Tobar an Dualchais – Kist o Riches (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˈt̪opəɾən̪ˠˈt̪uəl̪ˠxɪʃ] ) is a project which aims to preserve and digitize material gathered in Scottish Gaelic, Scots and English by the School of Scottish Studies (of the University of Edinburgh), BBC Scotland and the Canna Collection of the National Trust for Scotland. [1]
Much of the material consists of recordings of folklore, songs and music, local history and other data gathered from the 1930s onwards. [2]
Eriskay, from the Old Norse for "Eric's Isle", is an island and community council area of the Outer Hebrides in northern Scotland with a population of 143, as of the 2011 census. It lies between South Uist and Barra and is connected to South Uist by a causeway which was opened in 2001. In the same year Ceann a' Ghàraidh in Eriskay became the ferry terminal for travelling between South Uist and Barra. The Caledonian MacBrayne vehicular ferry travels between Eriskay and Ardmore in Barra. The crossing takes around 40 minutes.
Teuchter is a Lowland Scots word sometimes used to offensively describe a Scottish Highlander, in particular a Gaelic-speaking Teuchter. The term is also in use with more broader meanings attached, commonly applied to any Scot perceived to be from a rural area, and within Glasgow those who are from outwith the Greater Glasgow area. It is offensive, equivalent to other cultural epithets used by more powerful groups to describe people they have oppressed, but is often seen as amusing by the speaker. The term is contemptuous, essentially describing someone seen to be uncouth and rural.
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Partner in the federal University of the Highlands and Islands. Its sole medium of instruction on degree courses is Scottish Gaelic.
Hugh Dan MacLennan is a Scottish broadcaster, author and sporting academic with specific interest in the sport of shinty. A fluent Gaelic speaker from Lochaber, he attended the University of Glasgow before going on to teach Gaelic in Millburn Academy, Inverness and then going to work with BBC Radio nan Gaidheal. He has been Secretary of the Gaelic Society of Inverness and both director and vice president of the Camanachd Association and was director of communications for Caledonian MacBrayne. In 1998 was awarded a PhD by the University of Aberdeen. McLennan is chief presenter and co-hosts the quiz show on Aibisidh on BBC Alba with Mary Anne McDonald. MacLennan has made several guest appearances on BBC Scotland programmes on life in the Scotland.
Keening is a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead in the Gaelic Celtic tradition, known to have taken place in Ireland and Scotland. Keening, which can be seen as a form of sean-nós singing, is performed in the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages.
"The Lass of Roch Royal" is an English-language folk song, existing in several variants.
"The Twa Brothers" is a traditional ballad existing in many variants.
"Bonnie Annie" is a folk ballad recorded from the Scottish and English traditions. Scottish texts are often called Bonnie Annie or The Green Banks of Yarrow, English texts are most often called The Banks of Green Willow. Other titles include The Undutiful Daughter, The High Banks O Yarrow, The Watery Grave, Green Willow, There Was a Rich Merchant that Lived in Strathdinah and The Merchant's Daughter.
Scottish Cant, Scots Romani, Scotch Romani or the Scottish Romani language is a cant and variety of the Romani language spoken by Scottish Lowland Romani, who primarily live in the Scottish Lowlands.
The School of Scottish Studies was founded in 1951 at the University of Edinburgh. It holds an archive of approximately 33,000 field recordings of traditional music, song and other lore, housed in George Square, Edinburgh. The collection was begun by Calum Maclean - brother of the poet, Sorley MacLean - and the poet, writer and folklorist, Hamish Henderson, both of whom collaborated with American folklorist Alan Lomax, who is credited as being a catalyst and inspiration for the work of the school.
"Baloo Baleerie" is a Scottish lullaby. The title is alliterative nonsense based around the Scots word for lullaby, "baloo". As it is based on a recording in the BBC Glasgow Archives made on 22 January 1949 on the Shetland island of Bressay, it is also known as "The Bressay Lullaby",. It was first published in 1951 by Alan Lomax. An English version, "Go Away, Little Fairies" has also been published.
The River Bogie, also known as the Water of Bogie, is a river in north-west Aberdeenshire in the north east of Scotland. It is noted for its brown trout fishing.
Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh is an Irish linguist who is Professor of Gaelic and Vice Principal and Head of the College of Arts / Colaiste nan Ealain at the University of Glasgow. He was born in 1966 in Dublin, Ireland.
Màiri nighean Alasdair Ruaidh, also known as Mary Macleod, was a Scottish Gaelic poet.
Sheila Stewart was a Scottish traditional singer, storyteller, and author. She inherited a large number of traditional songs from older family members, including her mother Belle Stewart.
The "Uist Tramping Song", "Null do dh'Uidhist" (Over to Uist) or "Tiugainn Leam" (Come With Me) is a traditional Scottish folk song, Gaelic lyrics by Archibald MacDonald, music by John R. Bannerman, arranged by Hugh S. Roberton. The song is an invitation to the sights and abundance of Uist, the central group of islands in the Outer Hebrides. The English language version tells of hiking there. Artists who have recorded this song include Kenneth McKellar, Robert Wilson and Robert Rees. Other notable recorded versions, include:
The Banks of Sweet Dundee is a folk song very popular with and frequently collected from traditional singers in Britain and Ireland, fairly common in North America, and also performed by revival singers and groups. A young woman escapes a forced marriage by shooting dead both the squire who is her intended husband and her uncle who attacks her.
Dòmhnall Iain MacLeòid is a writer, editor, and journalist in Scottish Gaelic. He was born in Ardhasaig in Harris. He obtained a PhD from the University of Glasgow in 1969; his thesis was entitled Twentieth Century Gaelic literature: a description, comprising critical study and a comprehensive bibliography. He was the co-editor of the quarterly Scottish Gaelic magazine Gairm with Ruaraidh MacThòmais. He was a lecturer in the Celtic Department, University of Glasgow.
Anna "Annie" Arnott was a Scottish singer who sang in Scottish Gaelic in the puirt à beul style.
The "Eriskay Love Lilt" is a traditional Scottish song associated with the island of Eriskay in Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The chorus of the song features lyrics in Scottish Gaelic. The modern anglicized art song version was collected by Marjory Kennedy Fraser as the lament for unrequited love Gràdh Geal Mo Chridhe during her visits to Eriskay with the help of Fr. Allan MacDonald, and published in the first volume of Songs of the Hebrides in 1909. Popular versions have been recorded by the Glasgow Orpheus Choir with Hugh S. Roberton, The Corries, Judith Durham and The Seekers, and Paul Robeson.