Not sure exactly what this means?

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butlersrangers
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Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by butlersrangers »

My 'namesake' ancestors came from a Scottish Island called, since ancient times, Ila or the Isle of Islay. (The Scots pronounce it - 'eye-luh').

There is a Scottish saying that "an Islay man will walk three miles, carrying a saddle & bridle, to catch a horse and ride him one mile".

I don't know if the message was that people from Isla were dense and impractical .... or a good show and presentation was worth the effort!

My take is that ... it is in my DNA to want to use a Krag!

(BTW - Talk about impractical ... they make some fine Single Malt Whisky on Islay and age it for 8, 10, 14, .... 21 years. It is truly amazing, if you savor sea spray, tarry rope, and peat smoke on your senses, I do)!
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Knute1
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by Knute1 »

You should brush up on your Scottish accent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8UrrVnmZQE

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Kerz
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by Kerz »

Sounds like you've been there? My wife is all about going, when the world comes back to normalcy.
Vic
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butlersrangers
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by butlersrangers »

Heck Knute, a wee lassie like that, cooda taut me Norwegian, wayn I war yung! (I would have been motivated).

Vic - When I was in my young twenties, not long out of college and between jobs, I spent four months 'back-packing' around Great Britain and Europe. It was cheap travel by motorcycle, trains, boats, hitch-hiking, and staying at Youth Hostels and B&B's.
It was a different World, back then!

I got to spend a week on the Isle of Islay. My family had left the Island, 120 years before, to settle in Ontario. I had no relatives in Scotland, but, in the countryside and towns, people were very generous and hospitable.

By the time I got home to the U.S.A., I had developed a 'mongrel accent' so I could be understood in G.B. and did't have to repeat myself.
Last edited by butlersrangers on Tue Nov 24, 2020 4:56 am, edited 3 times in total.

Knute1
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by Knute1 »

I don't know if she could have taught me Norwegian when I was young. Talking is way overrated when you are young and there are so many other things to do.

I have a wee-wee bit of Irish in me. Don't know if they intermingled with the Scots much.

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butlersrangers
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by butlersrangers »

They believe the ancient Scots came from Ireland and engulfed the original 'wee dark people' (Picts).

The Western Islands & Highlands were once part of a kingdom and culture called "Dalriada", which spanned parts of Ireland and Scotland.

There are some "Viking" place names on Islay. A great naval battle took place near Islay and Clan Donald broke any hold the Norsemen had on the Western Isles.
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Knute1
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by Knute1 »

I had a meeting with a contractor at work that had the last name of Holdaway. During the meeting I noticed that he had a very guttural accent. When the meeting was over I asked him what kind of accent he had. He said he was from England, which didn't make sense to me. But he explained that the area of England he was from had been invaded/inhabited by Vikings. I found it ironic when he told me that sometime after he married an American girl he returned to England and landed at London. His American wife had to interpret for him at the airport desk as his accent there wasn't understood very well.

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butlersrangers
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by butlersrangers »

I did not have too much trouble understanding Scots speaking English; I had heard the dialect before.
(Now, Scottish Slang! ... well that's different!
... and I was totally thrown by the English country dialects of Yorkshire and Northumbria. They were incomprehensible).

In the 1970's, the older people on Islay were bilingual. They were native Gaelic-speakers and thought in that language.
They were totally fluent in English, but, the younger people were not learning Gaelic and there was fear the language was going to be lost.

My nick-name, "Chuck", totally baffled the Islanders. They did not have that name and thought I was saying 'Jock' or 'Jack'.
They called me "Charles", which had always been a sure sign that I was in trouble!
I finally did resort to using my Christian name.

The elderly couple, that I was lodging with on Islay, had a niece in Canada, who lived on a farm. The farm was named "Stony Creek".
My hosts thought it the strangest of names and were baffled by it.
I knew enough to explain to them, that in North America, a "burn" (Scots for brook) was called a "creek".
They just laughed with delight ... mystery solved!
At the time, I was totally 'clueless', why they called their Parakeet a "Budgie"; (It is short for Budgerigar, the name for a Parakeet in most of the English-speaking world).

When 'Monte Python' hit the U.S. airwaves, it all suddenly made sense.

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Local Boy
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by Local Boy »

Cool looking family crest Chuck!

The only thing older then the MacArthur name are the hills.
Scottish Proverb
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butlersrangers
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Re: Not sure exactly what this means?

Post by butlersrangers »

A different version of the folk saying:

"There is nothing older, unless it's the hills, MacArthur, and the Devil".

I've resisted the urge to have the crest painted on my car doors, tattooed on my chest, and engraved on the receiver of my Krag "Stalking Rifle".

I come from proud, but, humble, hardworking and polite people.

Scots are as capable as the Irish in spreading blarney, but, truth tends to get in the way.

A name like "Son of Arthur" sure throws the door open for mythology.

Likely Caption for Attached: "Love! Will you hang the crest on the door, after you make the soil for the new field, cut the peats for the winter, re-thatch the roof and build a door from drift wood"?
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Islay Cottage 18thC.jpg
Islay Cottage 18thC.jpg (324.61 KiB) Viewed 1962 times
Islay peat banks.png
Islay peat banks.png (274.54 KiB) Viewed 1962 times
Last edited by butlersrangers on Tue Nov 24, 2020 5:05 am, edited 2 times in total.

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