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Dè an naidheachd a bu mhotha a bha aig na Gàidheil o chionn dà cheud gu leth bliadhna? Tha mi a’ bruidhinn mun bhliadhna seachd ceud deug, seasgad ʼs a seachd (1767). Tillidh mi chun na ceist seo nas fhaide dhen Litir.

            Bha mi aig òraid am-bliadhna aig Comunn Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis. Bha an t-Àrd-oll. Dòmhnall Meek a’ bruidhinn mun bhàrd spioradail, Dùghall Bochanan. Bha an òraid air leth inntinneach.

            Bha Dùghall Bochanan beò anns an ochdamh linn deug. Bha e na mhaighstir-sgoile ann an Ceann Loch Raineach. Bhuineadh e do dh’Àrdach ann an Srath Eidhir. ʼS e Gàidhlig Shiorrachd Pheairt a bha aige.

            Sgrìobh mi mu dheidhinn Dhùghaill mu-thràth, ann an sreath Litrichean Beaga, a’ tòiseachadh le Litir trì cheud is caogad (350). Gheibh sibh lorg air na Litrichean air an làraich-lìn ‘LearnGaelic.scot’.

Dh’ionnsaich mi rudan ùra mu Dhùghall bho Dhòmhnall Meek. Tha an taigh anns an do rugadh is thogadh e na sheasamh fhathast. Tha daoine a tha càirdeach dha fhathast a’ fuireach anns an sgìre sin. Agus tha Dòmhnall dhen bheachd gum b’ e Dùghall an sgrìobhadair Gàidhlig a bu chomasaiche a bha beò anns an ochdamh linn deug. Agus cuimhnichibh gun robh Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair beò aig an aon àm.

            Tha an ùine a’ ruith orm, agus tha mi airson tilleadh don cheist a chuir mi aig toiseach na Litreach. Dè an gnothach mòr a thachair, ann an saoghal na Gàidhlig, o chionn dà cheud is caogad bliadhna? Pròiseact anns an robh Dùghall Bochanan fhèin an sàs. Uill, ʼs e sin a’ bhliadhna a nochd an Tiomnadh Nuadh ann an Gàidhlig na h-Alba a’ chiad uair. Am bi na h-eaglaisean – agus na Gàidheil – a’ comharrachadh sin am-bliadhna? Tha mi an dòchas gum bi!

            Gu h-oifigeil, bha Dùghall Bochanan na fhear-taice don Urramach Seumas Stiùbhart à Cill Fhinn. Ach tha Dòmhnall Meek dhen bheachd gun do rinn Bochanan fad a bharrachd na ʼn Stiùbhartach airson am pròiseact a thoirt gu buil agus gum b’ e Bochanan am prìomh eadar-theangair. Bu chòir dhuinn an gaisgeach Gàidhlig seo a chomharrachadh cuideachd air a’ bhliadhna seo.

What was the Gaels’ biggest story 250 years ago? I’m speaking about the year 1767. I’ll return to that question further on in the Litir.

        I was at a lecture at Comunn Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis this year. Prof. Donald Meek was speaking about the spiritual bard, Dugald Buchanan. The lecture was extremely interesting.

        Dugald Buchanan was alive in the 18th century. He was a schoolmaster in Kinlochrannoch. He belonged to Ardoch in Strathyre. He spoke Perthshire Gaelic.

        I wrote about Dugald already, in a series of Litrichean Beag, commencing with Litir 350. You’ll find the Litrichean on the website ‘LearnGaelic.scot’.

        I learned new things about Dugald from Donald Meek. The house in which he was born and raised is still standing. People who are related to him still live in the area. And Donald considers Dugald to be the most capable Gaelic writer living in the 18th century. And remember that Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair was alive at the same time.

        Time is running out, and I want to return to the question I posed at the beginning of the Litir. What big event in the Gaelic world took place 250 years ago? A project in which Dugald Buchanan himself was involved. Well, that’s the year that the New Testament first appeared in Scottish Gaelic. Will the churches – and the Gaels – be commemorating that this year? I hope they will!

        Officially, Dugald Buchanan was an assistant to the Reverend James Stuart of Killin. But Donald Meek reckons that Buchanan did much more that Stuart to bring the project to fruition and that Buchanan was the primary translator. We should also commemorate this Gaelic hero this year.