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An t-seachdain sa chaidh bha mi a’ bruidhinn mu dheidhinn ainmean-àite anns a bheil am facal ‘leabaidh’ no ‘leaba’. Mar eisimpleir, tha ‘leaba dìonaidh’ ann an grunn àiteachan. Sin far am biodh feadhainn a bha ann an èiginn a’ dol am falach. Lorg mi tè ann an Gleann Lìomhann ann an Siorrachd Pheairt. Tha i faisg air Inbhir Bharra.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Bha fear ann uaireigin a’ fuireach ann an Inbhir Bharra air an robh Iain Buidhe Ruadh mar ainm. Bhuineadh e do Chloinn ’ic Ghriogair. Bha aig na Griogaraich ri dhol am falach. Thàinig Caimbeulach Labhair air thòir Iain. Ach bha Iain am falach anns an ‘Leaba Dhìonaidh’ aige.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Dh’aontaich bean Iain an duine aice a bhrathadh. Dh’iarr i air na Caimbeulaich thighinn air an oidhche. Chumadh iad sùil air aghaidh na beinne. Aig àm na camhanaich, bhiodh i a’ tighinn a-mach às an leabaidh dhìonaidh. Bhiodh i a’ coiseachd air ais ’s air adhart. Bhiodh na daoine ga faicinn.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Ach chunnaic Iain Buidhe Ruadh i cuideachd. Bha e amharasach. Thug e sùil a-mach. Chunnaic e a’ bhuidheann a’ tighinn air a thòir. Thug e droch-bheul do a bhean. Theich e thar a’ mhonaidh. Cha chualas guth air bho sin a-mach.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Anns an Eilean Sgitheanach, tha grunn ‘leabannan’ ann. Tha Leaba na Làrach ann – ‘the mare’s bed or resting place’, Leabaidh a’ Mhèirlich ‘the thief’s bed’ agus Leabaidh na Glais-Ghoilein.

        Tha an Glas-Ghoilean a’ nochdadh ann am beul-aithris. ’S e beathach mòr gun chron a bha ann – ’s dòcha mart. Bha e a’ gluasad bho àite gu àite, a’ sireadh ionaltraidh. Tha a ‘leabaidh’ ri taobh baile nan Torran air cladach Loch Shlaopainn anns an t-Srath.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Nas fhaisg’ air Ealaghol, siar air Loch Shlaopainn, tha Leabaidh na Bà Uidhre ‘the bed of the dun cow’. Saoilidh mi gu bheil sin co-cheangailte – mar a tha Leabaidh na Glais-Ghoilein – ri dualchas na Fèinne.

Last week I was talking about place-names in which there is the word leabaidh or leaba ‘bed’. For example, there is a leaba dìonaidh ‘sheltering bed’ in a few places. That’s where some people who were in danger were hiding. I found one in Glen Lyon in Perthshire. It’s near Invervar.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý There was a man at one time living in Invervar called ‘light red-haired John’. He belonged to the MacGregor clan. The MacGregors had to hide. Campbell of Lawers came in pursuit of John. But John was hiding in his ‘sheltering bed’.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý John’s wife agreed to betray her husband. She asked the Campbells to come during the night. They would keep an eye on the hillside. At dawn, she would be coming out of the sheltering bed. She would be walking back and forth. The men would see her.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý But light red-haired John saw her also. He was suspicious. He looked out. He saw the band coming in pursuit of him. He verbally abused his wife. He fled across the hill. Nothing was ever heard from him again.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý On Skye there are several ‘beds’. There is Leaba na Làrach – ‘the mare’s bed or resting place’, Leabaidh a’ Mhèirlich ‘the thief’s bed’ and  Leabaidh na Glais-Ghoilein.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý The ‘grey greedy gut’ appears in oral tradition. It was a big harmless beast – perhaps a cow/steer. But it moved from place to place, looking for grazing. Its ‘bed’ is next to the township of Torrin on the shore of Loch Slapin in Strath.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Nearer Elgol, west of Loch Slapin, there is Leabaidh na Bà Uidhre ‘the bed of the dun cow’. I reckon that is connected – as is Leabaidh na Glais-Ghoilein – to the Fingalian heritage.