Nollaig Chridheil!

Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful holiday!

Here is a poem that my teacher, Mr MacKay composed on Christmas (translation at end):

Air oidhche shàmhach gheamhraidh fhuar
‘S a’ Ghealach shoilleir chiùin
A’ coimhead air an talamh foip’
‘S na reultan os a cionn
An saoghal umam cho neo-thorach
‘S mo smuaintean air an àm
Tha romham ‘measg mo chàirdean
Is mo charaidean caomh blàth

‘Nam smuain thàinig dealbh
‘Bh’air a tabhairt dhuinn bho thùs
Leanabh beag sèimh socair
Thàinig thugainn le deagh rùn
Le Naidheachd mhùirneach shòlasach
Bheir faochadh dìonach rèidh
Do mhac-an-duin, is nic-an-duine
Dh’èisdeas, ‘s dhi ‘toirt spèis

Chan urrainn dha a h-aon againn
Bhith cinnteach dè ar dùil
Nuair dhùineas sinn ar sùilean
Gun am fosgladh ‘rithist le umhail
Ach fhad’s a tha sinn beò tha tròcair
‘S maitheas ann, is stàth
Na tha mi-rèidh a shocrachadh
Is strì a chur gu tàmh.

Mar sin, is mar a mhaith E dhuinn
Aig ceann a bheath, le gaol
A h-uile cron a thig nar cois
Nuair a nochdas sinn ‘san t-saoghal;
Gabhaibh an cothrom, stadaibh greis
Is tionndaidhibh ri chèil’
Cha trod ‘s cha bhagar againn ann
Do’n Ghràdh nach dèan gèill

Oir chì sinn oidhche shàmhach fhuar,
A’ Ghealach is an speur
‘S cha bhi ar càirdean gràdhach ann:
Bi ‘n anaman mu rèir
An sin, is ann a bhios ar cridhean
Ris an t-Slànaighear rèidh
Gun do dhealaich sinn ‘s an àm
Gun chonnsachadh, gun èis

On a cold, silent winter night
And the clear, gentle moon
Looking on the earth below
And on the stars above
The world around me so empty
With my thoughts on the time
I have left with my family
And my dear friends

To my thoughts comes the image
Given to us from long ago
A peaceful, calm baby
Come to us with good will
And with the happy, joyful News
That gives salvation
To the men and women
That listen and pay it heed

Not one of us
Can be certain what to expect
When we close our eyes
Never to open them again
But while we’re here, there is mercy
Goodness, and worth
In setting straight differences
And calming strife.

So, as He forgave us
At his life’s end, with love
Every fault and failing
We bring into this world
Take the time, stop for a moment
And turn to each other
There is no quarrel or squabble
That will not yield to Love.

For we will see a cold quiet night
The moon and the stars
And our loved ones will not be there
Their souls will have fled
There, our hearts will be
At peace with our Savior
That we parted with them
Without contention, without want


-- Micheal MacKay

Cum Gàidhlig beò!

Bha mi a' smaoineachadh gum bi ùidh aig daoine mu dheidhinn a' phìos seo:

I was thinking that this would interest you all:

Revitalizing Languages

Gaelic myths

"Tha a' Ghàidhlig agam agus chaneil mi marbh"


http://www.newsnetscotland.com/affairs-scotland/1741-scotland-language.html


Le taing do Gaelcast a-rithist.

Word Nerd 3

Word Nerd àireamh a h-aon, agus a dhà.


Seo an facal: probhadh/probhail

Tha e a' ciallachadh: "probhadh: experiment. probhail: experimental is toigh leis a bhith probhail he likes to be experimental saidheans probhail experimental science." (Bho "The Gaelic-English Dictionary by Colin Mark)

Previous Word Nerd: Word Nerd 1, Word Nerd 2

Here's the word: experiment/experimental

It means: "probhadh: experiment. probhail: experimental is toigh leis a bhith probhail he likes to be experimental saidheans probhail experimental science." (From "The Gaelic-English Dictionary" by Colin Mark)

Mòd Naiseanta America 2010

*Note: this post is going to be a mix of Gaelic and English, for time's sake, but let me know if you would like a full English version.* *I've been house-cleaning, and this draft has been sitting in my "Edit Posts" for a long time.*

Well, where to begin? When we, Mommy and I, arrived at the Antiochian Village we were still in time for registration and dinner. Chunnaic mi Mr agus Mrs MacKay, Mr Freer, is Mr Cassidy, agus an uair sin chaidh sinn suas an staidhre a chur an luggage againn anns an seòmar againn. During dinner I sat at the same table as the adjudicator, Paul MacCallum. Bha e gle laghach, a' cur ceist agam mu dheidhinn an guth agam, agus dh' innis e dhomh beagan barrachd mu dheidhinn Margaret Fay Shaw (whom I had interviewed him about last year). As deidh sin, chaidh sinn sios an staidhre airson "the oral events." Chunnaic mi an sansair as fheàrr leam a tha ag ràdh -- "Egypt. There for thousands of years" that never fails to crack me up. Oir bha Ar n-Oran choir à Ottawa ann, bha mòran ann nach robh mi ag aithneachadh. Bha sight reading co-fharpais anns an bliadhna seo agus bha an ceathamh competitor was rallied to compete, agus bhunnaich Mr MacKay. Bha original poem recitation by Randy Waugh, the choir's director.

