Yesterday, I was looking at a very useful word I’d just come across: “gadgetbahn” – an overly complex bespoke high-techpublic transport system such as a hyperloop or maglev.
These are typically time wasting projects which use up valuable money and time and either come to nothing or result in a product which is far inferior to trains, trams, trolleys or buses.
In my second post, I’m looking at another new word which I learnt during my research into gadgetbahns – vapourware. In Gaelic, I think this would probably be sgleò-bhathair!
This is a type of project which is repeatedly trailed by its promoters and fawned over by the media but which is typically nowhere near ready to release and which will often come to nothing.
Gadgetbahns are often vapourware. For example, we’ve been hearing about hyperloops for 10 years now with endless news stories but they are clearly a non-starter. I’ve no doubt that hyperloops would be the illustration for vapourware in a picture dictionary.
And here’s an example of some Scottish vapourware which is also a gadgetbahn – a picture of a proposal for a Glasgow Airport Monorail. Fortunately this idea doesn’t seem to have been taken seriously with attention now focussing on more sensible trams.
It’s the year 2222. A baby has just been born in Linlithgow who will go on to become the chief engineer in the Sharship entreprise. War and poverty have finally been eliminated and climate-change has been reversed. People drive futuristic flying cars and everybody has their own snow-mobile.
If you want to go to Glasgow Airport, however, beware as there is still no rail link after over 250 years of campaigning.
One of the reasons why this hasn’t happened yet and why decent public transport is still absent in many cities is….. the gadgetbahn!
Gadgetbahn – moladh airson Leicester
I learnt this word a few months ago and I don’t know how I managed to live without it.
The word is a portemanteau of the English “Gadget” and the German word “bahn”, which means rail or train. A gadgetbahn is a speculative transportation concept that proposes to solve planning and financial issues via some sort of magical techno-fix, likely some technology that doesn’t even exist yet.
Often, particularly in the US, sensible transport solutions using trains, metros, trams or even the humble bus are often held back by gadgetbahn schemes.
If a scheme talks about loops or pods, you can be certain that it will be a gadetbahn. More so if Elon Musk is involved.
Gadgetbahn!
Amongst gadgetbahns are maglevs, monorails, rail-planes, loops, hyperloops and a wide range of autonomous vehicles.
Instead of comparing, say a tramway with a guided busway, national and local authorities often find themselves comparing them with a loop, or hyperloop – untested, uncosted and probably not even fully invented yet.
It might not come to anything, but it will certainly waste time and money. And if it does come to something, it is still likely to be more expensive and less flexible than a conventional rail or bus based solution.
Another characteristic of the gadgetbahn is that it is normally not possible to connect it with any other form of transport. A guided bus can go on a conventional road and a train can link with existing railways and stations.
This isn’t to say that transport shouldn’t evolve, just that proposals put forward should be based on technology that actually exists.
Gadgetbahn! A Cenice tram with one rail and rubber tyres!
We’ve certainly seen a few gadgetbahn proposals for the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, with proposals for monorails or moving walkways.
I’m hoping that the current proposals for trams to the airport – as part of a bigger tramway scheme – will go ahead, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we hear about autonomous pods or even rail-planes yet!
Alasdair
Thanks to everybody who encouraged me to continue with the blog. I hope that you will enjoy it in English as much as you did in Gaelic.
I started this blog 10 years ago to write about trains, trams and trolleys in Gaelic.
I know it’s kind of a niche topic but I thought it’s important that there is a range of different material available in Gaelic and railways are what I’m interested in.
I’ve become very disillusioned with the Gaelic world in the last year or so, however.
Around a year ago, the Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community report came out. The book rightly identified the weakness of Gaelic in traditional communities (as did a variety of previous reports) however, it was also very negative about new speakers and about urban Gaelic speakers.
And rather than leading to a discussion about how to best promote Gaelic in the traditional community – something that everybody in the Gaelic community surely wants to see – the key take-home message for many people seems to have been negativity towards urban Gaeldom and adult learners. Processions of people have taken to social media and old media alike saying that cities and learners get too much funding and too much priority, many calling for cuts in funding and others referring to people using Gaelic in cities as hobbyists. At best for many, people like me are irrelevant to the promotion of Gaelic, and for others we are actually cultural imperialists. And for some, even seeing Gaelic as a national language is an act of cultural appropriation.
