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Bha mi ag innse dhuibh nach eil am facal ²õ¾±Ã¹³¦²¹°ù a’ nochdadh anns a’ Bhìoball Ghàidhlig. No ma thà, chan aithne dhomh e. Ach tha iomradh no dhà ann air a’ chuilc chùbhraidh ‘the sweet-smelling cane’. Thathar ag eadar-theangachadh sin, ge-tà, mar sweet cane. An e sin cuilc an t-siùcair? Tha ³¦Ã¹²ú³ó°ù²¹¾±»å³ó a’ dèanamh tuairisgeul air fàileadh seach blas. Tha cuid de sgoilearan dhen bheachd gur e cuilc Innseanach a bha ann às an tàinig ola ungaidh. Anointing oil. Ola ungaidh.

Mura robh ²õ¾±Ã¹³¦²¹°ù aithnichte ri linn sgrìobhadh a’ Bhìobaill, an robh facal ann airson sweet? Uill bha, agus seo e ann an Leabhar Iob, Caibideil 20: Ged a tha an t-olc milis na bheul, agus e ga fhalach fo a theangaidh ... Sin agaibh am facal airson sweet – milis. Tha e stèidhichte air mil ‘h´Ç²Ô±ð²â’. Cha robh daoine eòlach air ²õ¾±Ã¹³¦²¹°ù anns an t-seann aimsir, ach bha iad eòlach air mil. Agus air blas na meala.

Ìý

Ged as e mil a tha anns na faclairean Gàidhlig airson honey, ʼs e mel a chanadh m’ athair nach maireann. ʼS e Gàidhlig na Comraich a bha aige agus chanadh esan mel airson ‘h´Ç²Ô±ð²â’ agus meilis airson â€Èٷɱð±ð³Ù’. ʼS e mel a tha ann ann an Laideann. Tha daoine a’ smaoineachadh gur ann bhon Laidinn a thàinig am facal a-steach don Ghàidhlig.

Agus seo e anns a’ Bhìoball ann an Taisbeanadh Eòin, Caibideil 10, Rann 10: Agus ghlac mi an leabhran à làimh an aingil, agus dh’ith mi suas e; agus bha e nam bheul milis mar mhil ... Ann am Beurla: And I took the small book out of the angel’s hand and ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey ...

I was telling you that the word ²õ¾±Ã¹³¦²¹°ù [sugar] doesn’t appear in the Gaelic Bible. Or, if it does, I don’t know about it. But there are one or two accounts of a’ chuilc chùbhraid, ‘the sweet-smelling cane’. That is translated as ‘sweet cane’, however. Is that sugar cane? °äù²ú³ó°ù²¹¾±»å³ó describes smell rather than taste. Some scholars think that it was an Indian cane from which ola ungaidh came. Anointing oil. Ola ungaidh.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý If sugar wasn’t known at the time of the writing of the Bible, was there a word for sweet? Well, yes, and here it is in the Book of Job, Chapter 20: Although evil is sweet in his mouth, and he hides it under his tongue. That’s the word for sweet – milis. It’s based on mil ‘h´Ç²Ô±ð²â’. People weren’t familiar with sugar in olden times, but they were familiar with honey. And the taste of honey.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Although it is mil that is in the Gaelic dictionaries for honey, it’s mel that my late father would say. He spoke Applecross Gaelic and he would say mel for ‘h´Ç²Ô±ð²â’ and meilis for â€Èٷɱð±ð³Ù’. It’s mel in Latin. People think that it’s from Latin that the word came into Gaelic.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And here it is in the Bible in Revelation, Chapter 10, Verse 10: And I took the small book out of the angel’s hand and ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey .... In English: I took the small book out of the angel’s hand and ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey ...