Nuair a bha mi òg

[JoP]

Nuair a bha mi òg rachadh sinn leis an sgoil do Caisteal Ford far am beachdachadh sinn bith-eòlas ann na cnuic dhen Crìochan. Bha an seo an caisteal far an do chadal Rìgh Seumas IV an oidhche ro bha an rìgh air a mharbhadh aig am batail de Flòdain. Cadaladh sinn ann an seòmar air a bheil an Seòmar Righ Seumas, agus bha sinn a’ smaoineachadh gu bha e an seòmar san a do chadal e fhèin. Rannsachadh sinn a taibhs ach chan robh sinn ga faicinn idir. Bha e àite spreòdaich a fhuirich airson lorg sinn trannsa fhalachaidh bhon seòmar a chuir crìoch air doras glaiste aig an bonn.

When I was young we used to go with the school to Ford Castle where we would study biology in the border hills. This was the castle where King James IV slept the night before he was killed at the battle of Flodden. We used to sleep in a room called the King James room and we thought it was the room he had slept in himself. We used to look for his ghost but we never saw it. It was an exciting place to go because we found a secret passage from the room ending in a locked door at the bottom.

[GunChleoc]

'S e cuairt inntinneach a bh' innte gun teagamh!
It was surely an interesting trip


Seo beagan ceartachaidh dhut:

do Chaisteal Ford - do lenites

'S e an caisteal far an do chadal Rìgh Seumas IV .... a bh' ann - always use 's e .... a th' ann/a bh' ann etc. for nouns.

Bha sinn nar cadal ann an seòmar air...

[faoileag]

ann an seòmar air a bheil an Seòmar Righ Seumas

I would be inclined go for the genitive construction here, as used in compounds with proper names.

..ann an 'Seòmar Righ Sheorais'

cf:

Tha e aig Oilthigh Ghlaschu
Tha Fèis Dhùn Eideann ann an-dràsta

[JoP]

Am feadh bha sinn aig na caisteal chaidh sinn don àite den batail Fhlòdain. ‘S e cinnteach gu bha Seumas a’ creidsinn gu buannaichadh e an batail. Bha an feachd aige nas motha agus armaichte leis an pìc den Eilbheis fad, agus bha e air a bheir a canan trom bho Dùn Èideann. Cuideachd bha feachd eachraidh Albannach aige. Bha a mhàin saighdear air troigh aig an t-arm Sasannach. Ach bha canan aotrom aca agus bha an seo dearbhach. Cuideachd bha an t-uisge bh’ann (bha e samhradh). Dh’ fhàs na cànanan trom an sàs anns an damaisear, agus chan b’ urrainn dhaibh a thoir feum às na pìcan air na bruthaichean sleamhainn den cnoc. Chaill an arm na h-Alba 10,000 daoine leis an flùr den ridireachd aca. Tha an batail air a cuimhnich anns an seann òran “Na flùraichean na coille” ged chan eil na facail co-aimsireach.

Chuala mi a’ sheinn, aig a’ chaora-bleoghann
Tha na nighinne a’ seinn ron fàire
Ach tha iad a’ caoidh air gach cluain uaine
Tha na flùraichean na coille air a’ falbh gu lèir

While we were at the castle we visited the site of the battle of Flodden. James must have thought he would win the battle. He had the bigger force armed with the long Swiss pike and had brought his heavy field cannon down from Edinburgh. In addition he had a mounted force of Scottish chivalry. The earl of Surrey commanding the English forces had only a few light mounted horse and infantlry armed with halberds. He did however have light, rapid firing field artillery and this was to prove decisive. Also the weather was wet (it was summer – what would you expect). The heavy artillery got bogged down and the long pike proved unusable on the slippery mountain slopes. The Scottish army lost a third of its 30,000 force including the flower of its chivalry. The battle is commemorated in the air “The flowers of the forest” although the words are not contemporary.


I've heard the lilting, at the yowe-milking,
Lassies a-lilting before dawn o' day;
But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning;
"The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away".

A bit of a struggle with the Gaelic here if anyone can do a proper tr*nsl*t**n of the Flowers of the Forest it would be nice

[GunChleoc]

Seo beagan ceartachaidh dhut:

aig a' chaisteal

don àite den batail Fhlòdain: I'd use the genitive here. The article goes before the last word, if you are using it, and only the last word is in the genitive, something like this:

do àite Blàr Flòdain

a’ creidsinn gum buannaicheadh

leis a' phìc Eilbheiseach - just use the adjective

Cha robh ach ... aig an arm Sasannach - no t- before the vowel in the dative

bha e samhradh: samhradh is a noun, so you have to use B' e samhradh a bh' ann or something similar

cha b’ urrainn dhaibh feum a thoirt - cha only becomes chan before a vowel

leis an fhlùr

ged nach eil


Tha mi an dòchas gum bi seo feumail dhut is nach d' rinn mi tòrr mearachdan eile