University of Edinburgh Archive and Manuscript Collections

Scope and Contents Field notebook belonging to Alexander Carmichael probably while he lived at 31, Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, as this address is written in ink on the first folio. Written on the inside front cover but heavily scored is text which reads 'Mrs Malcolm MacLeod, [- Islay], widow of Mal[colm] MacLeod [Loch-]. The majority of the notebook contains material collected from Donald Currie, crofter, Ìle/ Islay relating folklore and natural history about the birds, fish, shellfish and animals found in and...

Scope and Contents Note about birds found on Islay including 'Catheag C- bheag nan cudainean' [possibly cathag-dhearg chasach the red-legged crow or chough] describing how it catches its food from the sea; a note on the fhaoilean [faoileann or seagull]; the call of the brid [oyster-catcher]; that the loinean [blackbirds] are the same size as druidean [starlings] and that 'No dog will eat the bone of the truide[ag]' [druideag or starling] because a starling 'gave seed to the prophet of old' and the prophet gave...

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Note probably collected on Ìle/Islay about the breeding habits of 'gobag' [sand eel], 'murlach' [dogfish] and 'sgat' [skate] that they breed 'like the dogs'; that they cut through fishing lines 'like [a] razor' and that eels breed from a horse's hair and that a dog's hair is as good as horse hair. The vocabulary note reads 'Casach = snod iasgaich' [fishing-line].

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Note about grilse that they hatch in the spring and are full size by the autumn. Also notes that 'banag' is a sea-trout.

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Note about peacock eggs, bird displays and vocabulary, which states that a peacock's egg cannot be cooked, that 'Aodach na banise' [wedding clothes] is the term for a bird's colourful display, and that 'Crotag-mhor = curlew'. text has been scored through in pencil as if transcribed elsewhere.

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Note about the bird 'glaisean' [moss [chirper]] describing its nesting habits including that it has been found 'in P[ort] na haven in turf dyk[e]s asleep in winter with two or three ribeagan fiar geal na bheul [blades of grass] across to keep his bill open to breath[e] like polar bear with his paw in his mouth'. [Port na h-Abhainne/Portnahaven, Ìle/ Islay]. Text has been scored through in pencil perhaps to indicate it has been transcribed elsewhere.

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Note about the bird 'Luaireagan' and 'smeorach' [thrush] that the former is a sea bird and that the latter builds its nests on land with material from the 'burach' which 'makes it water tight'. Text has been scored through in pencil perhaps to indicate it has been transcribed elsewhere.

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Note entitled 'Seachdain Na Crodha' about rutting stags and the season in which this happens. Scored through is vocabulary that 'dairbeart' is a sort of water beetle. Text scored through as if transcribed elsewhere.

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Notes about fish and crabs collected from John MacAulay from Gearrloch [Geàrrloch/Gairloch, Ros is Cromba/Ross and Cromarty] but living in Edinburgh [Dùn Èideann including that 'An Clabciochrain' is 'iasg gran[n]da' [an ugly fish]; 'A Ghibneach = Fion Musg[an]'; that the crab 'An Cleireach' 'is on sentry while she is in the hole while casting' and 'An Deiseag [velvet crab] = Thin legs + venomous for grip[pin]g'. Text has been scored through as if transcribed elsewhere.

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Notes about the nesting habits of birds collected from John MacAulay from Gearrloch [Geàrrloch/Gairloch, Ros is Cromba/Ross and Cromarty] but living in Edinburgh [Dùn Èideann] including that the chicks of the cearc-fhiar, feadag and rua-chearc leave the nest as soon as they hatch and that the gob-da-lire nests at the edge of lakes. Text has been scored through as if transcribed elsewhere.