The debate has moved from how to promote Gaelic to who is and who isn’t a Gael. An identity-politics debate that I’m not even particularly interested in. More recently, there have been vocal calls for native Gaelic speakers/Gàidheil/Gaels to be given a special indigenous status or and/or for a Parliament for Gaels. Where this leaves fluent learners and people outside the Hebrides, and where it leaves people who don’t think themselves of Gaels is a good question.
Those challenging the views of Gaelic Crisis towards new communities or challenging the ethnicisation of Gaelic online are subject to so much trolling that it just isn’t worth continuing.
This ethnicisation of the Gaelic debate really disturbs me. I feel that reversing language shift should be civic and not ethnic.
If we can’t empower traditional Gaelic communities without disempowering new communities, count me out. Of course, we could easily do this, but in this polarised toxic debate, it has become something of a zero sum game where many advocates of traditional communities see this as incompatible with support for new communities. (Fortunately I don’t think the opposite is true, but I’d be totally against that too!)
It’s important to note that few people in the Gaelic world agree with the ethnicisation of Gaelic. It’s also important to note that most of the people that have been calling for an ethnic definition of the Gaelic community in my experience are themselves learners and don’t belong to the communities that they are trying to gatekeep. I’d also make the important point that most advocates of enhanced support for traditional Gaelic communities have no problem with new communities and new speakers – and I agree strongly with them.
However, in a situation where many people are actively defining learners and cities as, at best unimportant, and at worst actively damaging traditional communities, it is difficult to keep on. It’s particularly difficult to do cheerful content when you are not allowed to say that Gaelic is your own language and you are not considered authentic/Gàidhealach/indigenous to be a member of the ethnically defined Gaelic community.
If I have to be an “ally” or a member of a “diaspora” to use Gaelic as a learner or in a city, count me out.
I should say that this isn’t just me. I know dozens of other people in the Gaelic world in the cities – native speakers and learners alike – who are very very dissolutioned due to ethnicisation of Gaelic and othering of new speakers and urban Gaeldom. The toxic debate is damaging people’s mental health and leading many to leave the Gaelic world or seeking to leave the Gaelic world.
For this reason, I’ve deleted my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
For this account, I’m asking – should I stay or should I go?
Should I delete the account or should I keep writing it in English?
This month we’ll be looking at how some Gaelic language forms, such as diminutive endings, were simply carried over naturally to English or Scots words in local speech, particularly in people’s names.
If you have the newest edition of Down to the Sea (2018), you’ll have seen the wonderful long list of by-names at the back. It’s much more than a list – it’s a mini social history of each of the Villages, so well worth a read or a re-read! Among them are many of my relatives and family friends, or neighbours of my grannie’s, or unknown figures who featured in local stories, and it brought back a lot of childhood memories to read that list when it was first published. So many thanks to all who contributed – an invaluable resource of local knowledge that otherwise would have disappeared.
But it’s also a great resource for those interested in language, like myself, as it’s full of examples of the often mutual influence of Gaelic and Scots.
In Gaelic, if you add -ag or –an to a word, it conveys a smaller version of the original (with things), or a more familiar or affectionate version (especially with names). A lochan is just a small loch, a boyan is a small boy, a young lad. You may know them in the Gaelic words sliseag (sleeshack) and tuircan (tourcan), still common locally. When applied to names, David might become Dave-an (=Davie), for example, or Anne or Anna might become Annag (=Annie). Classically, –an was for masculine words and –ag for feminine, but this was not closely adhered to locally, with men’s names sometimes getting the -ag treatment too. –ag is pronounced -ack, so that’s what usually got written down.
Examples of the -ag/ack ending in my own family history include Jimmack Oliver, my uncle, and Davack Ross, my grandfather. Other male names I remember were Buiyack, Johnack, Danack and Willack, and lots of female ones: Bellack, Dollack , Nanack, Curstack (Kirstie), Kateack. The -an ending was definitely used more for males – Jockan, Willican, Toman.
It’s worth pointing out that the pronunciation of these names was usually, and often still is, very Gaelic – the first part is stressed and generally longer, and there’s a wee gap before the –an or –ack.
The lack of stress on that ending also led to it being eroded – sometimes the -ag or -an would become just -a. Examples I recall: Kate-a, Doll-a, Wull-a, Dan-a, John-a, Kenn-a. Very Gaelic intonation!
