Each week we publish the text of our Gaelic Word of the Week podcast here with added facts, figures and photos for Gaelic learners who want to learn a little about the language and about the Scottish Parliament – Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. This week our word is Cothrom na Fèinne – a fair chance or fair hearing.
This week’s word of the week is ‘Cothrom na Fèinne’, a phrase meaning ‘a fair hearing’ or ‘fair chance’.
The word ‘cothrom’ is made up of two words ‘comh’ and ‘trom’ literally meaning of equal weight and by extension ‘opportunity’ and/or ‘equity’. In the Parlianment, fairness –cothromachd – is an issue that we often discuss and the word ‘cothromach’ (fair) even appears in the Gaelic name for the Economy and Fair Work Committee (Comataidh Eaconamaidh is Obair Chothromach).
The phrase ‘na Fèinne’ means ‘of the Fingalians’. The Fingalians were a mythological band of roving warriors led by a hero called Fingal (or in Gaelic ‘Fionn’). Tales of their adventures were once very popular in Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland and Ireland, surviving in the oral tradition to be recorded in the 20th century.
The 18th century Scottish poet James MacPherson, from Ruthven (Ruadhainn), in Badenoch (Bàideanach) had international success with his publications ‘Fingal’ and ‘Temora’ in the 1760s based on the Fingalian tales. These works were best-sellers in their day, admired by the likes of Napoleon and Sir Walter Scott.
The name Fingal is also attached to the famous cave on the island of Staffa (Stafa) known in English as ‘Fingal’s Cave’ and in Gaelic as ‘An Uamh Bhinn’ (The Melodious Cave). This place was also used as an alternative title for ‘The Hebrides’ overture by the German composer Mendelssohn after his visit to the island in 1829.
John Francis Campbell (known as ‘Iain Òg Ìle’ in Gaelic) collected many Fingalian traditions in his ‘Popular Tales of the West Highlands’ and Leabhar na Fèinne (The Book of the Fingalians) published in the late 1800s.
Personal names associated with characters in the Fingalian stories are well-known outside of Gaelic, examples of these would be: Finn (Fionn), Ossian (Oisean), Oscar (Osgar), Conan, Dermot (Diarmad) and Deirdre.
Fingal, or ‘Fionn’ as he is known in Gaelic, was the epitome of a wise hero. Not only was he swift and brave; ‘Cruas na creige is luathas na dreige’ (Hard as a rock and swift as a meteor) but according to one Gaelic proverb he was also famed for his generosity as you can see from this piece of poetry:
Nam b’e òr an duilleach donn
A chuireas dhith a’ choill,
Nam b’e airgead a’ gheal-tonn,
Thìodhlacadh Fionn
(If the Autumn leaves
of the forest were gold,
If the crest of the waves were silver,
Fingal would give them away).
Fingal was also famed for his fairness in disputes hence this week’s phrase ‘Cothrom na Fèinne’ (a fair hearing). Despite the phrase being an old one it is still common in modern spoken Gaelic.
You might use it in a sentence when you say something like “bha an neach fianais den bheachd gun tug a’ chomataidh Cothrom na Fèinne dha” – the witness believed that the committee had given him a fair hearing.
This week’s Gaelic Word of the Week has been written by Mark McNeilly, Gaelic Development Officer
gaidhlig@parliament.scot
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