Leasachadh-Fearainn: Blàr airson Tìr is Inntinn

And_the_Land_Lay_Still_coverIn this Gaelic article, Daibhidh Rothach argues that a change in the way we look at the institutions and people who have held sway over Scottish life for centuries is as important an aspect to land reform as is the return of the land itself.

San alt seo, tha Daibhidh Rothach ag innse mar a tha an t-atharrachadh air inntinn agus mar a tha sinn a’ faicinn nan daoine aig an robh cumhachd is pribhleid ann an Alba fad linntean na thaobh aig leasachadh-fearainn a tha a cheart cho cudthromach ri tilleadh na tìre fhèin.

Nam shuidhe aig coinneamh buidheann iasgaich o chionn cola deug, thàinig a’ chòmhradh gu dà phìos de ghnothaich riaghaltais air fàire a bhios a’ bualadh air an spòrs – Ath-sgrùdadh an Iasgaich Fhiadhaich, agus nas cudthromaiche, a’ bhile air leasachadh-fearainn a nochd Nichola Sturgeon. Is bodaich na driamlaich caran amharasach, ge-tà, cha robh uile an làthair toilichte: ‘Tha tòrr obair ann, ‘s e a tha ceàrr air muinntir na sgìre seo gu bheil iad leisg. Carson a dh’ fheum cuideigin a rinn obair gus iasgach math fhaighinn pàigheadh don an leithid?’, is faileas de ghaire air oisean beòil na bànrigh san dealbh air a chùl.

Tha am bodach seo a’ fuireach ann an taigh-chomhairle, dh’ obair e fad bhliadhnaichean le sluasaid na làimh, ach is e aig iomall seann thraidisean is chumhachd fad a bheatha (tha e na bhall de bhuidheann dhìomhair is a’ toirt crathadh-làimhe sònraichte do chuid san sgìre), gheibh e iasgach o bhan-tighearna aig a bheil oighreachd san t-siorrachd aig prìs sònraichte, agus, is cinnteach, fhuair obair ann an làithean òigridh nuair a bu ghann i don a’ mhòr chuid. Tha dualchas, ge-tà, a cheart cho cudthromach ann an a bhith a’ stiùireadh bheachdan phoilitigeach ‘s a tha airgead agus clas-sòisealta. Agus ‘s e sin cnag na cùise – chan e atharrachadh air riaghailtean iasgach, no an dùil gu bheil roinneadh tìre na bu chothromaiche don a’ mhòr (mhòr) chuid air fàire, no fiù daoine ‘leisg’ a’ bhaile a bh’ air cùl a chuid fhacal, ach gum bi planaichean an riaghaltais a’ toirt crathadh do na structaran air a bheil e eòlach. ‘S e an cnap-starra saidhg-eòlach de dh’ atharrachadh, chan e an t-atharrachadh fhèin, an dùbhlan as motha, agus buannachd ann no às, bidh cuid na aghaidh.

‘S e a th’ ann an leasachadh-fearainn – mura a bheil am facal ‘radaigeach’ a chleachd am Prìomh-mhinisteir air a lùbadh fhad ‘s a tha a’ bhile a’ gluasad tron a’ Phàrlamaid – poileasaidh a bhios atharrachadh mar a tha Albannaich, cuid aca le sinnsearan nach b’ àithne ach ballachan glasa nam bàiltean mòra on a ruig iad an tìr seo, a’ toirt sùil orra fhèin. Dh’ fhaodadh atharrachadh a thighinn air a’ chàirdeis eadar na daoine is an tìr, eadar sràidean a’ bhaile agus na raointean mòra, agus nas cudthromaiche, air an t-urram in-ghnèitheach a th’ aig cuid ann an structar mì-chothromach agus na th’ ann de chinn-chinnidh.