Some female names ending in -an are actually Ann/Anne as the second half of a double name (another very Gaelic thing). The most famous example in the Villages is probably Bellan (Isabelle Ann /Bell Ann / Bel Ann etc) MacAngus, mother of Dolly, or Dollack. When this is spelled together as one word, saying it aloud helps to establish what kind of –an it is – the diminutive –an ending (unstressed), or the name Ann (usually stressed equally with the first part). I also had an Auntie Christan, the -an part unstressed, but I am not sure if that was a diminutive Christine, or the remains of Christine Ann. There were also Johndans on the Seaboard – whether John + an with an extra D, or John + Dan (double name), I don’t know. Anyone? EDIT: as a relative informs me, just a diminutive of John, no double names. And there were several in the family.And Christan was Christine Ann, but her mother used the pet name Christan after hearing it used elsewhere.
It wasn’t just names that got these -an and -ag endings – sometimes they were added to things as well, e.g. shop-an, skirt-an (Gaelic sgiortan), and cutag or guttag for a gutting knife. But with the English names of things, the Gaelic endings were less common than the Scots -ie, as often already attached to the words when they were brought to the area by Lowlands and Moray farming folk at the time of the agricultural “Improvements”. There is a Gaelic word-ending – aidh, pronounced “ee” (e.g. Ciorstaidh = Kirsty), so it was an easy transition for Gaelic speakers to make. A baggie and a listie for the shoppie, a boatie, a bairnie are the sort of thing that caught on. People also got the –ie ending, sometimes combined with the Gaelic –ag: Nanackie, Willackie.
Occasionally the ending -ach would be used instead, either as a variant on the pronunciation of -ag, or the Gaelic ending -ach used for turning a noun into an adjective, eg. Sasainn/Sasann (England) > Sasannach (English). So we have Sandach (for Sandy), the Alachs, the Morachs etc.
The prevalence of the same first names as well as surnames throughout the Villages led to plenty of by-names to help distinguish them, and often these by-names would get carried down through the generations, their original reference getting lost en route. Names are more varied nowadays, but traditionally in the Villages, and in fact still in the main Gaelic-speaking areas today, it’s always been hard to break the pattern of calling first sons after fathers and daughters after mothers etc. So adding a distinguishing term was not only a good Gaelic tradition but a necessity. Until, of course, the by-name became attached to each generation, so that grandfather, father, son and grandson might all once again have the same name! The William “Chats” Ross family are a good example of this. (I learned from the list that this came from a Charlotte further back in the family who was known as Chattie.)
The by-name might be the person’s job – Thomas Vass the Post, Jimmy the Van, or where the family originally came from – the Woods from Cellardyke got the by-name “the Dyker” or “the Decker”, and there were also Rosses known as Morach / Morrach – probably from the Gaelic for someone from Moray. There was even a Johnny-up-the-hill Ross, who worked on Hilton farm. Other by-names were less clear, such as Buzz, or the Claws, or the Roggles, or Jockan and Ali “the Bolt” Vass, and usually had a story attached. My Latin teacher was Johnnie “Leekie” Ross from Balintore, himself from a Ross family called the Cuppies. These by-names could also be Gaelic words, like my father’s (Sutherland) family, the Alachs, or the “Raws” and “Roos” (possibly from ruadh – red-haired).
But there was one very Gaelic way of distinguishing between multiple William Rosses etc, and that was by saying who their mother or wife was: that’s how we get “Jock Kate” for John Skinner, or “Billy Nanack” Ross, or “Geordie Minnie” Mackay, or a family of Vasses all given “Ethel” as a kind of surname. And of course the “Chats” Rosses, from Charlotte. Women might also get distinguished by their father’s name, such as Bella Danack, or Bella Davack.
Gaelic also has a common method with “aig” (= at) for saying who you belonged to, and this led to things like “Dolly at Bellan”, “Joan at Curly”, and I got called “Davine at Hughie” more than once. (Which I objected to in my teens as I wanted to be myself, not some else’s appendage!)
So keep collecting the by-names and their stories, and maybe they’ll feed into any future editions of Down to the Sea. Our names, their stories, and our rich local language are as much our heritage as the Pictish stones, and the objects we display in our museums. Let’s keep them alive and kicking!
Air an darna latha agam ann an Lunnainn, dhùisg mi tràth sa mhadainn is mus do dh’fhosgail mi mo shùilean smaoinich mi “a bheil mi ag obair an-diugh? A bheil agam ris a’ chlann a dheisleachadh airson na sgoile?”
