Tale of the Gael

By Simon

Tráthnóna inné chuaigh mise agus Sonja, cailín as an Eilvéis atá sa rang sean-nóis, go chaifé sa sráidbhaile chun greim bia a fháil. I ndiaidh an dinnéir mhúin mé di cuplá foinn ar an bhfeadóg stáin, agus cheol muid amhráin – m’amhráin féin, agus amhráin as Breatnais, as Gaeilge na hAlban agus as Gearmáinis na hEilvéise. Bhain muid an-sult as.

San oíche bhí ceolchoirm ann le Tale of the Gael, banna ceoil le baill ó Éirinn agus an Eilvéis. Cheol siad foinn thraidisiúnta na hÉirinn, agus roinnt foinn agus amhráin eile, agus bhí siad ar dóigh, go háirithe an píobaire agus na chláirseoirí.

Yesterday afternoon I went to a café in the village for a bite to eat with Sonja, a lass from Switzerland who’s in the sean-nós class. After dinner I taught her a few tunes on the tin whistle, and we sang some songs – my own songs and songs in Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Swiss German. We had a great time.

In the evening there was a concert with Tale of the Gael, a group with members from Ireland and Switzerland. They played traditional Irish tunes, and other tunes and songs, and were excellent, especially the piper and the harpists.

Léacht leadránach

By Simon

Aréir bhí léacht ann fá dtaobh de ceangail idir Éire agus an Eoraip sa 15ú agus sa 16ú haois, go háirithe Imeacht na nIarlaí. Thuig mé beagnach gach rud, ach níl mórán eolas agam fa dtaobh de stair na hÉirinn, agus da bhrí sin, ní raibh sé ro-spéisiúil domh.

Yesterday evening there was a lecture about links between Ireland and Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, especially the Flight of the Earls. I understood most of it, but as I know very little about Irish history it wasn’t very interesting for me.

Hip-Nós agus Choctaw

By Simon

Bhí an ceolchoirm thar barr aréir, le meascán de amhránaíocht ar an sean-nós, amhráin Gaeilge nua, scéalaíocht, hip hop, rince sean-nós agus amhránaíocht as Choctaw, teanga Muskogean an Iarthair ó Oklahoma sna Stáit Aontaithe. Bhí sin saghas meascán neamhchoitianta go léor, ach bhí siad go maith le chéile.

The concert last night was excellent, with a mixture of sean-nós singing, new songs in Irish, storytelling, hip hop, sean-nós dancing, and singing in Choctaw, a Western Muskogean language spoken in Oklahoma in the USA. It was a very unusual combination, but they worked well together.

Gleann Cholm Cille

By Simon

This week I’m in Gleann Cholm Cille in Donegal in the north west of Ireland taking part in the summer school in Irish language and culture at Oideas Gael. There are about 100 people here for the summer school and we have Irish language classes in the mornings and can choose from a variety of activities in the afternoons including singing, dancing, hill walking, drama and cooking. I’m doing the sean-nós singing in the afternoons and am really enjoying it.

In the evenings there are concerts, talks and other events. Last night, for example, there was a concert featuring songs and stories in Irish, hip hop in English (with a strong Dublin accent), and songs in Choctaw, as well as sean-nós dancing. It was a very unusual combination, but worked very well.

My Irish has definitely improved since I was here last year. My focus on Irish this month has helped a lot – I’m still writing something every day on my other Multilingual Musings blog while I’m here.

As well as hearing and speaking a lot of Irish, I’ve also had opportunities to speak German, French, Scottish Gaelic, Czech and Portuguese. People come here from all over the world and speak, and have studied / are studying, a variety of languages, so it’s a kind of paradise for polyglots.

Amhráin agus ceol

By Simon

Bhí ceolchoirm iontach ann aréir le Seoirse Ó Dochartaigh agus daoine eile, agus bhí ceol, amhráin, dánta agus scéalta ann. I ndiaidh sin chuaigh mé go dtí an teach tabhairne agus rinne mé comhrá le bean as ó Phoblacht na Seice agus le daoine eile.

Inniu bhí muid ag plé faoi cursaí gramadaí sa rang Gaeilge, agus i ndiaidh lón, d’foghlaim mé dha amhrán nua sa rang sean-nós – An Saighdiúir Tréighte agus Túirne Mháire.

Tá píosa drama ann anocht le Ray Yeates agus a chairde darb ainm “Dara an Choctaw agus Hip Nos”.

There was a good concert last night with Seoirse Ó Dochartaigh and others, and there was music, songs, poems and stories. After that I went to the pub and chatted with a woman from the Czech Republic and various others.

Tonight there’s a bit of drama called “Dara an Choctaw agus Hip Nos” with Ray Yeates and friends.

