Buill-chluiche m’òige / Toys of my childhood
Leis an t-Ollamh Dòmhnall E Meek
This story was commissioned as part of our Gaelic Development work. Hopefully, you will enjoy it and find it useful for learning – both about language and about toys!
Am Bàta Siolastair
Mar a tha fhios aig h-uile duine, tha meas mòr agamsa air bàtaichean. Thòisich am meas sin gu nàdarra, agus chan eil fhios agam cuin! Ach tha deagh chuimhne agam a bhith a’ seòladh bhàtaichean beaga siolastair anns an dìg fada mun deachaidh mi don sgoil!
Dh’ionnsaich mi sin bho Mhagaidh, piuthar mo sheanmhar. Rachamaid còmhla don tobar, far an robh an siolastair a’ fàs, agus ghearradh Magaidh duilleag den t-siolastair. Lùbadh i gach ceann dhith, agus chuireadh i pàirtean den duilleig tarsainn air a chèile. Ann am mionaid, bhiodh bàta beag siolastair na làimh.
Uaireannan, chumadh i an dàrna ceann slàn – an ceann biorach – agus lùbadh i an duilleag air ais airson seòl a chur air a’ bhàta.
Dhèanadh i bàta beag dhòmhsa cuideachd, agus leigeamaid iad ann an uisge na dìge. Bhiodh rèis againn, agus na bàtaichean a’ falbh gu luath anns an t-sruth, gus an grunnaicheadh iad anns a’ bhiolair!
Bhiodh am bàta aig Magaidh daonnan air thoiseach!
The Iris-leaf Boat
As everyone knows, I am very fond of boats. That fondness began naturally, and I do not know when! But I do remember very well sailing little boats made of iris leaves in the ditch long before I went to school.
I learned that from Maggie, my grandmother’s sister. We would go together to the well where irises grew, and Maggie would cut a leaf of iris. She would bend each end of it, and she would place parts of the leaf across one another. In a minute, she would have a little iris boat in her hand.
Sometimes she would keep one end of the leaf whole – the sharp end – and she would bend the leaf backwards in order to put a sail on the boat.
She would make a little boat for me too, and we would let them go in the water of the ditch. We would have a race, as the little boats went speeding along in the current, until they ran aground in the watercress!
Maggie’s boat was always out in front!