Agus an uair sin, chuimnich mi gun robh mi ann an Lunnainn air safari rèile!
B’ e am plana agam a dhol air pàirtean den Underground nach d’rinn mi riamh roimhe. Bha fios agam mar-thà gun robh an District line agus an Hammersmith and City gu bhith dùinte ach nuair a thug mi sùil air app TfL, fhuair mi a-mach gun robh pàirtean de loidhne a’ Phicadilly gu bith dùinte cuideachd.
Mar sin, bha an t-àm ann ann airson cofaidh is planadh.
Chaidh mi gu cafaidh faisg air stèisean tiùb Goodge Street agus bha mi ag òl cofaidh a-muigh agus a’ coimhead air mapaichean.
Ri mo thaobh, bha fear òg a bha a’ smocadh. Stad cailleach gus bruidhinn ris.
“Ah son, I wish I could still smoke. I used to smoke. A lot. But now I’ve got asthma. It’s because I smoked low quality fags.”
Mise, a’ smaoineachadh dhomh fhèin: “Hmm, saoil an e uiread nan toitean bu chòireach seach càileachd nan toitean bu chòireach”.
Às dèidh caffeine agus cluich le aplacaid TfL, cho-dhùin mi gun robh mi a’ dol a chur crìoch air an Northern Line (Edgeware Branch) agus gun robh mi an uair sin a dol a dh’fhaighinn bus gu Stanmore aig deireadh an Jubilee Line.
Agus sin na rinn mi! Sin dà loidhne a tha a-nis dèanta air an liosta agam! Tha Stanmore fìor mhath oir tha tòrr thrèanaichean air an cumail ri taobh an stèisein agus fhuair mi dealbh no dhà.
SSS
Chaidh mi air an tiùb agus air an Overgound an uair sin gu Richmond. Às dèidh cofaidh, chaidh mi air misean cudromach – chaidh mi a lorg an taighe a bh’ aig Phil Lynott nach màireann aig Thin Lizzy!
‘S e Pagoda House an t-ainm a th’ air oir tha e gu math faisg air Kew Gardens agus chithear am pagoda. Thog mi dealbh luath agus dh’èist mi ri beagan Lizzy fhad’s a bha mi a’ feitheimh ris a’ bhus dhachaigh.
An uair sin, bha mi airson a dhol gu Tottenham, oir leugh mi gum faicear depot a’ Victoria line an sin – an t-aon àite far am bi na trèanaichean os cionn na talmhainn. Mar sin, fhuair mi an tiùb, trèana, tiùb eile agus bus gu stad bus aonarach air a bheil “Northumberland Park Rail Depot”. Lorg mi drochaid thairis air an rathad-iarainn agus mhothaich mi gun robh mesh ga chuairteachadh. Gu fortanach, b’ urrainn dhomh lionsa an iphone agam faicinn tron mhesh agus fhuair mi dhealbh no dhà!
Agus leis a sin, bha an t-àm ann dèanamh air Glaschu a-rithist – fear de na trèanaichean Azuma spaideil ùr aig LNER.
Abair turas a bh’ agam – 27 tursan trèana, 7 tursan bus agus turas air càr-càbail agus beagan eachdraidh Thin Lizzyach!
Nuair a bha mi nam bhalach, bha leabhar agam air an robh British Electric Trains in Camera. Bha e làn dealbhan de thrèanaichean dealanach air feadh na RA, a’ gabhail a-steach BR, London Underground, Subway Ghlaschu agus an Tyne and Wear Metro.
Bha mi beò ghlaicte leis an leabhar agus leis na dealbhan ann.
Nam inbheach, tha mi air a bhith a’ feuchainn ris na trèanaichean a b’ fheàrr leam bhon leabhar fhaicinn san fheòil, mar gum biodh, agus mar thoradh air sin, chaidh mi gu Lunnainn bho chionn goirid.
Ach bha àite eile bhon leabhar a bha mi airson fhaicinn – Stèisean Broad Street.
Nuair a chanas mi ‘faicinn’, bu chòir dhomh a ràdh nach eil Stèisean Broad Street ann tuilleadh. Chaidh a leigeil ann an 1986, ach chaidh mi a dh’fhaicinn far an robh e agus gus faicinn na bha air fhàgail dheth.
