Fàilte

[Lucy]

Fàilte! `S mise Lucia. 'S e A' Ghearmailt a tha annamsa.
I hope this was remotely correct. I've always been fascinated by the Gaelic language (and Scotland) and I've bought a Gaelic course book (with a tape - yes, I'm that old) when I was 16 on my first trip to Scotland. To be honest, I never got far.
Hopefully I will be able to continue learning the language as soon as my 3 kids are a bit older and I have more time. But for now I really need your help:

I'm writing a novel (dark fantasy), which is set on Islay. As Islay is known for its whisky, I need to "invent" a distillery and need a proper name for it. I looked up a meaning, which I thought would be nice, but it's terribly difficult to pronounce for non-Gaelic-speakers and maybe even grammatically wrong. So I thought, I'd ask the experts here.
My chosen name is: Cnocairmòine (The last word is also my real surname and a bit of an inside joke, especially because I really love peaty whiskies too. I'm writing the novel under a pseudonym though.) Or is it Cnocaigmòine? I wanted something like "hill next to / at / in the vicinity of the moore".
What do you think? I'd be really thankful for your input and of course I'd mention this forum in my novel. Pretty please!

[akerbeltz]

[in a hurry]
Cnoc na mòine but that would be Hill of the Peat, not Moor. Moor would be Cnoc a' Mhòintich. And you shouldn't really write it as one word, that's a very English thing.

[Lucy]

Thank you very much for your quick reply! Well, I only wrote it in one word, because all the Islay distilleries have a one-word name, it seems. I just wanted it to sound very distillery-ish.
Does hill of the peat make any sense? Isn't peat rather in sinks and not on hills? (I've no idea ... I'm living in Bavaria, we don't have any moors. ) I've looked it up here and the 2nd meaning of mòine seems to be peat-bog and moor http://www.faclair.com/?txtSearch=moor
Maybe I should choose "chapel on the moor/peat-bog" instead? What would that be? Cill ? mòine.

[MarcMacUilleim]

'S e A' Ghearmailt a tha annamsa.

That means "I am Germany".

If you are trying to say that you are German, then you'd say 'S e Gearmailteach a th' annam for a man or 'S e ban-Ghearmailteach a th' annam for a woman.

However, if you are trying to say that you are / come from Germany, then you would say 'S e às a' Ghearmailt a th' annam.

[akerbeltz]

because all the Islay distilleries have a one-word name, it seems

Ya, it's a very English thing

Does hill of the peat make any sense?

It's an extremely common place name actually - just put cnoc na m into Streetmap and you'll see.

Isn't peat rather in sinks and not on hills? (I've no idea ... I'm living in Bavaria, we don't have any moors.

Errr... possibly not in cities but Bavaria is full or Hoch and Niedermoore. Especially in the Alps but anyway, a hill with a moor is common.

Cill na Mòine would be weird. You wouldn't really put a church into a moor.

[MarcMacUilleim]

Cill na Mòine would be weird. You wouldn't really put a church into a moor.

Neònach gu dearbh! Bu toil leam sin fhaicinn, ma tha...

[Lucy]

Thanks for the correction and your thoughts.
@akerbeltz: You're so right. I remember now that there is a moor only an hour's drive from where I live. I'm a blockhead. But let's say that they aren't as "omnipresent" here, as in the north or your beautiful island. The only moor I know by name is the Teufelsmoor in northern Germany, where I always ordered peat for my black soaps.
So, cnoc na moine it is. Sounds good to me. Thank you!
About the chapel on the moor: I've just read an article about an old village in a moor (Scottish islands explorer). But maybe I got something wrong. Well, Islay seems to be one big moor anyway. They've built their roads on top of peat ... So, who knows? Maybe a chapel built on peat isn't that weird, if you're living on Islay?

Thanks a lot for your input!

[GunChleoc]

'S e às a' Ghearmailt a th' annam. => 'S ann às a' Ghearmailt a th' annam.

And don't forget the accent in cnoc na mòine - German keyboards have it, so there is no excuse

[Lucy]

@ GunChleoc: Thank you!
I won't forget the accent. I just wrote my last post from my mobile. It won't happen in my novel, I promise!

[GunChleoc]

Mobiles make correct writing hard sometimes...

[Mairead]

Good luck with your novel!