As deidh sin, bha sgeulachdan ann. I asked to go first, party because I wanted to get it over with, and party because I knew that watching the others would mess me up and I'd be comparing my performance with theirs. I did pretty well, only made one minor mistake, and that in the English part. Agus bhuannaich mi! Yippee! (Out of two competitors :). B' e oidhche bhrèagha a bh' ann.

Sin Dihaoine dhuibh. Chan eil fios agam gum bi Disathairne agaibh a-chaoidh, ach chì sinn.

Word Nerd 2

Word Nerd àireamh a h-Aon.

Seo an facal: lachanaich.

Tha e a' ciallachadh: "laughing loudly, loud laughter. thòisich iad air lachanaich they began laughing (loudly)." (Bho "The Gaelic-English Dictionary by Colin Mark)

Previous Word Nerd: Word Nerd 1.

Here's the word: lachanaich

It means: "laughing loudly, loud laughter. thòisich iad air lachanaich they began laughing (loudly)." (From The Gaelic-English Dictionary by Colin Mark)

Dà "links"

Dìreach post beag dhuibh an-diugh. Seo da "links" agus tha iad inntinneach, tha mise a' smaoineachadh. Tapadh le Gaelcast.

Just a short post for you today. Here are two links, and they're interesting, or at least I think so. :) Thanks to Gaelcast.

http://www.newsnetscotland.com/features/1467-language-history-part-1

Agus/And: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTk3JL01TZ0)

Word Nerd 1

Bha beachd agam mu phost ùr -- faclan Gàidhlig a tha inntinneach agus gu bheil còrdadh rium! :)

So I had an idea for a bit of a series -- random Gaelic words that I think are interesting and that I like! :)

Seo a' chiad facal: ait. (Chan eil accent an seo! :) Agus seo dè tha e a' ciallachadh (bho m' fhaclair -- The Gaelic-English Dictionary le Colin Mark.):

Here's the first word: ait. (There isn't an accent there! :) And here's what it means (from my dictionary -- The Gaelic-English Dictionary by Colin Mark):

"1. Blithe, cheerful, cheery, droll, funny... joyful. Gu h-ait he spoke cheerfully. 2. funny, odd, peculiar, strange. 's e duine caran ait a bh' ann he was a rather odd fellow."

Bithibh ait uile!

Giotàr update

As you may remember, I started playing the guitar about three months ago. I've made a lot of progress since then, I think, and I certainly have learned a lot! I've picked out the Gaelic song, "Loch Maruibhe" from Fiona J MacKenzie's cd and I can play the melody and I am working on chords and now singing with chords. I've learned a lot about music theory -- how to pick out chords of a song based on the notes, and before that, how scales are formed. I can play the melody of Joy to the World, the arpeggio of "The House of the Rising Sun" (albeit very slowly), and am starting to learn how to play "Greensleeves."

One of the problems I've been having is that my hands are rather weak. I've never really had to develop the muscles in my hands because besides typing (and washing dishes :) I don't use them beyond the normal things that anyone would do with their hands. I've started an exercise to learn how to bar -- cover all the strings with your index finger -- which is hard to do until I develop the muscles there.

So that's all for now!

(*I would like to apologize for my last post -- I hadn't realized that the Gaelic for Punks had crude language as I only listened to the first phrase. I've now deleted the post. Thank you for understanding.*)

Latha Math

Tha còmhlan ùr -- 's e Mànran an t-ainm a th' orra -- ann an Alba agus tha iad a' feuchainn a bhith ann an "Top Forty" anns an UK. 'S e "Latha Math" an t-ainm a th' air an òran agus tha e sgoinneil gu dearbh. Oir chan eil mise anns an UK, chan urrainn dhomh rud sam bith a dheanamh ach seo! Ceannaich e an-diugh agus tha mi 'n dòchas gum bi iad ann an "Top Forty" a dh' aithghearr!

Seo iad air an eadar-lìon:

Website: http://manran.co.uk/wp/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manran/130674593637945

Agus seo Latha Math!

There's a new band, Mànran, in Scotland and they are trying to be in the "Top Forty" in the UK. Latha Math or Good Day is the name of their single and it's great! Because I'm not in the UK, I can't do anything but this! Buy it today and I hope that they will be in the "Top Forty" soon!

Here they are on the internet:

Website: http://manran.co.uk/wp/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manran/130674593637945

And here's Latha Math!