Bha Broad Street ri taobh Stèisean Liverpool Street agus tha ionad Broadgate a-nis na aite.
Tha gu leòr termini air fhàgail: Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Euston, Fenchurch Street, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, King’s Cross, Paddington, Victoria, Waterloo, Marylebone, Moorgate and St Pancras, ach bha rudeigin sònraichte mu Bhroad Street, rudeigin gu math “atmospheric”.
Bha dealbh den stèisean san leabhar agam le le teacsa mar “The long term future of the decrepit Broad Street Station is unknown” le dealbh de thrèanaichean Class 501.
Bha an dealbh caran coltach ris an dealbh seo:
Stèisean Broad Street c1983
Dhùin Broad Street fhèin agus stèisean Dalston Junction dìreach beagan a tuath air cuideachd. ann an 1986
Ach ged a bha BR a’ smaoineachadh nach robh feum air an stèisean tuilleadh, bha iad ceàrr. Ged a chaidh Broad Street fhèin a leigeal, chaidh an loidhne ath-fhosgladh gu beagan a tuath air agus chaidh a’ mhòr-chuid den drochaid a-staigh dhan stèisean ath-fhosgladh mar phàirt den London Overground ann am pròiseact sònraichte gus Loidhne Lunnainn a Tuath agus Loidhne Lunnainn an Ear a cheangail ri chèile mar phàirt de chearcall timcheall air a’ bhaile. Mar sin, an àite a bhith a’ stad aig terminus mar a bhoidh iad roimhe, tha an loidhne a’ dol seachad air làrach Broad Street, a’ dol tro stèisean ùr aig Shoreditch High Street agus an uair sin a’ dol air Loidhne Lunnainn an Ear, a bha na pàirt den London Underground gu 2007.
Mapa den Overground, 2012
Seo mapa rèile den sgìre a’ sealltainn far an robh Broad Street agus dè tha air tachairt leis na loidhnichean bhon uair sin:
Chaidh Dalston Junction ath-fhosgladh cho math ri stèiseanan ann an Haggerston, Hoxton agus Shoreditch High Street anns na 2010an. A-nis, tha na figearan mar a leanas: Dalston Junction: 6 millean cleachdaichde sa bhliadhna, Haggerston 3.5m, Hoxton 3.2m, Shoreditch High Street, 9 m.
Ach ged nach eil Broad Street ann tuilleadh, tha cuimhneachadh gu math inntinneach air fhàgail.
Air an drochaid a b’ àbhaist a bhith a’ dol a-staigh dhan stèisean, tha dà thrèana tiùb ann (London Underground 1983 stock) a tha a-nis nan stiùdiothan mar phàirt den ionad Village Underground.
Agus ma tha thu airson coimhead air Broad Street air film, rinn Paul McCartney film (film caran lapach, feumar a ràdh) far an robh an stèisean ann – Give my Regards to Broad Street (1984).
Tron Ghlasadh-sìos, tha mi air a bhith a’ dèanamh fiughair ri faighinn a-mach às an taigh, agus a-mach à Glaschu agus a dhol air safari-rèile no dhà a-rithist!
Thòisich mi am bloga seo bho choinn 10 bliadhna (wow!) agus aig an toiseach, bha mi airson a dhol air gach rathad-iarainn ann an Alba agus sgrìobhadh mu dheidhinn sin. Tha mi air sin a dhèanamh a-nis agus tha mi air a h-uile rathad-iarainn ann an Èirinn a Tuath a dhèanamh cuideachd.
Bhiodh e math a dhol air gach rathad-iarainn ann an Sasainn a bharrachd ach tha an uiread dhiubh ann is nach eil mi a’ smaoineachadh gum bi tìde no airgead gu leòr agam fiù ’s ma bhios mi beò gus am bi mi 100!
Mar sin, tha mi a-nis a’ feuchainn ri dhol air gach rathad-iarainn sa Chuimrigh agus gach meatro ann am Breatainn is Èirinn (siostaman trama agus fo-thalamh). Cumaidh mi orm a dhol gu rathaidean-iarainn inntinneach ann an Sasainn cuideachd, ge-tà!
Co-dhiù, chuir mi romhan gun robh mi airson a dhol a Lunnain airson a dhol air barrachd loidhnichean meatro agus gus taigh-tasgaidh sònraichte fhaicinn,.
