大象传媒

Tha 矛omhaigh de Dh貌mhnall Mac an De貌ir, a鈥� chiad Phr矛omh Mhinistear aig Alba, aig ceann shuas Sr脿id Bhochanain ann an Glaschu. Ach c貌rr is d脿 cheud bliadhna air ais, cha mh貌r nach deach carragh-cuimhne a chur an sin do chuideigin eile. C貌?

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥橲 e am fuasgladh Se貌ras Boch-anan, an sgoilear, b脿rd is eachdraiche. Fhuair mi fios air sin bhon leabhar aig T貌mas Garnett Observations on a Tour Through the Highlands 鈥� Chaidh an leabhar fhoillseachadh anns a鈥� bhliadhna ochd ceud deug (1800).

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Chunnaic Garnett an carragh-cuimhne do Bhochanan ann an Cill Earrainn ann an Siorrachd Shruighlea. Thuirt e gun robh daoine ag iarraidh an toiseach a chur suas ann an Sr脿id Bhochanain. Ach cha d鈥� fhuair Sr脿id Bhochanain a h-ainm bho She貌ras. Fhuair i e bho fhear eile, Anndra Bochanan. Rinn esan fortan thall thairis ann an gn矛omhachas an tombaca.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Nuair a bha T貌mas Garnett ann an sg矛re Loch Laomainn, fhuair e fios gun robh tr矛 m矛orbhailean anns an loch. B鈥� iad sin: 猫isg gun itean, tuinn gun ghaoth agus eilean air flod.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Mh矛nich Garnett na tr矛 m矛orbhailean mar seo. Tha nathraichean pailt ann. Bidh iad a鈥� sn脿mh bho eilean gu eilean. B鈥� iad sin na 鈥渉-猫isg鈥� gun itean.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Agus na tuinn? Uill, 鈥檚 e sin an rud a bha mi a鈥� bruidhinn mu dheidhinn o chionn grunn Litrichean 鈥� seiches. Sin mar a bhios crith-thalmhainn ag adhbhar-achadh gluasad uisge ann an loch, gu h-脿raidh loch fada caol. Agus bidh uisge ann an loch mar sin a鈥� gluasad airson 霉ine an d猫idh stoirm, eadhon nuair a tha an aimsir ci霉in.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Nuair a bha Garnett aig Loch Laomainn, cha robh eilean air flod ann. Ach chuala e gun robh p矛osan a鈥� briseadh far nan eilean eile, agus a鈥� dol air flod.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Agus bha se貌rsa eile ann de 鈥渆ilean air flod鈥�. B鈥� e sin r脿th a thog daoine. Bha iad a鈥� ceangal ri ch猫ile stocan craoibhe. Bha iad a鈥� cur 霉ir orra. Ghluais iad crodh is daoine orra.

There is a statue of Donald Dewar, Scotland鈥檚 first First Minister, at the top end of Buchanan Street in Glasgow. But more than two hundred years ago, a memorial was nearly erected there to somebody else. Who?

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The solution is George Buchanan, the scholar, poet and historian. I found out about that from the book by Thomas Garnett Observations on a Tour Through the Highlands 鈥�The book was published in the year 1800.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Garnett saw the memorial to Buchanan in Killearn in Stirlingshire. He said that people were wanting initially to put it up in Buchanan Street. But Buchanan Street didn鈥檛 get its [her] name from George. It [she] got it from another man, Andrew Buchanan. He made a fortune overseas in the tobacco industry.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When Thomas Garnett was in the vicinity of Loch Lomond, he received information that there were three marvels in the loch. They were: fish without fins, waves without wind and a floating island.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Garnett explained the three marvels in this way. Snakes are plentiful there. They swim from island to island. These were the 鈥渇ish鈥� without fins.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And the waves? Well, that鈥檚 the thing I was talking about a few Litrichean ago 鈥� seiches. That鈥檚 how an earthquake causes a movement of water in a loch, particularly a long narrow loch. And water in a loch of that type moves for a while after a storm, even when the weather is calm.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When Garnett was at Loch Lomond, there wasn鈥檛 a floating island there. But he heard that pieces were breaking from the other islands, and floating away.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And there was another type of 鈥渇loating island鈥�. That was a raft that people built. They were tying tree trunks together. They were putting soil on them. They moved cattle and people on them.