麻豆官网首页入口

Aig deireadh an t-samhraidh, she貌l mi timcheall d脿 eilean faisg air an Eilean Sgitheanach. Tha iad gu tuath air an Ath Leathann. Tha gu le貌r anns a鈥� chumantas eatarra a thaobh eachdraidh. Ach ann an cumadh is coltas, tha iad cho eadar-dhealaichte bho ch猫ile 始s a ghabhas. Tha an d脿rna eilean beag, 矛osal is c貌mhnard. Tha am fear eile cuimseach m貌r, le beinn is monadh. 始S iad na h-eileanan sin Pabaigh agus Scalpaigh.聽

Tha mi air na h-ainmean, mar gum biodh 鈥榦ifigeil鈥�, a chur orra. Ann am Beurla 鈥� Pabay agus Scalpay; ann an G脿idhlig 鈥� Pabaigh agus Scalpaigh. Ach chuala mi 鈥楶aba鈥� agus 鈥楽calpa鈥� aig na seann iasgairean Rosach aig an robh G脿idhlig. Anns an Atlas aig Joan Blaeu a nochd ann an cl貌 anns an t-seachdamh linn deug tha iad ann mar Paba agus Scalpa.

Tha Scalpaigh l脿n ainmean-脿ite G脿idhlig. Ach, ann am Pabaigh, chan eil ann ach d脿 ainm-脿ite agus tha iadsan air a鈥� chladach 鈥� creag air a bheil An Gobhlach agus sgeir faisg air l脿imh 鈥� an Sgeir Ghobhlach. Air t矛r anns an eilean fh猫in, chan eil aon ainm-脿ite 鈥� ann an G脿idhlig no Beurla.聽

Tha sin car annasach. Tha an t-eilean c貌mhnard, ceart gu le貌r. Chan eil loch no uillt ann. Ach tha tr脿ighean ann, agus creagan, agus m貌ine, agus baile-fearainn. Carson nach eil ainm sam bith air gin de na feartan-t矛re sin?聽

Chaidh mi gu Leabhar nan Ainmean aig an t-Suirbhidh 脪rdanais. Chan eil ach tr矛 ainmean-脿ite aca ann am Pabaigh. A鈥� chiad fhear 鈥� Pabay fh猫in. Sgr矛obh iad gur ann on Lochlannais a th脿inig an t-ainm. Tha e a鈥� ciallachadh 鈥楨ilean an t-Sagairt鈥�. Tha sgoilearan an latha an-diugh ag aontachadh riutha. Agus tha An Gobhlach 鈥榝orked place鈥� agus Sgeir Ghobhlach 鈥榝orked rock鈥� aca.

Chan eil c脿il eile ainmichte anns an eilean. Tha cladh, nach robhar a鈥� cur gu feum tuilleadh, agus seipeal, a bha na thobhta, air an comharrachadh air a鈥� mhapa ann an ceann a deas an eilein. Ach chan eil ainmean orra. Tha Pabaigh, mar gum biodh, b脿n. Ach chan eil sin a鈥� ciallachadh gu bheil e gun eachdraidh mar a ch矛 sinn san ath Litir.

At the end of the summer, I sailed around two islands near Skye. They are north of Broadford. They have a lot in common with regard to history. But in shape and appearance, they are as different from each other as possible. The first island is small, low and flat. The other is relatively large with a mountain and hill country. Those islands are Pabay and Scalpay.

I have given them, as it were, their 鈥榦fficial鈥� names. In English 鈥� Pabay and Scalpay; in Gaelic 鈥� Pabaigh and Scalpaigh. But I [have] heard the old Ross-shire fisherman who spoke Gaelic calling them 鈥楶aba鈥� and 鈥楽calpa鈥�. In Joan Blaeu鈥檚 Atlas, which appeared in print in the 17th century, they are there as Paba and Scalpa.

Scalpay is full of Gaelic place-names. But, in Pabay, there are only two names and they are on the shore 鈥� a rock called An Gobhlach and a skerry nearby 鈥� An Sgeir Ghobhlach. On land on the island itself, there is no place-name 鈥� in Gaelic or English.

That is a bit strange. The island is flat, certainly. There is no loch or burns there. But there are beaches, and rocks, and peatland, and a farming settlement. Why do none of those geographical features carry a name?

I went to the Ordnance Survey Name Book. They only have three place-names on Pabay. The first one 鈥� Pabay itself. They wrote that it is from Norse that the name came. It means 鈥榠sland of the priest鈥�. Modern scholars agree with them. And they have An Gobhlach 鈥榝orked place鈥� and Sgeir Ghobhlach 鈥榝orked rock鈥�.

There is nothing else named on the island. There is a cemetery, no longer used, and a chapel that was a ruin, marked on the map in the south of the island. But they do not carry names. Pabay is, as it were, empty, vacant. But that does not mean that it it is without history, as we shall see in the next Litir.