Bha facail Nichola Sturgeon na bu làidire na bha iomadh an dùil, agus leis an amharas (agus uaireannan fios) gun deach na h-uachdaran mòra an aghaidh toil a’ Phartaidh Nàiseanta san reifreann, ‘s dòcha gum bi solas an riaghaltais a’ sìneadh beagan na b’ fhaide gu oiseanan duslach nan caistealan. Ach ‘s e dè dìreach a tha fhathast fo ghlas is falaichte o shùilean a’ phoblaich a chuireadh iongnadh air a’ mhòr chuid. An-dràsta, chan eil ach cairteal de thalamh dhùthchail na h-Alba clàraichte agus ri lorg gu poblach. Ged a tha daoine airidh air an cuid phrìobhaideachd, chan ann air taigh no flat a tha sinn a’ bruidhinn, ach na raointean as motha san dùthaich, agus uaireannan Roinn Eòrpa, a tha ag obair mar ghnothaichean agus a’ toirt do sheilbheadairean cosnadh agus taic-airgid nach tug àite ann an Dennistoun a-riamh.

Agus chan eil sin ach na bhoinneag de na tha ceàrr – gu h-anabarrach, tha leth chuid den tìr dhùthchail ann an Alba fo sheilbh 432 daoine, agus nas mìosa fhathast, tha a’ chìs chomhairle aig a’ mhòr chuid den na daoine seo – aig a bheil na cilemeatairean de ghleann is de mhònadh – co-ionnan le cuideigin aig a bheil taigh spaideil sa bhaile-mhòr. Tha Diùc Buccleuch ann an Caisteal Droma Lannraig sa Ghall-Ghàidhealaibh, ma-thà, a’ pàigheadh an t-aon uiread de dh’ airgead ‘s a tha neach-lagha ann am Park Circus ann an Glaschu. Ach ged a tha an neach-lagha a’ pàigheadh cìsean, tha an t-iasgach bhradain aig an Diùc air an Abhainn Nid – a’ toirt dha suas ri ceud not san là airson gach iasgair – saor o reataichean ghnothachais a bhios a’ dol don an sporan phoblach, agus tha na th’ aige de shealg uile gu lèir saor dhiubh. Chan ann aig a’ chlò àrsaidh a-mhàin a tha inbhe sònraichte le HMRC nas motha. Mar a tha Andy Wightman ag innse san leabhar aige, The Poor Had No Lawyers, cha phàigh cuideigin às an Danmhairg aig a bheil oighreachd ann an Alba ach cìsean chomhairle, ged a tha iad a’ pàigheadh cìs-fearainn do riaghaltas na Danmhairge fhèin air a son, aig ìre fada nas àirde.

Mì-fhreagarrach is gu bheil an t-suidheachadh do dhùthaich sam bith san linn seo, tha na h-uachdaran gu dubh an aghaidh atharrachadh. Tha na guthan aca mar-thà ri cluinntinn tro na pùpaidean aca sna pàipeirean, agus bidh rudan fada na bu mhiosa sna h-irisean iasgach – b’ e Ailig Salmond a dh’ adhbhraich Krakatoa agus bàs Ìosa a-rèir cuid dhiubh – agus Scottish Field agus Shooting Times. Bidh an t-eagal agus an rabhadh, ge-tà, as soirbheachaile air cuid de na daoine a gheibheadh am buannachd as motha o atharrachadh. Tha mi fhèin eòlach air cuideigin a bhòt an aghaidh neo-eisimeileachd oir, sna facail aige fhèin, Bidh Nichola Sturgeon a’ cur stad air an t-sealg is a’ ghunna, facail a thàinig gu dìreach on an uachdar ionadail dha a bhios e a’ faghaid gu saor-thoileach aig àm na circ-fhraoich.

‘S e gu bheil iad a’ cruthachadh obrach do dh’ eaconomaidhean laga a’ chiad deasbad a bhios a’ nochdadh – sin iad na h-uaislean a tha cho còir is fialaidh is is gu bheil iad uaireannan a’ pàigheadh tuarastal nas ìsle na tha laghail (nochd an Daily Record sgeul o chionn dà bhliadhna mun an t-Sealg Eglinton ann an Siorrachd Àir nach robh a’ pàigheadh ach not gu leth san uair do neach-obrach). ‘S e argamaid eile air a bheil iad deidheil gu bheil iad ‘a’ manaidsearachd’ nam bèist fiadhaich – às aonais na saoithreach neo-fhèineil seo, bhiodh fèidh a’ siùbhail nam beann, ag ithe pàistean Gàidhealach, no ‘s dòcha a’ bagairt caillich ann am Sràid Bhochanan, agus bhiodh am bradan, a th’ air a bhi a’ tilleadh do dh’ abhnaichean na h-Alba on an linn deighe mu dheireadh, gu h-obann air chall aig muir. Cò aig a tha fios dè na beachdan aca air a’ chroiteir bhochd? Tha na h-argamaidean seo cho anabarrach, cho airidh air magadh, ‘s gu bheil iad uaireannan a’ dèanamh car air an inntinn ciallach.

Airson an adhbhair sin, tha e riatanach gum bi an iomairt airson leasachadh-fearainn – na daoine bhios a’ sparradh is a’ brosnachadh an riaghaltais fad a’ phròiseis – a’ sìneadh seachad air na h-àiteachan traidiseanta, seachad air na daoine air a bhios e a’ bualadh gu dìreach, a’ cleachdadh nam meadhanan-sòisealta mar a chleachd ri linn na reifrinn. Ma tha Alba a-nis – mar a tha Nàiseantaich a’ sìor innse – air a h-atharrachadh gu sìorraidh, agus mas i an dùthaich as poilitigiche air a’ mhòr-thìr, feumaidh i a dearbhadh, oir ged a b’ e an reifreann a dhùisg an t-sluagh gu poilitigeach, cha robh ann ach na roghainn simplidh mu chumhachdan a thoirt air ais – ‘s e a th’ ann an leasachadh-fearainn cothrom cumhachdan a chleachdadh ann an dòigh brìoghmhor.

Ma tha fiù boinneag den an neart a bh’ aig an taobh Bu Chòir agus na th’ air fhàgail de thaobh chlì a’ Phartaidh Làbaraich a’ cur guth ris an deasbad, ‘s ann a bhios an t-sean gheàrd a’ coimhead air adhart chun an àm ri teachd le teagamh is dragh. Agus tha e coltach gu bheil a’ bhùidhean Scottish Land Action Movement  (http://www.scottishlandactionmovement.org) a nochd o chionn greis, a’ feuchainn ri cudthrom a chur air cho riatanach is a tha leasachadh-fearainn don na bailtean-mòra: Tha leasachadh-fearainn a cheart cho cudthromach do choimhearsnachdan ann am meadhan Ghlaschu ‘s a tha e do choimhearsnachdan ann an Innse Ghall, tha an làrach-lìn aca ag innse. ‘S e cùis simplidh a th’ ann – nì na mìltean ann an Glaschu is Dùn Èidinn barrachd fuaim na na ceudan air a’ ghleann, ach gu ruige seo tha a’ mhòr chuid aca aineolach mu mhì-cheartas na tìre aca fhèin. Feumaidh sin atharrachadh.

Gu ruige seo ‘s e sgeul sheilbheadaireachd-fearainn na h-Alba fear a sgrìobh na h-uachdaran dhaibh fhèin, agus tha e caran coltach ri Monarch of the Glen agus The Thirty-Nine Steps. Tha sgeul an eileanaich a strì gus an talamh aige a dh’ obair mar bu chòir, sgeul a’ bhalaich air a dhèanamh na eucorach airson driamlaich a fhliuchadh, fad linntean air a bhith na thaobh-sgeul, agus fear a bha an t-sluagh deònach a ghabhail ris. Ach ‘s ann a tha daoine cuideachd a-nis ag aithneachadh gu bheil mì-cheartas sheilbheadaireachd-fearainn air a’ mhònadh a’ bualadh air sgeul a’ bhaile mhòr – prìs thaighean agus talamh, bochdainn chloinne, gainnead ghoireasan. ‘S dòcha, ge-tà, gur e an ceum a dh’ ionnsaigh dì-cholononaidheachd na h-inntinne Albannaich an rud as cudthromaiche a thig à leasachadh-fearainn san dùthaich àrsaidh, chadalach seo. Nuair a leaghas am fionn-sgeul, bidh Her Ladyship, mar a th’ aig bodach na buidhne iasgaich fhèin oirre, a’ call barrachd na airgead iasgairean ghallda.

