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Tha seann abairt ann – Chan ann am Bòid uile a tha an t-olc; tha cuid dheth sa Chumaradh Bheag làimh ris. Not all evil is in Bute; some is in Little Cumbrae nearby. Obh obh. Tha fhios nach eil sin fìor an-diugh, ma bha riamh. 

            Tha na h-eileanan sin ann an Linne Chluaidh – Bòd, no Eilean Bhòid, làimh ri Comhghall, agus Cumaradh, no Eilean Chumaraidh, faisg air an Leargaidh Ghallta.

            Tha dà eilean ann, làimh ri chèile, air a bheil Cumaradh mar ainm – an Cumaradh Mòr agus an Cumaradh Beag. Cha robh mi riamh anns a’ Chumaradh Bheag. Ach bha mi turas anns a’ Chumaradh Mhòr. O chionn beagan bhliadhnaichean, thug mi mo mhàthair ann. Bha i còrr is ochdad bliadhna a dh’aois.

            Nuair a bha i òg, bha i a’ dol ann air làithean-saora. Bha i a’ gabhail trèana à Glaschu gu ruige an Leargaidh Ghallta. Bha i a’ gabhail bàt’-aiseig an uair sin gu ruige Port a’ Mhuilinn.

            Cha robh i air a bhith anns an eilean fad ùine mhòr. Chòrd e rithe tilleadh ann. Agus chòrd e riumsa cuideachd. Tha Port a’ Mhuilinn glè shnog. Ach cha robh mo mhàthair a’ fuireach ann am Port a’ Mhuilinn. Bha i a’ fuireach ann am baile-fearainn air an robh Creag nan Gobhar.

            Chaidh sinn gu Creag nan Gobhar. Tha am baile pìos a-mach à Port a’ Mhuilinn. Tha e suas leathad. Bha sinne ann an carbad. Ach nuair a bha mo mhàthair òg, bha i a’ coiseachd ann. Bha i a’ giùlain màileid mhòr agus poca le biadh.

            Tha an t-ainm Cumaradh inntinneach. Tha e coltach ris an ainm Ghàidhlig airson ‘Wales’ – a’ Chuimrigh. Coltach cuideachd ri Cumbria. Anns a h-uile àite le ainm mar sin, bha luchd-labhairt na Cuimris, no Seann Bhreatannais, a’ fuireach ann.

            ’S e Kumreyjar an t-ainm bha aig na Lochlannaich airson na Cumaraidhean ann an Linne Chluaidh. Thàinig na Lochlannaich aig deireadh an ochdamh linn. Mhothaich iad gun robh muinntir Chumaraidh fhathast a’ bruidhinn Seann Bhreatannais. Bha Gàidhlig aig muinntir Bhòid is Arainn.

There is an old saying – Chan ann am Bòid uile a tha an t-olc; tha cuid dheth sa Chumaradh Bheag làimh ris. Not all evil is in Bute; some is in Little Cumbrae nearby. Oh dear. I’m sure that’s not true today, if it ever was.

        Those islands are all in the Firth of Clyde – Bute, near Cowal, and Cumbrae, near Largs.

        There are two islands, adjacent to each other, called Cumbrae – Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae.

        I’ve never been on Little Cumbrae. But I was once on Great Cumbrae. A few years ago, I took my mother there. She was over eighty years of age.

        When she was young, she was going there on holidays. She was taking a train from Glasgow to Largs. She was taking a ferry boat then to Millport.

        She hadn’t been on the island for a long time. She enjoyed returning there. And I also enjoyed it. Millport is very pleasant. But my mother wasn’t staying in Millport. She was staying on a farm called Craigengour.

        We went to Craigengour. The farm is a bit out of Millport. It’s up a brae. We were in a vehicle. But when my mother was young, she was walking there. She was carrying a large suitcase and a bag of food.

        The name Cumaradh is interesting. It’s like the Gaelic name for ‘Wales’ – a’ Chuimrigh. Also like Cumbria. In every place with a name like that, speakers of Welsh, or Old British, were living there.

        The Vikings called the Cumbraes in the Firth of Clyde  Kumreyjar. The Vikings came at the end of the eighth century. They noticed that the people of Cumbrae were still speaking Old British. The people of Bute and Arran spoke Gaelic.