‘S ann air an adhbhar seo a rinn mi air stèisean a’ Mheadhain aig 10f airson a dhol air a’ Chaledonian Sleeper. Tha mi air a bhith air a’ chadalaiche iomadh turas roimhe, ach seo a’ chiad turas a bha mi ann air na trèanaichean ùra.
Bha na seann trèanaichean 40 bliadhna a dh’aois no mar sin, agus cha robh na goireasan cho math ’s a bhiodh daoine an dùil ris san latha an-diugh. Fhuair mi cathair an àite leabaidh a chionn ‘s gu bheil sinn nas saoire. Chosg e £68 – tòrr nas daoire na bha e nuair a bha an cadalaiche le ScotRail – ach tòrr nas saoire na tiocaid trèana agus taigh-òsta ann an Lunnainn.
Cò ris a tha an trèana ùr coltach?
Tha i gu math spaideil! Tha na seataichean tòrr nas fheàrr, le rùm gu leòr airson do chasan. Tha socaidean ann gus coimpiutairean agus fònaichean a phlugadh a-steach agus tha solas leughaidh ann. Agus eu-coltach ris na seann trèanaichean, tha wifi ann. Gu mì-fhortanach, ge-tà, cha do dh’obraich an wifi ro mhath – bha mi a’ feuchainn ri post-d a sgrìobhadh agus gus am Faclair Beag a chleachdadh ach bha e cho slaodach is gun do sgur mi a bhith ag obair.
Tha an clàr-bìdh math agus chan eil na prìsean ro àrd. Air na trèanaichean ùra, putaidh tu putan os cionn na cathrach agad gus innse dhan luchd-obrach gu bheil thu airson biadh no deoch òrdachadh.
Rud eile a bha math, ‘s e gun robh an trèana gu math luath! Ràinig sinn Lunnainn leth-uair a thìde air thoiseach air a’ chlàr-ama. ‘S e duilgheadas a th’ aig a’ chadalaiche gum bi tòrr thrèanaichean bathair a’ ruith tron oidhche is gum bi obair-chàraidh a’ tachairt an uair sin cuideachd. Bidh an trèana gu math tric uair a thìde air dheireadh, rud nach eil idir math airson daoine a tha a’ dol gu Lunainn no Alba airson coinneamhan sa mhadainn.
An uair sin, chaidh mi dhan taigh-òsta gus mo bhaga a chur a-steach agus thòisich mi air latha fada de spòrs air cuibhlean meatailt!
An tòiseach, chaidh mi gu Ceàrnag Trafalgar. Tha mi air tòiseachadh air “peantadh le àireamhan” a dhèanamh. Nuair a tha mi a’ faireachdainn caran stressta, chan eil rud sam bith cho math ri bith ag obair air dealbh snog. B’ e dealbh de Whitehall a’ coimhead bho Trafalgar Square a bh’ anns a’ chiad dealbh agam. Chaidh mi ann gus dealbh-camara a thogail den t-sealladh an da-rìribh.
Bha mi ann ro 7m agus bha a’ Chearnag samhach falamh agus bha e uamhasach math a bhith ann leum fhèin leis na leòmhannan mòra! Cha robh na rathaidean cho samhach, ge-tà agus thug e grèis dealbh fhaighinn den t-sealladh a bha mi ag iarraidh. Bha agam ri a thogail ann an “eilean trafaig” agus fiù’s leis a sin, cha b’ urrainn dhomh buileach an aon sealladh fhaighinn – saoilidh mi gun robh an dealbh tùsail a’ coimhead bho mheadhan an rathaid agus cha robh mi airson a bhith air mo leigeal le bus airson dealbh a thogail!
Ghaibh mi bracaist ann an cafè le sealladh den Cheàrnag agus an uair sin chaidh mi air an tiùb gu Lambeth a Tuath oir tha depot aig Loidhne a’ Bhakerloo an sin agus bha mi airson dealbhan a thogail.
Nis, bha mi den bheachd gum biodh e furasta dealbh fhaighinn oir chunnaic mi gu leòr dealbhan air loidhne. Thug mi sùil air Google Streetview mus deach mi ann agus bha a h-uile rud a’ coimhead OK. Nuair a chaidh mi ann, ge-tà, bha am balla tòrr na bu mhotha na bha e a’ coimhead air a’ choimpiutair. Feumaidh gun robh àradh no bogsa aig na daoine a thog na dealbhan!
