GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

Ken, if you read posts with an open mind you might find much of interest. To call ancient, pre-Christian beliefs and practices "garbage" to use your word is a sad comment on your education, or lack thereof.

cascadia13 Loc: Puget Sound, Willamette Valley

The name comes from the original Irish Gaelic phrase meaning "summer's end". In Scots' Gaelic, the word is used to refer both to the day and to the month of November.

BTW, on the chance that someone may care, it is pronounced something like "shaw-wen" or "shaw-when". It's opposite, on the traditional calendar, was Beltaine ("bail-chin") which evolved into May Day.

shagbat Loc: London

I had looked at that before my last reply. Yes, we (Brits) were running round in animal skins and painting our faces blue when the Greeks, Indians, Chinese, the list goes on, had civilisation and a culture. The world is constantly changing.

shagbat Loc: London

'Sow-een' too Cas. Gaelic pronounciation varies very much and of course, the years take their toll as language evolves, much like humans themselves.

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

This has been a worthy thread, marred only by a resident troll. I wonder why it was consigned to the Attic, better named the Sewer??

McKinneyMike Loc: Texas

Thank you!

McKinneyMike Loc: Texas

Thank you for the insight!

shagbat Loc: London

I posted the original in the 'attic' George.
I try to keep politics/religion away from photography. The person I argue with in the attic, I may be able to help on another thread and hopefully, vice versa.

cascadia13 Loc: Puget Sound, Willamette Valley

Good point. A few years back I attended a concert by Scottish folksinger/songwriter Dougie MacLean. Gaelic is not his native tongue, but he has absorbed/learned enough to make use of it in his music. He related a story about singing in Gaelic to an old woman who had grown up speaking the language on the Isle of Lewis, to which she responded:

"That was quite good, I would have just thought you came from one of the other islands."

As Dougie himself said, that's a polite way of saying your Gaelic is shite.

One of the things that I find interesting about this language of some of my ancestors (Cork, Antrim, Skye and Loch Alsh) is the lack of a possessive verb; there is no Gaelic equivalent for the English word "have". Nobody "has" anything, instead things are either "at" or "on" a person. Generally, positive or enjoyable things are said to be at one, while illness, poverty etc. are on one, like a burden.

Similarly, although there is a possessive pronoun, it is used primarily in reference to abstractions. The only material objects which would be referred to as"mine" or "yours" would be our physical bodies. "My arm", "your leg" have equivalent Gaelic terms, as do "my hope" or "your notion", while "my house" or "your boat" become "the house at me" etc.

Not sure why I find this so interesting, other than it clearly recognizes and acknowledges that impermanence and change are inescapable, in a way that English and the romance languages tend to shy away from.

Sin agad e! ("shin AH cutty" = Scots' Gaelic "There you have it")

shagbat Loc: London

Thanks for that Cascadia, very interesting. I have 2 friends on Stornoway (Isle of Lewis) who speak a little Gaelic (they pronounce it 'gallic', as we would call something French.)
I have visited Skye and Loch Alsh (Stunning places) and recently spent 3 years in Shetland. I loved it and will go back next year for the Up Helly Aa festival, I made many friends there, great 'fowk' (folk). They have a very strong dialect and Shetlanders on Facebook actually communicate to each other spelling it as it is pronounced. Shetland has strong ties with Scandinavia too and most 'Shelties' consider themselves to be just that, not Scottish nor British.
Hope this is of some interest.
s

cascadia13 Loc: Puget Sound, Willamette Valley

Yes, quite interesting, and how I envy your proximity to both the Hebrides and the Shetlands/Orkneys! My Mom's 'fowk' emigrated from Norway and Denmark, and my Grandma was born in a small, almost entirely Norse speaking community on Puget Sound. At one time it published the only Norse language newspaper in North America.Today it is a Seattle neighborhood, lol. Anyhow, if/when I get the chance to visit Scotland again, Lewis (Callanish!) will definitely be on the itinerary, as will the Northern isles. I hear there is a very interesting archaeology project (Orkneys, I think), which I'd love to photograph, and Up Helly Aa looks like something not to be missed.

shagbat Loc: London

Great that you have researched your origins, I've worked in Norway too, expensive, but well worth a visit. You will find it far easier to understand Norwegians than Shelties, and they speak English! (of a sort!) I don't know too much about Orkney, but Shetland (they are similar, I think Orkney is flatter) has archaeology sites, much of geological interest, fascinating seabird colonies and is an artist's paradise. Like Orkney, there are virtually no trees. Of course one is subject to the vagaries of northern European weather and you can see 4 seasons in an hour. Some excellent museums too. I sound like I'm trying to sell you a holiday! Shetland has 11 inhabited islands and 22,000 people, 11,000 live around Lerwick and some islands have a pop. of about 70 and diminishing. You never speak ill of anyone, they are all related, about a dozen common surnames! If you ever contemplate a trip, do get in touch as I have friends and contacts there. Incidently, even for me the logistics of getting there are not easy and it's not that cheap. Regards.