Loch Druidibeg

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Four-page booklet about Loch Druidibeg National Nature Reserve.
A good source of natural history vocabulary in Gaelic, including terminology relating to species, behaviour, and habitat.
The text includes some general terminology relating to the Nature Conservancy Council and the work it does.

29cm x 14.8cm

No page numbers. Four sides of A5 (1 double-sided A4 sheet folded in half to make an A5 booklet).

A translation of the English language booklet, Loch Druidibeg National Nature Reserve. The Reserve spans 1677 hectares on the island of South Uist. It is centred on Loch Druidibeg and includes much of the surrounding moorland, machair, and lochs. The area is owned by the Nature Conservancy Council (Comhairle Gleidhteachais Naduir). Most of the area has been a National Nature Reserve since 1958 although the machair section was not included until 1962. The Reserve has also been named a ‘Wetland Site of International Importance’ (Larach Talamh-Fliuch le Inbhe Eadar-naiseanta).

The booklet gives an overview of the Reserve, and includes a description of the different types of land to be found there (e.g. talamh dubh, machair, mointeach, and beanntan) and of the types of plants, trees, animals, fish, and flowers that can be seen there. The talamh dubh and the machair are still used for crofting and this helps maintain the wildlife population. Page 3 has a black and white photograph of Loch Druidibeg. Towards the end of the leaflet there is information for visitors asking them to respect the crofters’ rights, to keep dogs on leads, not to light fires or to camp in the Reserve, not to leave litter, and not to disturb the wildlife. Notice is given of an observation tower close to one of the main roads where visitors will get views over the Reserve. The leaflet concludes with information about the Nature Conservancy Council, including its aims, objectives and responsibilities, the address of their Scottish Headquarters, and the address to which readers can write for further information on Council publications. The last page contains a map showing the boundaries of the Nature Reserve and the public roads in the area.

This text is a good source of natural history terminology in Gaelic. It is well written, informative, and contains lists of the woodland plants (e.g. fuath-mhuc ‘wild hyacinth’, lus nam buadha ‘angelica’, and lus Chuchulainn ‘meadowsweet’), machair plants (e.g. lus na macraidh ‘wild thyme’, seamrag ‘clover’, and slan-lus ‘selfheal’), animals (e.g. a’ bhiast-dubh ‘otter’, feidh ‘deer’, and luchain-fheoir ‘voles’), sea birds (e.g. corra-ghritheach ‘heron’, learga-chaol ‘black-throated diver’, and siolta dhearg ‘merganser’), birds of prey (e.g. clamhan nan cearc ‘hen harrier’, clamhan ruadh ‘kestrel’, and seabhag ghorm ‘peregrine’), birds which nest on the machair (e.g. traon ‘corncrake’, gealag-bhuachair ‘corn bunting’, and gealan-beinne ‘twite’), wading birds (e.g. cam-glas ‘redshank’, naosg ‘snipe’, and bothag ‘ringed plover’), trees (e.g. caorunn ‘rowan’, beithe ‘birch’, and aiteann ‘juniper’), and fish (breac locha ‘brown trout’, easgann ‘eel’, and biorain lodainn ‘sticklebacks’) that can be seen in the Nature Reserve.

The text is also a good source of terminology relating to habitat in the Highlands and Islands, including terms such as talamh dubh ‘blackland’, talamh searbh ‘acid soil’, gainmheach shligeach ‘shell sand’, neo-bheothachail ‘nutrient poor’, lan-bheathachaidh ‘nutrient rich’, coilltean dualach ‘native forests’, lusan coillteach ‘woodland plants’, leobanan [i.e. leapannan] cuilce ‘reed beds’, and ban ‘fallow’. We also find terms such as doigh-brideachaidh ‘breeding behaviour’, muir-thireach ‘amphibians’, and beathach-snaigeach ‘reptiles’. The word daolagan is used to translate ‘invertebrates’.

Other useful vocabulary includes frith-rathaidean ‘tracks’, riaghailtean na duthcha ‘the country code’, trealaich ‘litter’, taigh-amhairc ‘observation tower’, rathad mòr ‘main road’, oifis roinneil ‘regional office’, Comraichean Naiseanta na Mara Marine ‘Nature Reserves’, and Laraich Uidhean Sonraichte Saidheansach ‘Sites of Special Scientific Interest’.

No accents are used and the text does not follow modern orthographic conventions. For example, we find comhnuidh rather than comhnaidh and Breatuinn, rather than Breatainn.

First edition. Both English and Gaelic versions were published in 1988. The booklet contains one black and white photograph of the Loch on page 3. The text in the Gaelic version of the booklet is in a smaller font than the text in the English language booklet.

Nature Conservancy Council, Loch Druidibeag National Nature Reserve, 1988.