大象传媒

Bidh daoine a鈥� faighneachd, 鈥淎n e facal G脿idhlig a tha ann an Hogmanay?鈥� Uill, chan e. Th脿inig Hogmanay don Bheurla is Albais bhon Fhraingis. 鈥橲 e a鈥� Gh脿idhlig air Hogmanay A鈥� Challainn no Oidhche Challainn. Tha Callainn a鈥� tighinn bhon Laidinn calendae. Tha sin a鈥� ciallachadh a鈥� chiad latha dhen mh矛os.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Gu traidiseanta air Oidhche Challainn, bha na balaich a鈥� ruith timcheall. Bha iad a鈥� cluich iomain. Bha iad a鈥� d猫anamh mhucan sneachda. Bha fear a鈥� cur seiche mairt timcheall a chinn. Bha na balaich eile a鈥� bualadh na seiche. Bha sin a鈥� d猫anamh fuaim coltach ri druma. Bha an c貌mhlan a鈥� dol timcheall gach taigh tr矛 tursan deiseil. Nuair a bha iad aig doras, bha iad ag 猫igheachd:

A Challainn a鈥� bhuilg bhuidhe bhoicinn,

Buail an craiceann air an tobhta,

Cailleach sa chill, cailleach sa ch霉il,

Cailleach eile 鈥檔 c霉il an teine,

Bior na d脿 sh霉il, bior na goile,

A鈥� Challainn seo, leig a-staigh mi!

听

An do ghreimich sibh air sin? Seo e a-rithist:

听

A Challainn a鈥� bhuilg bhuidhe bhoicinn,

Buail an craiceann air an tobhta

Cailleach sa chill, cailleach sa ch霉il,

Cailleach eile 鈥檔 c霉il an teine,

Bior na d脿 sh霉il, bior na goile

A鈥� Challainn seo, leig a-staigh mi!

听

Mus d鈥� fhuair na balaich a-steach bha iad ag aithris rann. Tha sin fada nas sine na trick-or-treat nan Ameireaganach! Nuair a fhuair na balaich a-staigh, fhuair iad caisean Callainn. Tha caisean a鈥� ciallachadh rud sam bith a tha cas no dualach 鈥� curled ann am Beurla. Agus 鈥檚 e caisean uchd no caisean Callainn an fhe貌il a tha fon chn脿imh bhroillich aig caora. Bha daoine a鈥� marbhadh caora airson na Nollaig.

Bha fear an taighe a鈥� suaineadh a鈥� chaisein Challainn timcheall camain. Bha e air a d脿thadh anns an teine. Bha e air a chur tr矛 tursan deiseil timcheall a鈥� ch貌mhlain. Bha gach duine a鈥� cur a鈥� chaisein ri a shr貌in. Bha iad a鈥� creidsinn gun robh sin gan d矛on an aghaidh dhroch gheasan.

People ask me, 鈥淚s Hogmanay a Gaelic word?鈥� Well, no. Hogmanay came into English and Scots from French. The Gaelic for Hogmanay is A鈥� Challainn or Oidhche Challainn. Callainn comes from the Latin calendae. That means the first day of the month.

听听听听听听听 Traditionally on Hogmanay, the lads were running around. They were playing shinty. They were making enormous snowballs [鈥渟now-pigs鈥漖. One guy was putting a cow hide around his head. The other lads were hitting the hide. That was making a noise like a drum. The group was going around each house three times sunwise [with the right shoulder to the house]. When they were at a door, they were shouting:

Callainn of the yellow bag of hide,

Strike the skin upon the wall,

An old wife in the graveyard, an old wife in the corner

Another old wife in the fire nook,

A pointed stick in her two eyes, a pointed stick in her stomach,

This Callainn, let me in!

听Did you latch on to that? Here it is again:

Callainn of the yellow bag of hide,

Strike the skin upon the wall,

An old wife in the graveyard, an old wife in the corner

Another old wife in the fire nook,

A pointed stick in her two eyes, a pointed stick in her stomach,

This Callainn, let me in!

听听听听听听听 Before the lads got in they were saying a rhyme. That鈥檚 much older than the Americans鈥� trick-or-treat! When the lads got in, they got caisean Callainn. Caisean means anything that is cas or dualach 鈥� 鈥渃urled鈥� in English. And caisean uchd or caisean Callainn is the meat that [hangs] under the breastbone of a sheep. People were killing a sheep for Christmas.

听听听听听听听 The man of the house was wrapping the caisean Callainn around a shinty stick. It was singed in the fire. It was put three times sunwise around the group. Each person was putting the caisean to his nose. They were believing that that was protecting them against evil charms.