Bhithinn air feuchainn ri a shreap ach bha seo ann an Àrd-shràid Lambeth agus bha tòrr dhaoine ann fiù ‘s aig 8 sa mhadainn! Chuir mi an camara os mo chionn is thog mi dealbh no dhà – agus bha iad math gu leòr – ach a-mhàin nach robh na trèanaichean ann! Feumaidh gun robh iad uile trang anns na tunailean!
K
Bha sin OK, ge-tà oir cha deach mi ann airson sin co-dhiù – bha mi ann airson a dhol dhan Acton Depot. Seo an tasglann aig Taigh-tasgaidh Còmhdhail Lunnainn far am bi iad a’ cumail nan rudan nach eil iad a’ sealltainn san taigh-tasgaidh fhèin ann an Covent Garden.
Am measg nan rudan a th’ ann, tha trèanaichean, tramaichean, tràlaidhean is busaichean cho math ri ealain, soidhnichean, uidheamachd is barrachd. Tha e duinte dhan phobal mar as trice ach fosglaidh e dhà no trì tursan gach bliadhna.
Agus tha àiteachan mar seo a’ fàs nas cudromaiche oir tha tòrr de na taighean-tasgaidh air fàs caran “dumbed down” nam beachd – Taigh-tasgaidh Taobh na h-Aibhne ann an Glaschu agus Taigh-tasgaidh Còmhdhail Lunnainn nam measg – le barrachd cuideam air eachdraidh-shòisealta seach air còmhdhail fhèin agus le nas lugha de bhusaichean is tramaichean 7c rim faicinn na bha roimhe.
Mar sin, ma tha thu airson coimhead air tramaichean an àite a bhith ag ionnsachadh mar a bhiodh daoine ann an Glaschu a’ dannsadh aig deireadh na seachdain, seo an seòrsa àite dhut!
Tha meanbh rathad-iarainn aig an Depot air a bheil an London Transport Miniature Railway. Mar a bhiodh tu an dùil, tha na trèanaichean uile dealanach agus tha an loidhne gu math fada agus tha siognalan dealanach ann gus an urrainn barrachd air aon trèana a ruith aig an aon àm.
An uair sin, chaidh mi a-steach dhan Depot fhèin.
Chaidh mi ann gu sònraichte gus trèana ghlèidhte bhon Waterloo & City Line fhaicinn agus b’ e sin a’ chiad rud a chunnaic mi nuair a chaidh mi tron doras. Chunnaic mi a’ chiad bus-tràilidh ann an Lunnainn – an Diddler, bus-tràilidh nas ùire agus grunn thramaichean.
Bhruidhinn tè de na curators rium – “oh, it’s you again! I’m glad you’ve come along to see us once more!”. Cha robh mi ann riamh roimhe is mar sin, feumaidh gu bheil doppleganger agam!
A bharrachd air na tràmaichean is tràilidhean, bha gu leòr trèanaichean tiùb ann cuideachd. Tha mi gu math deidheil air Eilean Wight agus bha dà sheòrsa trèana aca a bha uair a’ ruith seirbheisean rèile san eilean: 1923 stock (no Standard stock) agus 1938 stock.
Tha na trèanaichean agus an taigh-tasgaidh seo air a bhith air mo liosta-bhucaid cho fada is gun robh mi air mo dhòigh glan.
Às dèidh sùil air a h-uile rud, bha an t-àm ann airson srùbag…. agus beagan thrèanaichean.
Bha mi an dùil a dhol air gach pàirt den lìonra aig London Underground nach do rinn mi roimhe aig an deireadh sheachdain, ach gu mi-fhòrtanach, bha tòrr loidhnichean dùinte agus mar sin, rinn mi air càr-càbaill Lunnainn.
Agus an uair sin, rinn mi air meadhan a’ bhaile air an DLR gus coimhead air na tha air fhàgail de Stèisean Broad street.
“Video clips primarily for language learners, but also anyone else interested in the Hebrides. For more information please pay a visit to the “Fiosrachadh – Information” page …. Perhaps you have some suggestions – or would like to take part? You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
In the great majority of cases we have not burned subtitles into our videos, but “wordlinked” transcripts are generally available via the Clilstore links through our WordPress site …. In such cases, an automatically generated English version (via Google Translate) is available through Clilstore. The quality of the translation is, of course, subject to Google’s capacity to process the original text.
