During his time as priest in South Uist and Eriskay (1884-1905), Fr Allan filled ten large notebooks with words, folklore and song from the area. In 1958, John Lorne Campbell organised 2,900 of those words and published them as an intriguing dictionary, Gaelic Words and Expressions from South Uist and Eriskay.
The words listed below are my favourites: the 42 which made it into Sly Cooking. I chose them because they made me laugh, or they made me stop and think. I was particularly taken with those which referred to women, whether complimentary or less so.
I love the humour which runs through the dictionary. There’s a real sense of human interaction and an ever-present gentle mockery; both of which I got used to when in South Uist and Eriskay doing my research. I love the attention to small things and to tiny nuances, and the imaginative, but very concrete, interaction with the otherworld.
When preparing the Sly Cooking book, I edited the definitions to keep them short and sweet, but the academic side of me won’t let that rest, so this website is my remedy. At the top of the page for each of the words, I supply the full definition, as given in Gaelic Words and Expressions.
After the definition, I give what further information I can find, including one or more sound files I have recorded of native speakers from South Uist or Eriskay. Where they don’t know the word, they pronounce it on the basis of its spelling.
These speakers include: Màiri Thormoid (NicAonghais), Eriskay; Catrìona Walker, Eriskay; Dòmhnall Ruaraidh Caimbeul, South Uist; Coinneach Manson, South Uist; Iain Eàirdsidh Mac a’ Mhaoilein, South Uist; and one more from Eriskay who was too modest to be named. I am indebted to them, and to Liam Crouse of Ceòlas, for their input.
And then it’s your turn: I have only scratched the surface of what there is to know about these words. If you know anything more, I’d love to hear from you in the comments sections under the words.
Lastly, if, like me, you would like to learn the words off by heart, I have made a course in Memrise where you can do just that.
Click on a word to find out more: