Teagamh a Cainnt Gheàrr	Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow
Dh'amais am Profeasair David Fate Norton, a bha cheana aig Roinn na Feallsanachd aig Oilthigh Mhic a' Ghoill ann am Montréal, air cunntas car neònach air feallsanaiche Gaidhealach air nach robh fios aige anns an leabhar ùr The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century British Philosophers (deasaichte le John Price, John Stephens is John Yolton). Ged nach eil Gàidhlig aige fhèin, mar eòlaiche air feallsanachd Albannach san 18 linn bha seo 'na annas dha - ach le cuideachadh sgoilear sa chànan thòisich e air a bhith fuasgladh sgeul a tha e creidsinn gu bhith foilleil.. (eadar-theangachadh)Tha fear dhe na h-artaigilean san Fhaclair air Beag Eòlach Maigheach, is e air a sgrìobhadh fo ainm fear NRo'E. Cha mhòr gu bheil teagamh nach e foill a th'ann. Am measg nan rudan a tha nochdadh seo tha: an ainm ri'm faotainn ann am faclairean Gàidhlig de dh'ainmean pearsanta.	Professor Emeritus David Fate Norton at the Department of Philosophy at McGill University in Montreal encountered a rather strange account of a Gaelic philosopher previously unknown to him in the newly-published Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century British Philosophers (ed John Price, John Stephens & John Yolton). Though himself having no Gaelic, as a specialist in 18th century Scottish philosophy this came as something of a surprise - but with the assistance of a scholar in the language he started to unravel what he believes to be a hoax.. (original text) One of the articles in the Dictionary is on Beg Eolach Moidhach, and is attributed to one NRo'E. It is almost certainly a hoax. Indications that this is so include:
1) Ainm a' chuspair mas fhìor. Tha Beg Eolach Moidhach, a tha a rèir choltais a' ciallachadh geàrr bheag eòlach, a' toirt nam buadhairean gnìomh roi-ainmean Beurla an aghaidh òrdugh fhaclan Gàidhlig. Chan eil faclan	1) The name of the putative subject. Beg Eolach Moidhach, [misspelt] Gaelic for Little Knowledgeable Hare, gives the adjectives the function of English forenames and contravenes Gaelic word order. The words of the name are not found in Gaelic dictionaries of personal names.
2) Am falbh a sealladh, gun sgeul, dhen ùghdar mas fhìor dhen artaigil-sa. ' Se NRo'E an aon chom-pàirtiche anns an Fhaclair air a bheil iomradh a-rithist anns an Liosta Chom-pàiritichean. Agus chan eil e ri lorg a-nis. Le teachdaireachd a chaidh a chur air adhart leis an fhoillsichear bho John Valdimir Price, air ainmeachadh mar "dheasaiche treòrachaidh" an inntridh, tha mi air fhaighinn a-mach gu bheil "Neas Riogh o'Eolas" (ainm a th'air mhìneachadh dhan fhoillsichear san dol seachad le Price mar neas rìgh na h-ulaidh) a-nis air Alba fhàgail gun seòladh adhartachaidh.	2) The disappearance, without trace, of the putative author of this article. NRo'E is the only contributor to the Dictionary who is not further identified in the List of Contributors. Nor can he now be found. By a message forwarded by the publisher from John Valdimir Price, described as the "supervising editor" for the entry, I have been informed that "Neas Riogh o'Eolas" (a name Price, in an aside to the publisher, translates as weasel king o' treasure) has now left Scotland without a forwarding address.
3) Feartan ùidheil beatha Mhaighich: tha cunntas air is e tighinn beò gu criomasach, mar as trice air taobh siar na h-Alba, air dìreach £60 sa bhliadhna. Chan eil a leithid a chriomasachd idir cho foghainteach ris an inbhe aig an robh a chomhaoiseach a b'ainmeile Daibhidh Hume a fhuair air tighinn beò, air teachd a-steach na b'ìsle a-rithist, ann an Dùn Èideann is air 'àrainneachd, agus san Fhraing agus an Lunnainn. Tha cunntas cuideachd air mar a dhiùltadh ar Geàrr ionnsaichte Beurla chleachdadh, is iad a bu docha leis a bhruidhinn, an dèidh Gàidhlig, Laideann is Greugais. Ach air a shon sin chaidh a bhàthadh ann an Loch Laomainn sa Ghiblean 1745 is e teicheadh bho shaighdearan Sasannach dhan tug e oilbheum air choreigin. Chan eil e air a mhìneachadh dè dìreach a dh'fhàg na saighdearan seo, a bha 's dòcha frionasach mu sgeigean san Laidinn no sa Ghreugais, faisg air Loch Laomainn grunnan mhìosan mus do thog Prionnsa Teàrlach Stiùbhart a bhratach aig Gleann Fhionghain.	3) Interesting features of Moidhach's life: he is described as "leading a frugal life, mostly in the western part of Scotland", on a mere £60 per annum. Such frugality falls well short of the standard set by his more famous contemporary David Hume who, with an even smaller income, managed to maintain himself in and around Edinburgh, as well as in France and London. Our learned Hare is also described as refusing to use English, preferring, "after Gaelic, to speak Latin or Greek", and yet he drowned in Loch Lomond in April 1745 while fleeing some English soldiers he had somehow insulted. Just what these soldiers, perhaps sensitive to taunts in Latin or Greek, were doing near Loch Lomond several months before Prince Charles Stewart raised his standard at Glenfinnan is not explained.
4) Tha an fhaireachdainn Oisianach dhen chunntas air na th'air fhàgail de dh 'fheallsanachd Mhaighich: tha e air a chur an cèill gun do chlàraich diofar Ghaidheal a bheachdan ann an notaichean a tha nis ri'm faotainn ann an Leabharlann Oilthigh Càirdeas Shlògh Patrice Lumumba ann am Moscow far an deach am fàgail le duine de shliochd neach dàimh co-shìnte a theich gu Ruisia rè ar-a-mach 1745. Ged a tha Oilthigh Patrice Lumumba fhathast ann, chaidh innse dhomh gu h-earbsach nach robh leabharlann rannsachaidh a' gleidheadh làmh-sgrìobhainnean luachmhor riamh aig an oilthigh seo. Agus tha "siostam feallsanachd", nach do thòisich ach mar "bheachdan" briste agus a chaidh an tional le deifir mhòr is deagh shealbh ann an othail Bliadhna Theàrlaich, bhon uair sin gu h-iongantach no gu dearbh gu mìorbhaileach air a dhol 'na làmh-sgrìobhainn air a bheil Mothuchadh; siostam a tha stèidhte air bun-bheachd air mothachadh a tha nas dualtaiche do dh'Eanraig MacCoinnich na do Ghaidheal.	4) The Ossianic overtones of the account of Moidhach's philosophical remains: we are told that "various Gaelic speakers recorded his ideas in notes which are now to be found in the Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University Library [in Moscow], left there by a descendant of a collateral relation who fled to Russia during the 1745 uprising". Although there may still be a Patrice Lumumba University, I am reliably informed that this university never had a research library holding valuable manuscripts. And what began as merely fragmented "thoughts", collected with such remarkable celerity and good fortune in the hectic months of the '45, have since, inexplicably if not miraculously, become a coherent manuscript, Mothuchadh, presenting a "philosophical system" based on a concept of sensibility (the mothuchadh of the title) more suited to Henry Mackenzie than to a Highland Scot.

You can find more articles in the archive under Gaelic Column and information on the organization at C.L.I.