Parthas ilteangach

By Simon

Silim gur saghas parthas ilteangach é Gleann Cholm Cille – bionn daoine as a lán tíortha ag teacht anseo chun páirt a ghlacadh sa scoil samhraidh, agus go leor teangacha acu. Inné bhuail mé le daoine ón mBrasaíl, ón Eilvéis, ón nGearmáin, ón Fhrainc, ón Ungáir agus ó Shasana, agus bhí deiseanna agam beagan Portaingéilis, Gearmáinis, Fraincais agus Gaeilge na hAlban a labhairt, agus labhair mé a lán Gaeilge chomh maith.

Bhí sé scamallach go leor inniu, agus bhí gaoth ann chomh maith. Da bhrí sin, ní raibh sé chomh te agus a raibh sé inné, ach ní raibh sé fuar ach oiread.

I think the Glencolmcille is a kind of polyglot paradise – people from many countries with many languages come here to take part in the summer school. Yesterday I had opportunities to speak a little Portuguese, German, French and Scottish Gaelic, and I spoke quite a bit of Irish as well.

It was quite cloudy today, and quite windy as well. So it wasn’t as hot as yesterday, but it wasn’t cold either.

Gleann Cholm Cille

By Simon

Tá mé ar ais arís i nGleann Cholm Cille. Tá sé iontach te agus beidh sé mar seo le feadh seachtain eile, b’fhéidir. D’fhág mé Bangor maidin inniu ar a hocht a chlog, agus chuaigh mé go Holyhead ar an traein. Ansin chuaigh mé ar an an mbád go Baile Átha Cliatha, agus ar an mbus go Gleann Cholm Cille. Turas fada go leor atá ann, ach bhuail mé le cairde ar an mbus. Tá mé ag fanacht san áit cheanna agus mé ag fanacht anuraidh agus arú anuraidh.

I am back again in Glencolmcille. It’s very hot and will be like this for another week, maybe. I left Bangor at 8am this morning and took the train to Holyhead. Then I took the boat to Dublin and the bus to Glencolmcille. It was quite a long journey, but I met friends on the bus. I’m staying in the same place that I stayed in last year and the year before.

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
le grand-bi (vélo) penny-farthing (bicycle) beic peni-ffardding; ceffyl haearn
rebondir to bounce rhybedio; trybowndio; sboncio adlammat
le gros titre headline pennawd
la course race (competition) ras redadeg
l’interprète performer (musician) perfformiwr; chwaraewr kaner; c’hoarier
performe(u)r performer (athlete) perfformiwr
originaire/natif (d’un pays) native (of a country) brodor genidik
indigène native (original inhabitant) brodor henvroat
le pays natal native country mamwlad; gwlad enedigol mammvro
la langue natale native language mamiaith; iaith frodorol yezh vamm; yezh e gavell
locateur natif native speaker siaradwr brodorol komzer orin
c’est un français de souche he’s a native Frenchman brodor Ffrainc ydy o
endémique native (plant) brodorol brosezat
la (voiture) décapotable convertible (car) car codi; car to clwt karr to-disto
terrifié terrified dychrynedig; mewn ofn
l’épouvantail (m) scarecrow bwgan brain spontailh
la forêt tropicale humide; la forêt pluviale rain forest fforest law forest lav
le defaut d’élocution speech impediment nam ar leferydd
le jour de congé; la journée libre day off diwrnod rhydd; diwrnod i’r brenin
le briquet (cigarette) lighter taniwr (sigaréts) direnn
le short shorts siorts bragoù berr

Le Grand-Bi

By Simon

Penny-farthing bicycle / Le Grand-Bi

I discovered today the French term for a penny-farthing bicycle (pictured right) is le grand-bi. It is also known as a bicycle, and that was what they were usually called in English when they were popular in the 1880s. The name penny-farthing only came to be used in around 1891.

The penny-farthing, which is also known as a high wheel or high wheeler, was developed by James Starley in England and Eugene Meyer in France in about 1870. They were based on the French boneshaker or vélocipède, a term from Latin meaning “fast feet” and coined by Nicéphore Niépce in 1818. The large front wheel enabled higher speeds as with each turn of the pedals you could go further, however sudden stops would often send a rider flying over the handle bars, so penny-farthings lost out to safety bicycles, which were introduced in the 1890s, and were the ancestors of modern bicycles.

I think the French name is short for le grand bicycle, and the name penny-farthing comes from the fact that front wheel was a lot larger than the back one, like an old penny coin and a farthing (1/4 of a penny).

In Welsh such bicycles are known as beic peni-ffardding or ceffyl haearn (“iron horse”).

Do you have other names from them? Are or were such bikes used in your country? Have you ever ridden one?

I once rode a small, modern version of a penny-farthing at a bike show in Taipei. It was interesting, and I soon learnt that you have get off by stepping down to the rear as trying to dismount like on a normal bicycle doesn’t work and can leave you sprawling on the floor.

One of the guys at the circus on Wednesday night was riding a penny-farthing, which is why it came up in conversation.