Comments (27)

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  1. yesvote2014 says:

    Math fhéin agus deagh bheachd. Bhiodh e math tuilleadh fhaicinn air a’ chuspair seo.

    But why the patronising, controlling and entirely unnecessary introduction in English? It’s a strange quirk of English monoglot editors in the unionist press that they have to add a few lines of English to those rare articles published in Gaelic. We expect a better standard from Bella.

    1. fearnach says:

      It is common practice when advertising Welsh-language positions to add a few words to explain to non-Welsh readers what’s going on. It is also common practice in multilingual environments to add a few words in a local language where, for example, an English-language paper is presented in a Spanish-speaking environment. IMHO it is a useful addition, and can only help to gain allies for the language.

    2. Brat Wurst says:

      “patronizing, controlling and entirely unnecessary introduction in English?” ?????
      I was looking for an English translation of the whole text. Like most of the 2014 YES VOTE I don’t
      speak Gaelic. This is not the way to keep us together against the Westmonster regime !
      (English is not my first language )

  2. dickybeau says:

    It helped me understand a small piece of what I am missing in not being able to read or speak the language. I suspect the majority of readers on this site are in my position. Given that I read the site daily (and sometimes more often than that) I didn’t find the intro patronising at all.

    1. smeddum07 says:

      I don’t really understand why a whole article would be published in a small language from the islands of Scotland? Rather than the language 90% of people speak, one of the stupidest things the snp is money spent in west of Scotland to teach people a language that people have never spoken there! Scotland doesn’t have a language like welsh and that’s fine that’s our history and culture if ur going to celebrate it you cant make it up

      1. fearnach says:

        Actually, the biggest concentration of Gaelic speakers in the world is in Glasgow. It may not have occurred to you to look at a map, but there is no corner of Scotland outside the Northern Isles which does not show the influence of Gaelic on place names.

        The question of whether anything should be allowed to be published in a language, regardless of its origins is, at heart, a question of human rights – in this case, the right to freedom of expression.

        In Scotland there is also a duty on (all levels of) government: to preserve and encourage the use of autochthonous languages. (The word was originally Greek and essentially is used for native, usually minority, languages.) It is neither an SNP nor even a nationalist cause: this language is a precious part of our national heritage just as much as historic castles, rare breeds of wildlife or Scots Law. Even the Tories managed to recognise that.

      2. IAB says:

        Gaelic is part of our heritage and culture irrespective of whether 1% or 99% understand it. Most of us never had a chance to learn and I am heartened by the chances given to children now.

      3. IAB says:

        Whether 1% or 99% understand it, Gaelic is part of our culture and heritage. Most of us had no opportunity to learn but children have the chance today. I loved hearing my neighbours talk in Gaelic when I was child and I envied my mother’s rudimentary Irish. Languages die when not used and Gaelic should never be in that position.

      4. fearnach – there is Gaelic and Brythonic aplenty in the place names of Orkney and Shetland, however much the fake vikings like to pretend otherwise.

        Jacobsen thought 10-20% of names have original Celtic roots or influence. see CELTIC PLACE-NAMES IN ORKNEY.BYHUGH MARWICK, F.S.A.ScoT.
        http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_057/57_251_265.pdf

        The place name structure A of B is common in the Northern Isles as are hybrid names with a norse and gaelic element, and an underlying gaelic structure are common. Much mixed up-ness – excellent!

        Within 3 miles of where I grew up are Loch a Vatster a mixed name Lake(loch) of the lake-farm (vatn-str)! A of B construction. That one is post norse as the original vatn is nested in the current name.

        Burn a Vatchie which runs into said loch. Again A of B structure to the – celtic.

        Across the hill a mile is Da Birrier. Not a Boireann or great rock in any way. https://geolocation.ws/v/W/File%3ABirrier%20from%20the%20bay%20-%20geograph.org.uk%20-%201452681.jpg/-/en

  3. As an Englishwoman with no links to Scotland other than a great admiration for all that Scotland has given to the wider world, and who was desperately hoping Scotland would win independence (because it might encourage the rest of us to divorce ourselves from the Westminster-centric government), and who is also VERY interested in land reform…

    I really wanted to read this article but I neither speak nor read Gaelic. My loss, I am sure. But the introduction in English was enough to grab me, and it now leaves me in a pit of ignorance I would like to address. Can anyone provide a translation?

