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Bho 脿m gu 脿m bidh mi a鈥� ruith ch霉rsaichean, a鈥� toirt s霉il air mapaichean na G脿idhealtachd. Faisg air deireadh a鈥� ch霉rsa, bidh mi ag iarraidh air na h-oileanaich eilean mac-meanmnach a chruthachadh. Bidh iad a鈥� cur ainmean-脿ite G脿idhlig air.聽

Bidh mi cuideachd ag iarraidh orra ainm a chruthachadh airson an eilein. Tha e iongantach cho tric 始s a bhios iad a鈥� gabhail 鈥楨ilean nan R貌n鈥� air. Ach, ann an dha-r矛ribh, tha ainmean mar sin gann. Tha Loch nan R貌n ann, Rubha nan R貌n, Sgeir nan R貌n is mar sin air adhart. Ach 始s aithne dhomh d矛reach d脿 eilean air a bheil 鈥楨ilean nan R貌n鈥�.聽

Tha fear dhiubh beag. Tha e faisg air Eilean Orasa, l脿imh ri Colbhasa, ann an Earra-Gh脿idheal.

Tha am fear eile ann am f矛or cheann a tuath na h-Alba, ann an D霉thaich MhicAoidh. Tha e aig beul Caolas Thunga. Ann an ochd ceud deug, ochdad 始s a h-aon (1881), bha c貌rr is seachdad duine a鈥� fuireach ann. Ach dh鈥檉h脿g an fheadhainn mu dheireadh an t-eilean ann an naoi ceud deug, trithead 始s a h-ochd (1938).

Tha fear de na h-eileanaich, D貌mhnall MacAoidh, a鈥� bruidhinn mun eilean air Tobar an Dualchais. Nuair a bha e 貌g, bha iasgach an sgadain gu math m貌r. Anns a鈥� gheamhradh bhiodh iad ri iasgach a鈥� ghiomaich.

Bha D貌mhnall dhen bheachd gun robh sluagh a鈥� fuireach ann ro na fuadaichean. Bha na mnathan aca 脿 diofar 脿iteachan air a鈥� chosta mu thuath. Bha feadhainn dhiubh 脿 Arcaibh. Dh鈥檌onnsaich iadsan G脿idhlig oir 始s e G脿idhlig a bha aig na h-eileanaich mar ch脿nan coimhearsnachd. Ge-t脿, bha foghlam na sgoile, no a鈥� chuid a bu mhotha dheth, ann am Beurla.

Tha meadhan an eilein, far an robh am baile, rudeigin torrach. Bhathar a鈥� f脿s e貌rna is coirce is peasair ann. Bha, agus bunt脿ta is c脿l. Bha D貌mhnall MacAoidh dhen bheachd nach fhaigheadh tu c脿l na b鈥� fhe脿rr na bha aca ann an Eilean nan R貌n.

Bha cuimhne aig D貌mhnall air sealg nan r貌n nuair a bha e 貌g. Ach cha b鈥� ann airson fe貌il a bha na h-eileanaich gan sealg. Innsidh mi tuilleadh dhuibh mu dheidhinn sin an-ath-sheachdain.

From time to time I run courses, looking at maps of the Highlands. Near the end of the course, I ask the students to create an imaginary island. They populate it with Gaelic place-names.

I also ask them to create a name for the island. It鈥檚 amazing how often they call it 鈥榯he island of the seals鈥�. But, in actual fact, names like that are rare. There is 鈥榯he loch of the seals鈥�, 鈥榯he point of the seals鈥�, 鈥榯he skerry of the seals鈥� and so on. But I know [of] only two islands called 鈥榯he island of the seals鈥�.

One of them is small. It鈥檚 close to Oronsay, next to Colonsay, in Argyll.

The other one is in the far north of Scotland, in the Mackay Country. It鈥檚 at the mouth of the Kyle of Tongue. In 1881, there were more than seventy people living there. But the last ones left the island in 1938.

One of the islanders, Donald Mackay, speaks on Tobar an Dualchais. When he was young, the herring fishing was big. In the winter, they would be fishing for lobsters.

Donald reckoned that there was a population there before the clearances. Their wives were from various places on the north coast. Some of them were from Orkney. They learned Gaelic because Gaelic was what the islanders spoke as a community language. However, the school education, or most of it, was in English.

The middle of the island, where the township was, is somewhat fertile. Barley and oats and peas were grown. As were potatoes and cabbage. Donald Mackay reckoned you wouldn鈥檛 get better cabbage than they had in Eilean nan R貌n.

Donald remembered hunting the seals where he was young. But it wasn鈥檛 for meat that the islanders were hunting them. I鈥檒l tell you more about that next week.