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Tha baile Chromdhail suidhichte faisg air Baile nan Granndach. Tha e air talamh còmhnard far a bheil lùb ann an Uisge Spè. Tha Crom Dhail a’ ciallachadh sin – crooked haugh ann am Beurla. Cromdhail no °ä°ù´Ç³¾â€™a¾±±ô no Crombail ann an Gàidhlig, agus Cromdale ann am Beurla. ʼS dòcha gun cuala sibh mu dheidhinn ‘The Haughs of Cromdale’. Tha sin a’ ciallachadh gu litreachail ‘the haughs of the crooked haugh’!

Tha Cromdhail aithnichte do dhaoine aig a bheil ùidh ann an eachdraidh. Bha cath an sin anns a’ bhliadhna sia ceud deug is naochad (1690). Tha mi airson innse dhuibh mu dheidhinn.

Chaill Seumas VII àite air an rìgh-chathair ann an sia ceud deug, ochdad ʼs a h-ochd (1688). Bha e na Chaitligeach. Chaidh a nighean Màiri a chur na àite. Bha ise Pròstanach. Bha i a’ riaghladh còmhla ris an duine aice, Uilleam Orains – Dùitseach a bha na Phròstanach. Chaill Seumas an rìgh-chathair ann an Sasainn cuideachd. Theich e don Fhraing.

Bliadhna an dèidh sin, dh’èirich na Seumasaich. Bha iad airson Seumas a chur air ais mar Rìgh. Thill Seumas a dh’Èirinn. Agus chuir Biocas Dhùn Dè – Iain Greumach – arm ri chèile ann an Alba às a leth.

Anns an Iuchar choinnich armailt aige ri armailt an riaghaltais. Bha sin aig Raon Ruairidh faisg air Coille Chnagaidh ann an Siorrachd Pheairt. B’ e sin cath ainmeil ris an canar ann am Beurla – The Battle of Killicrankie. Ann an Gàidhlig tha e aithnichte dhuinn mar Blàr Raon Ruairidh.

Bha na Seumasaich soirbheachail. Ach chaill iad an ceannard – Dùn Dè. Sgaoil an t-arm aca. Sgrìobh na ceannardan Seumasach don t-seann Rìgh ann an Èirinn. Dh’iarr iad air taic a thoirt dhaibh.

Chuir Seumas aodach, armachd agus biadh thuca. Agus chuir e oifigearan airm a-null. Nam measg, bha am Màidsear-Seanalair Tòmas Buchan, saighdear proifeiseanta a bhuineadh do Shiorrachd Obar Dheathain. Thill e a dh’Alba tràth ann an sia ceud deug is naochad (1690) airson a bhith na cheannard air Arm nan Seumasach.

An-ath-sheachdain innsidh mi dhuibh mar a thàinig an dà armailt còmhla agus mar a thug Cath Chromdhail buaidh air iomairt nan Seumasach.

The village of Cromdale is situated near Grantown-on-Spey. It’s on flat land where there is a bend in the River Spey. Crom Dhail means that – crooked haugh in English/Scots. Cromdhail or °ä°ù´Ç³¾â€™a¾±±ô or Crombail in Gaelic and Cromdale in English. Perhaps you have heard about ‘The Haughs of Cromdale’. That means ‘the haughs of the crooked haugh’!

Cromdale is known to people who have an interest in history. There was a battle there in the year 1690. I want to tell you about it.

James VII lost his place on the throne in 1688. He was a Catholic. His daughter Mary was put in his place. She was Protestant. She was governing along with her husband, William of Orange – a Dutchman who was a Protestant. James lost the throne in England also. He fled to France.

A year after that, the Jacobites rose. They wanted to put James back as King. James returned to Ireland. And Viscount Dundee – John Graham – put together an army in Scotland on his behalf.

In July his army met the government army. That was at Raon Ruairidh near Killiecrankie in Perthshire. That was a famous battle called in English – The Battle of Killicrankie. In Gaelic it’s known to us as Blàr Raon Ruairidh.

The Jacobites were successful. But they lost their leader – Dundee. Their army disbanded. The Jacobite leaders wrote to the old King in Ireland. They asked him to give them assistance.

James sent them clothes, weaponry and food. And he sent over military officers. Among them was Major-General Thomas Buchan, a professional soldier who belonged to Aberdeenshire. He returned to Scotland in 1690 to be the leader of the Jacobite army.

Next week I’ll tell you how the two armies came together and how the Battle of Cromdale affected the Jacobites’ campaign.