    1. Have you read “The Poor had no Lawers”….about land reform..

    2. b says:

      A very reasonable point Lesley. Thanks for your other point that Scots Ind would help the people of England – who are worthy of better than they get from Westminster, that ‘fun palace on the river ” as an MEP once described it to me.

    3. Bothy Basher says:

      A very reasonable point Lesley. Thanks for your other point that Scots Ind would help the people of England – who are worthy of better than they get from Westminster, that ‘fun palace on the river ” as an MEP once described it to me.

  4. IAB says:

    I had no opportunity to learn the language nor did my son. It’s always left me feeling incomplete. Any chance of having articles side by side in English and Gaelic? It’s a great way to pick up pieces of the language.

  5. benmadigan says:

    agree with IAB – would love an English translation – or even a French, Spanish or Italian – if it goes against anybody’s principles to translate the article into sassenach!! –

    1. Darien says:

      “or even a French, Spanish or Italian ”

      Even auld Scots wid dae, ye ken!

      However, if the general drift is what I think it is, then it is not only in respect of land that our meritocracy needs to be addressed, it is in most areas of authority and public life. Scotland’s Establishment retains a distinct unionist bias, which is at odds with the political wind blowing through our nation. In leadership terms the SNP may be the face of our nation, but not yet the body, as it were.

      1. IAB says:

        Like the idea of it being in Scots

  6. fearnach says:

    Duilich a bhith a’ gearan, ach nach fhaigh sibh neach-deasachaidh? Bithidh leithid “thàinig a’ chòmhradh” (an àite “thàinig an còmhradh”), “air a’ chàirdeis” (an àite “air a’ chàirdeas”) agus “Dùn Èidinn” (an àite “Dùn Èideann”) a’ toirt air leughadair creidsinn nach eil brìgh anns a’ chuspair seach nach tugadh feart don mheadhan.

  7. Tuairisceoir says:

    Reblogged this on An Tuairisceoir.

  8. Brian says:

    C’mon Bella, this is crazy. The vast majority of Scots don’t speak Gaelic. The English language intro simply served to pique my interest. Why not a side by side translated version?

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      Bella is proud of and committed to publishing in gaelic. If you don’t like it – or can’t read it – you can enjoy the 99.5% of the rest of our content.

    2. Gone to lunch. says:

      C’mon Brian, this is crazy. The majority of Scots don’t support an independent Scotland. Why publish pro-indy articles?

      I hope you see my point. Not everything has to be for the majority.

  9. James Munro says:

    The vast majority of articles in Bella are in English however I understand that the purpose of having a few Gaelic articles is an important cultural device, thus reminding those of us without gaelic that the language exists.

  10. Rory Borealis says:

    Please publish an English version

  11. Iain MacKinnon says:

    Daibhaidh,

    My Gaelic is not that great but, if I’ve understood well, there are some important ideas here. What I like about it is that you root the article in your experiences talking to ‘real people in real places’ (to paraphrase Iain Crichton Smith) which you then use to disclose some of the commonly held beliefs and attitudes that constitute human resistance to proposals advocating radical changes in the ownership and governance of land and natural resources in Scotland.

    As I understand it, what you are arguing is that it is not simply that the land of Scotland has been taken from its people by a colonising force. Rather, that colonising force also has discursive power, such that its stories that have taken root in our minds, invading the older indigenous mental space of what in Gaelic would be called our duthchas and dualchas. Your conclusion is that land reform and genuine moves towards social justice will require “dì-cholononaidheachd na h-inntinne Albannaich”. This sounds something similar to the phrase ‘decolonizing the mind’ used by the African scholar Ngugi Wa Thiongo with reference to the late and post-colonial periods in Kenya.

    His work called for colonised peoples to think critically about the kinds of stories they tell about themselves, where these stories come from, what they lead to – and to create new stories that challenge the old colonial tales and invoke a different future.

    Maybe, I’ve misinterpreted. I hope not, because I found your article helpful and encouraging.

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