form on the surface of fat soup. [Fr. Allan indicates first syllable is a diphthong.]
COILLEAG, an eddy, see COINNLEAG, 295. [Fr. Allan indicates diphthong in first syllable. May be the same word as Coilleag, 69.]
COINNLEAG or COILLEAG, 295, whirlpool, eddy. Tha coinnleag air an t-struth. [Coinnleagadh, arguing. J.M.]
COILEAG, 70, a goal; COILLEAG, I 196: A stone forming goal was taken up in the hand and put round the head three times saying Dà choilleag dhiag eadar mi is Dia gun deach i mach no nach deach, said in shinty match till Lachlann Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair appeared at Bruthach na Seile-daraich. This was the old way of settling a dispute. It is a gross enough violation of the Second Commandment. [Refers to a well-known ghost story.]
COIL[L]EAG, 70, a sand-heap or hillock; 283 a sand-heap. K. 165, a sand bank on which bent grows [Coilleag, A.J.].
COILLEAG, p. 106, music. Coilleigeadh [in margin]. Translation of “A’s ard coilliog air tom” [A.M.D. 1st ed., p.43, also A.D. 68].
Coilleag is a hard word to pin down. Dwelly has many more meanings for it including cockle, smart stroke, potato sprout and rural song. Caoibhleag is not featured though. Everybody I spoke to in Eriskay immediately directed me to Coilleag a’ Phrionnsa, the bay where Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived from France on 23 July 1745. Nobody had heard of caoibhleag.
A list of words made in Harris and Scalpay does, however, include the lesser-known usage: “scum of fat, coating of fat. Tha coilleag air an t-sùth.” And a list of words from a native Applecross speaker includes it too: “as coilleag with long ‘o’ – fat globules on a liquid.”