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An t-seachdain sa chaidh bha mi a’ bruidhinn mun fhacal samh. ’S e sin a’ Ghàidhlig a tha air the common sorrel no sourock, Rumex acetosa. Bha mi ag ràdh gur dòcha gun tàinig an t-ainm bho Phòlainnis gu Iuidis gu Beurla gu Gàidhlig.

Bha daoine ag ithe samh mar ghlasraich. Ach ciamar eile a bha iad ga chleachdadh? Uill, uaireannan, bha iad a’ cur pìosan beaga dhen duilleig ann an sailead. Bha iad a’ dèanamh sabhs leis. Bha daoine dhen bheachd gun robh e ag obair an aghaidh an tachais-thioraim, no scurvy. Tha beothaman C sna duilleagan, ceart gu leòr.

Nuair a bha daoine a’ buain buntàta, agus am pathadh orra, bha iad a’ ²õù²µadh duilleag dhen t-samh. Bidh an samh a’ fàs gu tric am measg buntàta. Bha na Ròmanaich a’ ²õù²µadh nan duilleagan cuideachd. Tha an t-ainm rumex a’ tighinn bhon Laidinn rumo. Tha sin a’ ciallachadh ²õù²µ.

            Chaidh an Sgitheanach, Màrtainn MacIlleMhàrtainn, gu Hiort. Bha sin aig deireadh an t-seachdamh linn deug. Sgrìobh e mu dheidhinn anns an leabhar aige A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. Anns a’ chunntas, tha e ag innse mu dhuine ann an Hiort. Bha am fear seo a’ fulang leis an luibhre no leprosy. Bha e air fàs uabhasach reamhar. Cha mhòr nach robh a sgòrnan air dùnadh. Thug MacIlleMhàrtainn comhairle dha mu bhiadh agus eacarsaich. Dh’iarr e air salann a ghabhail le feòil. Dh’iarr e air gun a bhith a’ gabhail cus geire. Agus dh’iarr e air a bhith ag ithe samh.

            Cha robh an Hiortach ro dheònach samh ithe. Ach thuirt MacIlle-Mhàrtainn ris – seall air mar a bhios am fulmair ga ithe. Smaoinich an duine air sin. Bha e measail air an fhulmair. Agus ghabh e comhairle an Sgitheanaich. Dh’ith e samh. Taobh a-staigh beagan làithean bha a ghuth mòran na bu làidire. Bha e a’ dol am feabhas.

Last week I was talking about the word samh. That’s the Gaelic for the common sorrel or sourock, Rumex acetosa. I was saying that perhaps the name came from Polish to Yiddish to English to Gaelic.

        People were eating sorrel as vegetables. But how else were they using it? Well, sometimes, they were putting small pieces of the leaf in a salad. They were making a sauce with it. People were of the opinion that it was working against scurvy. There is vitamin C in the leaves, certainly.

        When people were harvesting potatoes and they were thirsty, they were sucking the leaf of the sorrel. Sorrel often grows among potatoes. The Romans were also sucking the leaves. The name rumex comes from the Latin rumo. That means [I] suck.

        The Skyeman, Martin Martin, went to St Kilda. That was at the end of the 17th Century. He wrote about it in his book A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. In the account he tells of a man in St Kilda. This man was suffering from leprosy. He had grown corpulent. His throat had almost closed. Martin advised him about food and exercise. He asked him to take salt with meat. He asked him not to eat too much fat. And he asked him to eat sorrel.

        The St Kildan wasn’t too willing to eat sorrel. But Martin said to him – look how the fulmar eats it. The man contemplated that. He liked the fulmar. And he took the Skyeman’s advice. He ate the sorrel. Within a few days his voice was much stronger. He was getting better.