Reference Number202
TitleNa Klondykers
AuthorMacLeòid, Iain F.
EditorN/A
Date Of Edition2005
Date Of Languagelate 20c – early 21c
Date Of Language Ed2000-
DateMacroEarly 21st c.
Date Of Language Notes
PublisherClàr
Place PublishedInverness
VolumeN/A
LocationNational, academic, and local libraries
Geographical OriginsLewis (Ness)
Geographical Origins EdLewis
GeoMacroLewis
GeoX-6.2729
GeoY58.4792
Geographical Origins Notes
RegisterLiterature, Prose
Register EdLiterature, Prose
GenreLiterature
MediumProse
RatingB
One of the first Gaelic novels to be published by Ùr-sgeul.
A rich source of idiomatic Lewis Gaelic from the early 21st century.
The text contains a large amount of informal, idiomatic direct speech.
The text contains a number of Gaelicised English loan-words, many of which are now common in the language.
The text also contains a substantial number of English words that have not been Gaelicised but which undergo lenition where a Gaelic word would be lenited.
Alternative Author NameMacLeod, John F.
Manuscript Or EditionEd.
Size And Condition20cm x 13.5cm
Short TitleNa Klondykers
Reference DetailsCentral Library, Edinburgh: Scottish Lending Library, Scottish Fiction
Number Of Pages285
Gaelic Text ByN/A
IllustratorN/A
Social ContextIain F. MacLeòid is from Ness, in the north of Lewis. He is a well-known playwright, author, and director, who writes in both Gaelic and in English. He has written a number of plays for stage and radio, and his plays have been performed as far afield as London and New York. He has also translated and adapted plays from other languages into Gaelic and English. He was co-writer and co-director of the first full-length Gaelic film, Seachd (2007), and he has worked as a director for Gaelic series such as Tacsi, and for numerous documentaries, e.g. on Harry Lauder, Margaret Fay Shaw, and Murchadh MacPharlain. He became Writer in Residence at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in 2005. His short novel for teenagers, Chopper, was published in 2004. Na Klondykers is his first full-length novel. His second full-length novel, Am Bounty, was launched at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2008.
ContentsThe book begins with a single page of acknowledgements (entitled ‘Taing’, p. 7). The main body of the text contains 20 un-named chapters followed by a short Epilogue.

The story begins with the Piper Alpha disaster of 1989. One of the men rescued from the disaster is Domhnall, who, after spending time in hospital, returns home to his wife and family in Ullapool to convalesce. Domhnall never fully recovers from his experience, and he tries to find solace by drinking and cheating on his wife (who eventually leaves him). He and his brother Iain (who returned from University after the death of their father over a year previously), along with their friend John D., spend the summer months fishing on their father’s boat. As well as the local fishing boats, the bay is full of Russian ships (the ‘Klondykers’) who buy the fish and gut and can them on board. The story tells of the interaction between the Russian crewmen and the locals. When John D.’s sister, Johan, is badly beaten up by one of the Russian sailors, a sequence of events is set in motion which results in Iain’s death when their fishing boat is overturned in a storm. Against this backdrop is the story of drug trafficking, with cocaine being brought ashore by the Russians, and driven to Glasgow by a local man, Jock, who could not refuse the opportunity to make money when Hector (the local hard man) offered him the job. They are eventually caught by Frank London, a Customs and Excise officer who had integrated himself into the community in order to catch the traffickers. The story also tells of one of the young women aboard the Russian boats, Helena, as she and Iain meet and begin to fall in love. They only spend one night together before Iain’s death, after which Helena discovers that she is pregnant. Although she never got the chance to tell Iain, she confides in his mother, Peigi, who is sympathetic. The Epilogue sees Helena returning to Loch Broom in 2005, with her 16 year old son, Iain, to visit his father’s grave and to introduce him to his grandmother.
Sources
LanguageThis text is a rich source of 21st-century conversational Lewis Gaelic. It contains a substantial amount of informal direct speech, e.g.: “Bu tu am balach. Cha mhòr nach robh sinn air ruith a-mach. ’G iarraidh deoch?” “Aidh. Tè bheag.” (p. 32); Cà’il thu ’g iarraidh a dhol? (p. 196); aig Dia tha fios dè thachras (p. 210); and Chan fhàg na (p 214).

The conversations are liberally sprinkled with English words and phrases. Interestingly, these English words are usually lenited where Gaelic words would be lenited, e.g.: So sguir dhan charry-on agad (p. 65); ris a’ bharman (p. 125); Tha deagh shiner agad an sin (p. 133); ’S e mess a th’ ann (p. 210); Iain, na dèan prick dhìot fhèin (p. 211), and Nach sguir thu dhan bhullshit agad (p. 213).

The text also contains a number of widely used English loan-words, e.g.: Dìreach rud beag teilidh agus pizza (p. 132); Tha mise airson triop eile a dhèanamh mun crìochnaich an seusan (p. 215); Cheek a’ mhuncaidh aig an diabhal Russki sin (p. 196), lioft (p. 197), sòbarr (p. 93); and Siogaraits no eile. Drogaichean (p. 18).

Despite the nautical setting of the story, this text contains few terms relating specifically to boats and sailing.
OrthographyThe speech of Lewis is evident throughout this text in pronunciations, forms and words, e.g.: cionnas tha fios agad (p. 116), Dè man a tha i? (p. 116), feagal (p. 197), ’S mathid gu bheil thu ceart (p. 215), and an-dràst (p. 240).

Despite the informality and dialectal flavour which are a feature of this text, the orthography shows signs of awareness of the Gaelic Orthographic Conventions of 2005.
EditionFirst edition.
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NumWords68904