The
NAUGHTY
Little Book of
GAELIC
Other Celtic/Gaelic Titles from CBU Press
Bearing the People Away: The Portable Highland Clearances Companion . June Skinner Sawyers, 2013.
Fgradh, Fisneachd, Filidheachd / Parting, Prophecy, Poetry . Rev. Duncan Blair in Mac-Talla . Edited and translated by John A. MacPherson and Michael Linkletter, 2013.
Celts in the Americas . Edited by Michael Newton, 2013.
Fonn, the Campbells of Greepe: Music and a Sense of Place in a Gaelic Family Song Tradition . Campbell Family, 2013.
Beartan Briste Agus din Ghidhlig eile / Burstbroken Judgementshroudloomdeeds and Other Gaelic Poems . Rody Gorman, 2011.
Rannsachadh na Gaidhlig 5: Fifth Scottish Gaelic Research Conference . Ken Nilsen, 2010.
Dance to the Piper: The Highland Bagpipe in Nova Scotia . Barry Shears, 2008.
Famhair: agus din Ghidhlig eile / Giant: and Other Gaelic Poems. Lodaidh MacFhionghain and Lewis MacKinnon, 2008.
The Cape Breton Fiddle: Making and Maintaining Tradition . Glenn Graham, 2006.
A Better Life: A Portrait of Highland Women in Nova Scotia . Teresa MacIsaac, 2006.
As a Bhraighe / Beyond the Braes: The Gaelic Songs of Allan the Ridge MacDonald (1794-1868) . Effie Rankin, 2004.
Praise for Celts in the Americas , edited by Michael Newton
A wealth of detail about the past and current presence of each language in the Americas. [A] must-read book for those interested in the Celtic languages, and a must-have one for library collections.
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
The most important contribution of this book may well be the awareness it imparts to readers of a whole ancient and complex world whose members are scatteredmore or less disguisedamong us.
A fascinating collection.... Let us hope Celts in the Americas may have many successors.
Charlottetown Guardian
The
NAUG HTY
Little Book of
GAEL IC
All the Scottish Gaelic You Need to Curse, Swear, Drink, Smoke and Fool Around
MICHAEL NEWTON
Illustrated by Arden Powell
CAPE BRETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA
Copyright 2014 by Michael Newton.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Responsibility for the research and the permissions obtained for this publication rests with the authors. Cape Breton University Press recognizes fair dealing uses under the Copyright Act (Canada).
CBUP recognizes the support of the Province of Nova Scotia, through Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia, and the support received for its publishing program from the Canada Council for the Arts Block Grants Program. We are pleased to work in partnership with these bodies to develop and promote our cultural resources.
Cover design: Cathy MacLean Design, Chticamp, NS.
Layout: Laura Bast, Sydney, NS.
Illustrations: Arden Powell.
eBook development: WildElement.ca
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Newton, Michael Steven, 1965-, author
The naughty little book of Gaelic : all the Scottish Gaelic you need to curse, swear, drink, smoke and fool around / by Michael Newton ; illustrated by Arden Powell.
Includes bibliographical references.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
Includes text in English and Scottish Gaelic.
ISBN 978-1-927492-73-4 (pbk.).--ISBN 978-1-927492-74-1 (pdf).--ISBN 978-1-927492-75-8 (epub).--ISBN 978-1-927492-76-5 (mobi)
1. Scottish Gaelic language--Vocabulary. 2. Scottish Gaelic language--Obscene words. 3. Scottish Gaelic language--Slang. 4. Scotland--Social life and customs--Humor. I. Title.
PB1599.N49 2014 491.638242 C2014-900526-1
C2014-900527-X
Cape Breton University Press, PO Box 5300, 1250 Grand Lake Road, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2. www.cbupress.ca
Contents
Editors Note
T he content herein is uncensored and does not reflect the ideas or opinions of the author, illustrator, editors or publisher. It includes graphic and/or suggestive language not suitable for all readers. Contemporary readers may be offended by some expressions of gender and sexuality.
Ro-rdh / Foreword
S cottish Highlanders, and their descendants all over the world, are no better and no worse than any other people where sinful behaviour is concerned. Standards of morality and social conventions changed dramatically during the 19th century, and most of the people engaged in recording and commenting upon Highland life and tradition during this period were puritanical ministers and priests who left out the distasteful or racy bits that would not meet with the approval of respectable British society. That left us all the poorer for understanding these aspects of Scottish Gaelic culture in the past, and this practice of self-censorship has tended to remain in place to the present.
There are many good and useful books for those learning Scottish Gaelic which provide a wide range of vocabulary to express many aspects of daily life except, for the most part, the topics covered in this book. Ironically, these are precisely the subjects needed for a great many daily conversations and for expressing the full range of human activity. If they arent available in Gaelic, people will simply use English.
I have taken these materials from a range of sources and communities, from Gaelic books printed in 18th-century Scotland and from Gaelic speakers in 21st-century Scotland and Nova Scotia. Some of these materials are now archaic and are no longer in general circulation, and some are specific to certain religious traditions (that is, particular to Catholic or Protestant communities). So, while this collection does not represent any one Gaelic community at any one time, and does not claim to be complete or exhaustive, it does shed light on the linguistic resources within the Gaelic language for discussing a wide range of topics. I present them in the hopes that they will illuminate the past, present and future of Scottish Gaelic life in its entirety and inspire readers to continue enriching the language.
I would like to acknowledge a number of people who offered their help, knowledge and insight in many different ways: Virginia Blankenhorn, Goiridh Dmhnallach, Iain MacAonghuis (John MacInnes), Ailean MacDhmhnaill (Allan MacDonald of Glenuig/Edinburgh), Lodaidh MacFhionghain (Lewis MacKinnon), Seonaidh Ailig Mac a Phearsain (John A. Macpherson), Trueman Matheson and Maureen Williams.
Michael Newton, 2014
Cursing
C ursing here refers to wishing ill of a person or thing, often by calling upon the assistance of non-human agents such as God, the Devil and other supernatural beings.
These curses cover a range of ill will or anger: some of them express violent rage, while others can even be used teasingly. Subtleties of degree are hard to capture in translation and out of context use with caution!