It’s early days yet for Automatic Speech Recognition in Gaelic, but we’re pleased to be contributing to that development. This has stimulated experimentation with the optional Closed Caption facility. Where activated, auto-translation into other languages is also available.”
Retired policeman Alec MacAulay recounted this story in 2014 of his raider father’s bold exploits on coming back home to Uist from the First World War. Returning soldiers across the islands were in no mood for undue deference to the landowning classes, and were taking crofting matters into their own hands, with strong popular support.
“Làmhachas làidir” was the call of the hour. It was a fascinating account, related on the day to Archie Campbell, and recorded as part of the Comunn Eachdraidh Uibhist a’ Tuath project “An fheadhainn tha làighe sàmhach”.
Skilfully told here, it’s a compelling story well worth repeating, and recent techie developments have enabled Island Voices to enhance the access both for learners of Gaelic, and for those who don’t know the language at all. Now you can click on Closed Captions to get written Gaelic subtitles, which can then be machine-translated simultaneously into English and scores of other languages through “auto-translate” on the Settings button. If you missed it first time round, here’s your chance now!
Leading the technical team that’s facilitating this progress for Gaelic is Will Lamb, ex-Colaisde Bheinn na Faoghla, now at the University of Edinburgh. There’s a new report by Lucy Evans on the GARG (Gaelic Algorithmic Research Group) blog, detailing latest developments.
This month our look at the Gaelic influence on Seaboard English will focus on some particularly Gaelic grammar structures that got carried over in translation, leading to non-standard English expressions that gave and still give our local English its particular flavour.
The first one, and probably for most people the most noticeable one, is the use of the -ing form of verbs that are usually just the simple form in English; for example, instead of “I need”, it was often “I’m needing” that you’d hear. “It’s a good skelp she’s needing”, as we saw before.
English does use the -ing form a lot itself – it kept the form from the Celtic languages that were spoken in Britain before the Germanic, Viking and Norman influxes led to the development of modern English. But in English the -ing form is usually used to emphasise that something is happening now, and the simple form for regular activities or facts. “The sun is setting right now – come and see it! “versus “The sun sets much earlier in the winter.” Certain always-factual verbs are virtually never used in the -ing form in standard English, e.g. hear, see, think (for opinions), believe, want, need. Gaelic is not nearly as strictly divided and uses the -ing form much more, and this made its way into Seaboard (and indeed Highland) English. Here are some examples I’ve collected from my own experience and from my various contributors.
You’ll be needing a good dinner after that!
I’m thinking it’ll rain tomorrow. I’m no thinking she’ll be coming more the night.
I’m no hearing you! Are you no seeing it?
It’s Jessie you’re meaning, is it?
What is it you’re wanting? You’ll no be wanting that any more.
You won’t be breaking that window with your ball, now, will you?
Don’t be waking up the bairn, now! Don’t you be telling lies!
Another thing I’ve often noticed is the use of “till” where standard English would have a sentence with “so that”: instead of “so that I can see you”, you often hear “till I see you” This is because in Gaelic the little word gus is used for both so that and till/until. English uses “till” for time only, not for purpose.
Come here till I tell you / till I straighten that tie / till get a better look at you!
Take it to the window till you see better.
The word “since” also gets used in the Gaelic way. In English, it’s normal to use “since” with a fixed point in time: “We’ve been doing that since Monday, since 1950, since the bridge was built.” If we want to say how long we’ve been doing it, i.e. a period of time, we use “for”: for ages, for 10 years, for a week etc. The Gaelic word for “since”, o chionn, can be used for both of these, leading to “since” being used for both in Seaboard English.
I’ve been here since 6 o’ clock / since hours!
They’ve been saying they’ll mend that road since years!
I’ve known him since ages / since we were at school.
And one more of these for today. You’ve probably heard and quite possibly said “No nor me!” when you say that you also wouldn’t do something, e.g.
I can’t stand that so-and-so! No nor me!
I won’t be going back there! No nor me!
Standard English would be “Neither can I / Neither will I”. That handy wee expression “No nor me!” is a direct translation of the Gaelic “Chan eil no mise”.
Do keep an ear open for more examples of any of these, and also anything else that catches your attention, and let me know. I hope you’re all listening out for all the Seaboard specialities we’ve already looked at! And even better, actively using them. Let’s keep our local linguistic colour!
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