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Cò an aon duine, a bharrachd air an rìgh no banrigh, a th’ air ainmeachadh anns an laoidh nàiseanta Bhreatannach? ʼS dòcha nach cuala sibh riamh an rann anns a bheil e air ainmeachadh. Cha bhi daoine ga sheinn an-diugh, cha chreid mi, air deagh adhbhar. Seo an rann:

Lord, grant that Marshal Wade

May, by thy mighty aid,

Victory bring.

May he sedition hush,

And, like a torrent, rush,

Rebellious Scots to crush.

God save the King.

Chan eil mi a’ dol a dhol an sàs anns na poilitigs idir! Ach ʼs e freagairt na ceiste a chuir mi – an Seanailear Seòras Wade. Bha mi ag innse dhuibh mu Wade an t-seachdain sa chaidh. Thog e rathaidean airm air a’ Ghàidhealtachd. 

Am measg na thog e, bha drochaid Obar Pheallaidh – a tha iongantach agus brèagha. Anns an t-seann aimsir, bhathar a’ comharrachadh ‘Trì Iongantasan na h-Alba’ – the three wonders of Scotland. Dè bh’ annta? Uill – drochaid Obar Pheallaidh, tobraichean Ghlinn Iucha is cluig Pheairt. Chan eil fhios a’m mu thobraichean Ghlinn Iucha is cluig Pheairt, ach tha drochaid Obar Pheallaidh na iongantas fhathast. 

Ach carson a bhiodh fear-togail dhrochaidean is rathaidean air ainmeachadh ann an laoidh nàiseanta Bhreatainn? Uill, a chionn ʼs gun robh Wade cliùmhor mar dhuine a sheasadh an aghaidh nan Seumasach. Thar nam bliadhnaichean, bha e air rèisimeidean Gàidhealach a thogail a bha taiceil don riaghaltas. Bha iad air an cur còmhla mar Am Freiceadan Dubh.

Dh’fhàg Wade a’ Ghàidhealtachd ann an seachd ceud deug is ceathrad (1740). Thàinig am Màidsear Uilleam Caulfeild na àite mar fhear-togail rathaidean. Fhuair Wade àrdachadh dreuchd. Bha e a-nise na fheachd-mharasgal no fieldmarshal. Bha e thall ann am Flànrais greis. Thill e a Shasainn ann an seachd ceud deug, ceathrad ʼs a ceithir (1744) airson a bhith os cionn an airm gu lèir.

Carson, ma-thà, nach e Wade a sheas an aghaidh arm nan Seumasach aig Blàr Chùil Lodair? Uill, ann am Bliadhna Theàrlaich, cha deach cùisean ro mhath dha an aghaidh nan Seumasach ann an Sasainn. Chaidh na Seumasaich thar crìoch Shasainn. Bha iad a’ dèanamh air Lunnainn ach stad iad aig Derby. Bha Wade anns a’ Chaisteal Nuadh, an dùil gun rachadh na Seumasaich thar na crìche aig Bearaig. Ach ʼs ann a ghabh iad rathad Chathair Luail air taobh eile na dùthcha – far an robh iad dhen bheachd gum faigheadh iad barrachd taic bhon mhòr-shluagh. 

Eadhon air an rathad air ais a dh’Alba, cha do rinn Wade cron sam bith air na Seumasaich. Cha robh e furasta dha armailt mhòr a ghluasad thar na dùthcha eadar an Caisteal Nuadh agus Cathair Luail. Mar sin, thog e rathad airm eile – an turas seo ann an ceann a tuath Shasainn. Gu mì-fhortanach dhuinn an-diugh, ge-tà, ghoid iad mòran de na clachan airson an rathaid bho Bhalla Hadrian.

Chaochail Wade dìreach dà bhliadhna an dèidh sin aig aois seachdad ʼs a còig (75). Cha do phòs e riamh agus bha e beartach. Dh’fhàg e fortan. Chaidh còig ceud not dhen t-sùim a chleachdadh airson carragh-cuimhne a thogail dha ann an Abaid Westminster far a bheil e air a thiodhlacadh.

Faclan na Litreach: rathaidean airm: military roads; Obar Pheallaidh: Aberfeldy; tobraichean Ghlinn Iucha: the wells of Linlithgow; cluig Pheairt: the bells of Perth; feachd-mharasgal: fieldmarshal; Flànrais: Flanders; Blàr Chùil Lodair: The Battle of Culloden; chaochail: died.

Abairtean na Litreach: Cò an aon duine, a bharrachd air an rìgh no banrigh, a th’ air ainmeachadh anns an laoidh nàiseanta Bhreatannach?: who is the one man, in addition to the king or queen, who is named in the British national anthem?; ʼs dòcha nach cuala sibh riamh an rann: perhaps you have never heard the verse; cliùmhor mar dhuine a sheasadh an aghaidh nan Seumasach: renowned as a man who would stand against the Jacobites; thar nam bliadhnaichean, bha e air rèisimeidean Gàidhealach a thogail: over the years, he had raised Highland regiments; bha iad air an cur còmhla mar Am Freiceadan Dubh: they were amalgamated as The Black Watch; chaidh na Seumasaich thar crìoch Shasainn: the Jacobites went across the English border; anns a’ Chaisteal Nuadh, an dùil gun rachadh na Seumasaich thar na crìche aig Bearaig: in Newcastle, expecting that the Jacobites would cross the border at Berwick; ʼs ann a ghabh iad rathad Chathair Luail air taobh eile na dùthcha: they took the Carlisle route on the other side of the country; cha robh e furasta dha armailt mhòr a ghluasad thar na dùthcha: it wasn’t easy for him to move a big military force across the country; ghoid iad mòran de na clachan airson an rathaid bho Bhalla Hadrian: they stole many of the stones for the road from Hadrian’s Wall; cha do phòs e riamh agus bha e beartach: he never married and he was wealthy; chaidh còig ceud not dhen t-sùim a chleachdadh airson carragh-cuimhne a thogail dha: £500 of the sum was used to build a memorial for himself; ann an Abaid Westminster far a bheil e air a thiodhlacadh: in Westminster Abbey where he is buried.

Puing-chànain na Litreach: Chan eil mi a’ dol a dhol an sàs anns na poilitigs idir: I’m not going to get involved in the politics at all. When you use the verbal noun a’ dol to command a second verbal noun, the second is lenited. Tha mi a’ dol a cheannach an leabhair sin ‘I’m going to buy that book’; a bheil thu a’ dol a bhruidhinn riutha? ‘are you going to speak to them?’

Gnàthas-cainnt na Litreach: Cha bhi daoine ga sheinn an-diugh, cha chreid mi, air deagh adhbhar: people don’t sing it today, I [don’t] reckon, for a good reason.